How to Change Away Time in Microsoft Teams

Like any other communication app, Microsoft Teams gives you the ability to set your own availability status. This is useful for letting your colleagues know if you are currently online or busy doing something else.

In this article, we will walk you through the steps to change your away time or any other status on Microsoft Teams. Besides that, we'll also go over other Microsoft Teams options you can use to customize your user presence.

How do I change away time in Microsoft Teams?

Microsoft Teams is an online chat-based workspace that lets colleagues and students hold meetings, brainstorm ideas, and share content. On the list of team members, you can see each user's availability status in the form of icons, which indicate whether they are online, offline, or busy.

There are different types of status that Microsoft Teams uses to label its member:

Notes: If you are using the mobile app, your status will automatically be set to Away every time you exit the app or move it to the background.

• Appear offline – this status appears when you go offline or turn off your device.
  
• Status unknown.

You will continue to receive messages normally, regardless of your availability status. The only exception to this rule is when you're offline, in which case you'll receive all of your messages once you've signed in to your Microsoft Teams account.

Even though Microsoft Teams automatically changes your availability status, based on your recent activity, you still have the option to change your status manually. This is especially useful when Microsoft Teams changes your status incorrectly.

This is primarily the "Appear Away" time, which Microsoft Teams sets whenever your device goes into sleep mode, you're inactive for a short time, or if you don't contact another team member within 5 minutes. . This feature is also known as idle timeout.

This can create problems for team users, especially when their daily workload and productivity are measured. But the good news is that you can change your status in several ways.

To start, you can simply change your activity status manually. This is how it's done:

1. Open Microsoft Teams.
   
2. Log in if you haven't already.
3. Go to your profile picture, which is in the upper right corner of your screen.
   
4. You will see your current status. Click on it.
   
5. When the list of status options appears, choose the one you want.
   

If you're using the mobile app, you can change your activity status by following these steps:

1. Open the Microsoft Teams mobile app.
   
2. Tap the three horizontal lines in the upper left corner of your screen.
   
3. Tap on your current status and a list of status options will appear below.
   
4. Select the desired status option.
   

That's all we can say about it. This will prevent Microsoft Teams from changing your status to "Appear Away" if you're not active for a while.

Another way to do this is to set the duration of your status. Follow these steps to learn how:

1. Open Microsoft Teams.
   
2. Click on your profile picture.
   
3. Next to your status, click on the arrow that will take you to the Duration option.
   
4. Set the exact period of your status.
   

You can set your status duration to 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, all day, all this week, and a custom time.

How do I keep Microsoft Teams active?

Microsoft Teams automatically changes your availability status whenever you're not interacting with the platform, even if you're still technically online. This can be annoying for many, but there is a solution. By changing your availability status yourself, following the instructions above, your active status will no longer be altered unless you change it.

Microsoft Teams also lets you reset your status. This option will again allow Microsoft Teams to automatically change your status. This is how it's done:

1. Open Microsoft Teams.
   
2. Log in if you haven't already.
3. Go to your profile picture in the upper right corner of your screen.
   
4. Click on your current status, which is below your profile picture.
   
5. Click on the Reset Status option.
   

Additional FAQs

How do I change the status of Microsoft Teams?

You can choose from a variety of status options (active, do not disturb, be back, etc.). If none of these options work for you, you can always create a custom status message.

This is how it's done:

1. Open Microsoft Teams.

2. Go to your profile picture.

3. Select the Set Status Message option.

4. Type what you want your message to be (for example, "I'll be back in five minutes" or "I'll be back soon").

5. Click "Clear status message after" and set the duration of your status message. (Your options are Never, 1am, 4am, Today, This Week, and Custom.)

6. Click Done.

You now have a personalized status message that will appear whenever your colleagues try to contact you. When you want to edit your personalized message, go to your profile settings and click "Delete this status message".

You also have the option to track the activity status of your contacts by receiving notifications whenever they are online. This is how it's done:

1. Open Microsoft Teams.

2. Go to your profile picture and click Settings.

3. Click Notifications.

4. Scroll down to Status and click Manage Status Notifications.

5. Here you have the option to edit chat, meetings, people and other notifications. Click Edit next to the People section.

6. Add the people for whom you want to receive notifications when they are active.

7. If you want to remove someone from this list, click Deactivate next to their name.

How do I change idle time in Microsoft Teams?

“Idle time” appears on your status when your device goes into sleep mode or if you have been inactive for a while. Microsoft Teams will set it automatically.

Your status will change to "active" once you interact with the app in any way. If that doesn't happen, you can set your availability status yourself by following the steps in the previous questions.

Optimize your Microsoft Teams experience

Now you know how to change your availability status and customize your user presence in Microsoft Teams. By following our instructions and tips, you can increase your work efficiency and overall productivity. You can customize almost everything in Microsoft Teams. You just have to figure out what works for you.

Have you ever changed your status in Microsoft Teams? Did you follow the steps in our article? Let us know in the comments section below.