Every Teams status icon at a glance
Teams draws your status as a small badge on the corner of your profile picture, and colleagues see it in chats, the people list, your profile card and Outlook. Several statuses share one icon, so the label matters: a solid red circle can mean Busy, In a meeting or In a call. An outlined icon means the same status while your out-of-office replies are on. Slack shows a simpler green or hollow dot.
| Status | What it looks like | Set by | When you see it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Available | Solid green circle with a white check | You or automatic | You are active in Teams and your calendar is free. |
| Available, out of office | Green outlined circle with a green check | Automatic | You are using Teams while your automatic replies are on. |
| Busy | Solid red circle | You | You want to focus and still get notifications. |
| In a meeting · In a call | Solid red circle | Automatic | A meeting on your Outlook calendar or a Teams call is in progress. |
| In a call, out of office | Red outlined circle | Automatic | You are on a call while your automatic replies are on. |
| Do not disturb | Red circle with a white line | You | You want to focus or present without banner notifications. |
| Presenting | Red circle with a white line | Automatic | You are sharing your screen. Teams can switch this off in Settings → Privacy. |
| Focusing | Red circle with a white line | Automatic | Focus time booked in Viva Insights (MyAnalytics) is on your calendar. |
| Away · Appear away | Yellow circle with a clock | You or automatic | Your computer is locked or idle, or the phone app is in the background. Others may see when you were last seen. |
| Be right back | Yellow circle with a clock | You | Only when you choose it. Teams never sets it for you. |
| Offline | Gray circle with an X | Automatic | You have not been signed in to Teams on any device for a few minutes. |
| Appear offline | Gray circle with an X | You | You look offline while signed in, and still get notifications. |
| Out of office | Purple circle with an arrow | Automatic | Automatic replies are on, or a calendar event is set to show as Out of office. |
| Status unknown | Empty gray circle | Automatic | Teams has no presence to show for this person right now. |
Statuses Teams sets for you
Most of the time you do not choose your status. Microsoft says Teams works it out from three things: your activity (Available or Away), what the Teams app is doing (In a call, Presenting) and your Outlook calendar (In a meeting, Out of office).
Presenting appears while you share your screen, because Teams sets Do not disturb by default; turn it off under Settings → Privacy → Set my status to Do not disturb when I’m sharing my screen. Focusing comes from focus time booked in Viva Insights (MyAnalytics) and uses the same red icon. Out of office comes from automatic replies or a calendar event set to show as Out of office.
If you are signed in on several devices, the one you used most recently decides your status. That is why an idle phone can make you look Away after you leave your desk. How online status works explains the same idea across Slack, Teams and Google Chat.
Teams on its own
With an OnlineHours schedule, 09:00–18:00
- 08:00 Laptop asleep: Offline
- 10:00 Calendar meeting: In a meeting
- 12:30 Lunch, screen locked: Away
- 15:00 Sharing a screen: Presenting
- 15:30 Reading a printout, no input: Away
- 17:00 Laptop closed for the commute: Offline
How long until Teams shows Away
On a computer, Teams switches from Available to Away after a few minutes without activity; Microsoft’s troubleshooting article puts it at more than five minutes. Locking the computer counts as inactivity at once, and so does using the Teams mobile app instead of the desktop.
When the computer goes to sleep, Microsoft’s admin documentation says you become Offline. On a phone you are Away as soon as Teams is in the background, and Offline after 24 hours of inactivity. You are also Offline when you have not been signed in on any device for a few minutes.
There is no Teams setting for the Away timer. Microsoft suggests giving your device more time before it goes idle or sleeps, where your organization allows it, and Teams on the web has Settings → Notifications and activity → Presence → Keep my current status when I’m active outside of Teams on the web. The away timers table compares Teams with Slack, Google Chat and Zoom.
How to set or reset your status
On a computer or the web, select your profile picture at the top right, then your current status, and choose another. On a phone, tap Menu or your profile picture, then your status. You can also type /available, /busy, /dnd, /brb, /away or /offline in the Teams search box.
You can choose Available, Busy, Do not disturb, Be right back, Appear away or Appear offline. Be right back is never set automatically. Appear offline looks like Offline to others, but you are still signed in and still get notifications.
Outside a call or meeting, Teams only lets you pick a status that is less available than the one it calculated, for example, while Teams shows Do not disturb you can choose Away but not Available. A status chosen during a call or meeting lasts until it ends. To hand control back to Teams, select your profile picture, your status and then Reset status.
Status duration: how long a chosen status lasts
To keep a status for a set time, select your profile picture, your current status and Duration. Choose the status, pick one of the suggested times under Reset status after or choose Custom with a date and time, and select Done. When the time ends, Teams goes back to a status based on your activity, calendar and computer.
