Mononuclear phagocytes are key regulators of both tissue damage and repair in neuroinflammatory conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS). To examine divergent phagocyte phenotypes in the inflamed central nervous system (CNS) we introduce an in vivo imaging approach combined with RNAseq and proteomics that allows us to temporally and spatially resolve the evolution of phagocyte polarization in a murine MS model. We show that the initial pro-inflammatory polarization of phagocytes is established after spinal cord entry and critically depends on the compartment they enter. Guided by signals from the CNS environment individual phagocytes then switch their phenotype as lesions move from expansion to resolution. Our study thus provides a first real-time analysis of the temporo-spatial determinants and regulatory principles of phagocyte specification in the inflamed CNS.