TWS earbuds with mute gesture

Question

I'm looking for a TWS earbuds (open-ear, no silicone tip) that can mute/unmute Teams calls via gestures or buttons directly on the device. I tried to achieve it using Galaxy Buds (Live and Buds3) with the open-source app GalaxyBudsClient, which allows assigning custom keystrokes to gestures (in addition to an app that handles the keystroke and mutes all microphones on the OS). These commands work perfectly when you are not on a Teams call. When you are on a call, the earbuds move to Hands-free Profile, and the gestures are blocked. Incredible as it may seem, if I open the Teams call on a browser, I can use my gestures because only the Teams Windows client blocks the commands. Did I understand this behaviour correctly? Do you have suggestions for earbuds similar to Galaxy Buds, JBL Flex, or AirPods that can control the mute/unmute during a Teams Desktop call?

Answer 1

Hi @Breno Farber,

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum and for sharing the detailed explanation, your testing and observations are very insightful, and I can see you’ve already gone quite deep into understanding the behavior.

Your understanding is essentially correct. When you join a call using the Microsoft Teams desktop client, the audio device is switched into Bluetooth Hands‑Free Profile (HFP) mode. In this mode, Teams takes exclusive control over the microphone and call controls. As a result, many third‑party or OS‑level keystroke injections and gesture mappings (such as those provided by GalaxyBudsClient) are blocked or ignored while the call is active.

This also explains why your workaround behaves differently in the browser: when Teams is used via Teams on the web, the audio stack is handled by the browser rather than the native Teams client, so the same restrictions are not enforced. That’s why your gesture‑to‑keystroke approach continues to work there.

Regarding earbuds that can reliably mute/unmute Teams calls directly from the device during a Teams Desktop call, there are a few important things to be aware of:

• Generic Bluetooth earbuds (including Galaxy Buds, JBL Flex, and most AirPods when used on Windows) do not have a supported way to control the Teams mute state via custom gestures while in HFP mode.
• Gesture remapping or OS‑level mute toggles typically won’t affect Teams Desktop once the call has exclusive control of the audio session.

At the moment, the only devices that consistently support hardware‑level mute/unmute control with Teams Desktop are those that are Microsoft Teams‑certified, such as:

• Certain Jabra, Poly (Plantronics), and Yealink headsets
• These devices expose a dedicated mute button that Teams recognizes natively through supported device APIs

However, it’s worth noting that most Teams‑certified devices are not open‑ear TWS earbuds, which understandably makes them less appealing if open‑ear design is a hard requirement.

Given your constraints, the most practical workaround options are:

• Continue using Teams on the web if gesture‑based mute control is essential to your workflow
• Use the keyboard shortcut (Ctrl+Shift+M) or a physical mute key on a certified headset for Teams Desktop
• Submit this as product feedback, as there is currently no supported way to enable gesture‑based mute control for non‑certified TWS earbuds in the Teams desktop client

If you’d like to raise this with the product team, you can do You can do this in Teams by selecting Help > Feedback, or through the Microsoft 365 Feedback Hub > Send Feedback, where you can describe your experience in detail so it can be considered for future improvements.

Once you've submitted your feedback, feel free to share the link here in the comments. I’d be more than happy to upvote it to help raise visibility. And if you run into any issues submitting feedback, just let me know and I’ll gladly submit one on your behalf.

 

As community moderators, we kindly ask for your understanding that our access to internal development details is limited. Our primary role is to guide users toward the appropriate resources and support channels. While we may not have influence product design decisions and have limited access to internal development details, we’ll continue doing our best to support you within the scope of our responsibilities.

Since this impacts accessibility and advanced workflows, it’s valuable feedback and you’re certainly not alone in this request. Surfacing this feedback publicly can help others add their voices as well.

Thank you again for taking the time to share your experience. I truly appreciate your patience, and please don’t hesitate to reach out if there’s anything else I can help with.

Wishing you all the best.

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Answer 2

It seems that you have encountered a limitation with the Teams desktop client when using your Galaxy Buds for muting and unmuting calls via gestures. This behavior is likely due to how Teams interacts with audio devices, particularly when they switch to the Hands-free Profile, which can restrict certain functionalities like gesture controls.

For TWS earbuds that can control mute/unmute during a Teams Desktop call, you might want to consider looking for personal peripherals that are certified for Microsoft Teams. These devices are designed to enhance the Teams experience and typically support features like mute sync, which allows you to mute and unmute directly from the device while maintaining synchronization with the Teams client.

Some options to explore include:

• Jabra Evolve series: Known for their Teams compatibility and call control features.
• Plantronics Voyager series: Offers good integration with Teams and may support gesture controls.
• Logitech Zone Wireless: Specifically designed for Teams and supports various call controls.

Make sure to verify the specific features of any earbuds you consider to ensure they meet your needs for gesture-based control during Teams calls.

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References:

• Known issues when you use Teams certified peripherals
• Personal Peripherals for Microsoft Teams