How to keep your status active on Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is one of the best tools for video calls and professional collaborative remote work. Its activity status system is an excellent way to show whether you are available to take a call or if you’re busy. However, it doesn’t always work how it’s supposed to and shows you as Away even if you are at your computer. Here’s how to keep your Microsoft Teams status active.

Editor’s note: These steps were assembled using an HONOR MagicBook 14 laptop running Windows 11, a Google Pixel 7 running Android 14, and an Apple iPhone 12 Mini running iOS 17.3. Some steps may differ for you, depending on your hardware and software.

How long does Microsoft Teams stay active?

Microsoft Teams automatically changes your status to Away when it detects the system is idle or enters sleep mode. It also changes your status if you aren’t actively using the program or if it’s running in the background after five minutes.

Stop your computer from going to sleep or powering off

To keep your status active on Microsoft Teams, change the time it takes for your system to go into idle or sleep mode. Just keep in mind that no matter how long your computer stays awake, Microsoft Teams will still mark you as Away if you don’t use the app for five minutes.

Stop your computer from going to sleep or powering off:

1. Open the Settings.
2. Go into the System tab.
3. Under Power, expand the Screen and sleep section.
4. Go through all options and set them to Never or anything over five minutes.

Just keep in mind your PC will be running at all times if you set the options to Never, whether you’re using the computer or not. You can change your preferences again later to let the computer sleep or shut off after a predetermined period.

Let people know you’re available

If leaving your computer running without interruptions isn’t to your liking, or you can’t be using Teams every five minutes, you can just help contacts ignore your status by setting a message instructing them to do so. Let’s show you how it’s done.

How to set a status message on Windows:

1. Launch the Microsoft Teams app.
2. Click on your profile icon in the top-right corner.
3. Select Set status message.
4. Type a message like “I’m available, even if Teams shows I’m away.”
5. Under Clear status message after, click on the dropdown menu.
6. Set how long you want the status message to stay active.
7. Hit Done.
8. If you actually won’t be available, you can press the Trash button next to the status message.

Set a status message on Android:

1. Launch the Microsoft Teams Android app.
2. Tap on your profile icon in the top-left corner.
3. Select Set status message.
4. Type a message like “I’m available, even if Teams shows I’m away.”
5. Tap on the Clear after option and pick how long you want the status message to stay active.
6. Tap on the checkmark icon.

Set a status message on iOS:

1. Launch the Microsoft Teams iOS app.
2. Tap on your profile icon in the top-left corner.
3. Select Set status message.
4. Type a message like “I’m available, even if Teams shows I’m away.”
5. Tap on the Clear after option and pick how long you want the status message to stay active.
6. Tap on the Done button.

Mouse moving software

There’s no easy way to keep your Microsoft Teams status as Available. Users have plenty of tricks and workarounds. Among the most popular (and simpler) ones are mouse-moving apps. These applications virtually make your cursor move around endlessly, keeping your computer active and the Microsoft Teams status as available. One of the most popular ones is MouseJiggler, which costs $2.99. Move Mouse is a popular free option, though.

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