Without a duration, Microsoft’s admin documentation says Busy and Do not disturb last one day, Appear offline stays until you change it, and Be right back or Appear away last seven days.
Available is the one status you cannot give a duration. A duration also cannot lift you to a more available state: Busy for an hour does not replace Away while your computer is locked.
Teams has no duration for Available. A schedule fills the gap.
Teams can hold Busy or Do not disturb for a set time, but Available always follows your activity. OnlineHours keeps you Available during the hours you set, for example Mon–Fri 9:00–18:00, and stops outside them. Try your hours here; they are kept for when you sign up.
Microsoft Teams
Choose your days and type any start and end time.
Laptop closed. Preview online.OnlineHours runs on our servers.
Preview only. Connect your app to control its real status.
Connection details
After connecting, you can see activity, replace your connection and disconnect in your dashboard.
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Status message and out of office
A status message is a short note shown next to your status. Select your profile picture, then Set status message, type it and choose when it disappears under Clear status message after. Turn on Show when people message me so people see it when they message or @mention you.
To show Out of office, select your profile picture, Set status message and Schedule out of office, or go to Settings → General → Out of office → Schedule. Turn on automatic replies, write the message and, if you like, tick Send replies only during a time period. The same message is used for your Outlook automatic replies; turn them off on the same screen to remove it.
Why does Teams show me as Away?
Usually because Teams has seen no activity on the device it trusts most: the computer is locked, idle or asleep, the phone app is in the background, or the last device you touched was your phone. Reading a long document, a call in another app or work away from the keyboard all look like inactivity to Teams.
Sometimes a status you set earlier is still running: Appear away lasts seven days unless you gave it a duration, so choose Reset status. If Teams still shows the wrong status after you come back, Microsoft’s troubleshooting page has a connectivity test for calendar-based presence. Why Teams keeps switching to Away goes through each cause.
How to keep Teams green during work hours
At your desk, keep Teams signed in, let your lock and sleep timers match how you work if your organization allows it, and in Teams on the web turn on Keep my current status when I’m active outside of Teams on the web. Sign out of Teams on devices you are not using, so an idle phone does not decide your status. Input simulators such as a mouse jiggler do not help once the computer locks or sleeps, and many workplaces do not allow them.
None of these keep the green check once the laptop is closed. OnlineHours sets your Teams presence to Available from its servers during the hours you choose and stops outside them, so Teams works as usual in the evening. Meetings, calls and statuses you set yourself still take priority. Personal Teams in the browser connects with a private code from the free Teams Connector; work and school accounts use Microsoft sign-in, which some organizations must approve first. The guide to keeping Teams Available covers setup.
Keep Teams Available on your hours
Choose your days and hours once. OnlineHours sets your Teams presence to Available from its servers during them and stops outside them, so your laptop can be closed and your evenings stay yours.
Personal Teams in the browser (teams.live.com) connects with a private code from the free Teams Connector for Chrome. Work and school accounts use Microsoft sign-in, which some organizations require an administrator to approve. We only set your presence: we don’t read chats, messages or files, and meetings, calls and statuses you set yourself still take priority.
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Common questions
Why does Teams show me as Away when I am working?
Teams shows Away after a few minutes without activity on your computer (more than five, according to Microsoft), as soon as you lock it, and whenever the phone app is in the background. Reading, a call in another app or working away from the keyboard count as inactivity.
How do I keep my Teams status green?
Stay active on a signed-in device and give your computer more time before it locks or sleeps, where that is allowed. Available cannot be given a duration. For the same hours every day, OnlineHours keeps Teams Available from its servers during your schedule, laptop closed, while meetings and statuses you set still take priority.
What does the yellow clock mean in Teams?
Away or Be right back. Teams sets Away when you are inactive; Be right back appears only when you choose it. Others may see Away with the time you were last seen.
What is the difference between Offline and Appear offline?
Offline means you have not been signed in on any device for a few minutes. Appear offline is a status you choose while signed in; others see the same gray icon, and you still get notifications.
Can I set Available for a duration in Teams?
No. Teams lets you give a duration to Busy, Do not disturb, Be right back, Appear away and Appear offline, but not to Available.
What does an outlined Teams status icon mean?
An outlined green check is Available while your automatic replies are on, and an outlined red circle is In a call while out of office. An empty gray circle means the status is unknown.
Do I still get messages in Do not disturb?
Yes. Chat messages still arrive, but banner notifications are hidden and incoming calls go to voicemail. People on your priority access list in Settings → Privacy still get through.
Can I change how quickly Teams switches to Away?
Not in Teams. It follows your computer’s idle, lock and sleep state, and on a phone whether the app is open, so the only lever is your device’s own idle and sleep settings.