Teams on iPad - Audio output changes when joining meeting

Dear @G,

After investigating the specific interaction between the Teams app and iPadOS hardware handshaking, it appears that the behavior you are experiencing is indeed a system-level limitation of how iPadOS handles HDMI audio routing during active calls.

When an HDMI cable is connected, iPadOS often prioritizes it as the primary communication output, and the Teams app is sometimes unable to override this system-level "force" once a meeting has already started.

To ensure your audio stays on your preferred device, please try these specific steps:

• Pre-Select via Control Center: Before you tap "Join" in Teams, swipe down to open the iPad Control Center. Long-press the Audio/Media widget (the box in the top-right corner), tap the Airplay icon, and explicitly select your Bluetooth headset or iPad speaker as the output. Then, join the meeting.

• The "Unplug-and-Rejoin" Method: If the audio remains stuck on HDMI, try disconnecting the HDMI cable briefly before joining the call. Once the call has successfully routed to your headset or iPad internal speaker, you can attempt to reconnect the cable, though iPadOS may still attempt to re-route the audio.
• Use Teams in Safari: As you noted that the browser version works correctly, using Teams via Safari on your iPad is a reliable workaround. Browsers tend to respect the last manual audio choice more consistently than the standalone app's VoIP protocol.

As moderators in the community, we are not supported for the product design of the Teams app or the underlying iPadOS audio routing logic. We have redirected you to the correct path by providing these system-level workarounds.

If these steps do not provide a permanent solution for your workflow, I highly recommend submitting feedback directly to Apple regarding flexible audio routing, as well as using the Help > Give feedback option within the Teams app to alert the engineering team to this situation.

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Teams on iPad uses the device’s selected audio source when joining a meeting, and when an external display is connected over HDMI it can become the default output (“HDMI” in Teams), even if the monitor has no speakers. In the Teams app, the in‑meeting audio selection is limited to what iPadOS exposes as available outputs.

From the provided context, the only configurable behavior described is how to choose audio sources before joining and during a meeting; it does not include iPad‑specific HDMI override controls or a workaround for forcing Bluetooth/headphones when an external monitor is attached.

The supported options are:

1. Before joining the meeting, use the pre‑join screen to pick the desired audio source (for example, device speaker or another available device).
2. During the meeting, open More options → Audio settings and choose the available Speaker option exposed by the OS.

No additional Teams setting or documented fix for the iPad + HDMI scenario is present in the context.

References:

• Manage audio settings in Microsoft Teams meetings
• What can I do during a meeting in Microsoft Teams Free?