How to blur video call background

To help reduce distractions for clients and also maintain your privacy, therapists can blur their video background.

How to turn on background blur

Before session:

  • Click ‘Start session’ next to your client’s name (or select ‘Instant Session’ from the dashboard).
  • When you reach the ‘Camera’ section of the pre-session checks, select ‘Background effects’
  • Then choose ‘Blur Background’
  • It may take a few seconds to activate when first selected

During session:

  • – To activate background blur when a video session has already started, select ‘Enable video background blur’ at the top right of your screen.
  • – It may take a few seconds to activate when first selected

Important Notes

This feature is not yet available to clients but we are working to add this.

This feature is currently available on Chrome (PC/Mac) and Edge (PC).

Background removal is a processor intensive task. If you have an older or lower powered computer you may find that video quality is impacted when in use. You should try closing other programs and browser tabs to free up system resources if you experience this.

Background removal works best when there is plenty of light. This helps the software to understand what part of the image is you and what is the background.

Ensure hardware acceleration is ON in your browser. See this article for how to check this setting in Chrome.