Although Microsoft officially rolled out the ability to share your computer audio using the MacOS version of Teams in 2021, I haven’t found you can consistently do it. If you set up the meeting, it works fine, and assuming you’re using the latest version of Teams, you should see the option to “Include computer sound.”
Option to “Include computer sound” shows when you initiate Teams meeting
However, if you call into someone else’s meeting, the option is often not available. Don’t ask me why. But you’re in luck because I’ve found a reasonably simple workaround. To enable others to hear audio coming from your computer, you’ll need:
- Audio passthrough app like Blackhole
- Application audio capture app like Audio Hijack.
Step 1: Install Blackhole
1. Download Blackhole.
2. Close all running audio applications.
3. Open and install.
Step 2: Set up session in Audio Hijack
1. Download & install Audio Hijack. Note, there may be free alternatives, but I’ve found Audio Hijack to be one of the best out there. If you know of a good alternative, do let me know in the comments below.
2. Open Audio Hijack and Create a New Session with ⌘N or clicking on Session in the menu bar & selecting New Session.
3. Set up your sound sources. In this example, I’m presenting a PowerPoint presentation with audio via Teams, so I’ll need audio from both PowerPoint and my Microphone. Under SOURCES:
- Drag Application into your workspace and select Microsoft PowerPoint as the Source (or whatever presentation software you’re using, e.g., Keynote).
- Drag Input Device into your workspace and select your microphone.In this case, it’s my External Mic.
4. Create your OUTPUTS: one output for you, and one for attendees on your Teams call.
i. Set up what YOU hear: you’ll want to be able to hear the sound coming out of your PowerPoint, but not necessarily your mic because that can create echo.
- Under OUTPUTS, drag Output Device to the left of the PowerPoint source. Make sure it ONLY links to the PowerPoint, not to your Mic. If you monitor your own mic, you may experience latency between your voice and what you hear.
- Click on the Output Device module and select your headphones. In my case, I’m using my Apple AirPods Pros.
ii. Set up what THEY hear:
- Under OUTPUTS, drag Output Device to the left of the PowerPoint source so it connects ONLY to the PowerPoint, not anything else. You may have to adjust the spacing a bit here to prevent it from linking to your Input mic below. Then, click on this Output Device module and select Blackhole 16ch.
- Do this again, dragging an Output Device to the right of your Input mic, ensuring it ONLY links to your external mic. Again, click on this Output Device module and select Blackhole 16ch.
Finally, start the audio session by clicking on the Start button in the lower left. Once you do this, you can see the bars light up when you speak or when audio is playing from your PowerPoint.
Now, in case you’re wondering why we aren’t just linking the mic to that first Blackhole Output Device module, it’s because you may want to control the volume they hear from our PowerPoint and Mic separately. I often want my PowerPoint sound to be quieter than my voice. While you can control audio volume to some extent within PowerPoint (Low, Medium, High), setting it up in this way enables you to adjust each level independently in real-time in case someone on the other end of your Teams call says the PowerPoint audio is overpowering your voice or vice versa. You can make these adjustments by clicking on each output module and adjusting the Output Volume.
Once you have this set up, you can simply go back into Audio Hijack and reopen this session. Okay, that’s the hard part!
Step 3: Adjust Teams’ Sound Settings
You’re almost there! Now, all you have to do is change your Teams microphone to Blackhole.
1. Click on the three dots in the upper right corner then go to Settings.
2. Under Devices
- Set Speaker to same output device as specified in Audio Hijack–in my case, my AirPods Pros.
- Set Microphone to BlackHole 16ch.
Voila!
Now, other attendees will hear both your PowerPoint + microphone audio, and you’ll also hear them + your PowerPoint audio. Do let me know how this works out for you in the comments below. And if you know of an easier way to do this, I’m all ears. Good luck!
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