How to Change Your Status in Teams (2026)
Your Teams status (presence) tells colleagues whether you’re free, heads-down, or away. Teams sets it automatically based on your activity and calendar, but you can override it whenever you want — and you can pin a status message with extra detail. Here’s how.
Change Your Status on Desktop
- Click your profile picture in the top-right corner.
- Click your current status (e.g. Available) to open the list.
- Choose one:
- Available — free and active
- Busy — working, but reachable
- Do not disturb — silences notifications
- Be right back / Appear away — stepped out
- Appear offline — look signed out while still using Teams
A status you set manually stays put until you reset it.
Add a Status Message
A status message adds context next to your name (“In meetings until 3pm,” “On vacation — back Monday”):
- Click your profile picture > Set status message.
- Type your message.
- Optionally toggle Show when people message me and set Clear status message after a chosen time.
- Click Done.
Change Your Status on Mobile (iOS/Android)
- Tap your profile picture (top-left).
- Tap your current status.
- Pick a new presence, or tap Set status message to add a note.
Troubleshooting
My status keeps switching to Away
Teams flips you to Away after a few minutes of inactivity. To hold a status, set it manually (e.g. Available or Busy) — manual statuses don’t auto-change. They do expire after a set period unless you choose Reset status yourself.
Do not disturb still lets some people through
That’s by design. You can set priority access so specific people reach you even on Do not disturb: Settings > Privacy > Manage priority access.
My status is stuck or wrong
Open your profile menu and click Reset status to return to automatic presence. If it’s still wrong, sign out and back in, or clear the Teams cache.
Status won’t update for other people
Presence can lag a minute or two, especially right after you change it. If a teammate sees an old status for hours, the issue is usually their client refreshing, not yours.
I want to look offline
Choose Appear offline. You’ll still receive messages and can keep working — you just appear signed out to everyone else.
Quick Reference
| Goal | What to do |
|---|---|
| Change status | Profile picture > current status > pick one |
| Silence notifications | Set status to Do not disturb |
| Add context | Profile picture > Set status message |
| Look signed out | Set status to Appear offline |
| Go back to automatic | Profile picture > Reset status |
Related Teams guides: How to set out of office in Teams · How to mute notifications in Teams · How to change your profile picture in Teams · How to change your name on Teams · How to schedule a message in Teams
Ready to automate your busywork?
Carly schedules, researches, and briefs you—so you can focus on what matters.
See what people say
"Before Carly, I relied on a Calendly link, but the whole process felt impersonal and not very professional. Carly changed that by handling all the back-and-forth, so I'm no longer stuck in endless email threads trying to line up schedules.
Now Carly reaches out to candidates, shares my real-time availability, lets them pick a slot, then sends a Zoom link and drops it straight into my calendar. She sends reminders to both of us before each call, which has significantly reduced no-shows and last-minute confusion.
On top of scheduling, Carly acts like a full executive assistant, sending me my schedule the night before so I can prepare for each call. It reminds me of the old x.ai assistant, but Carly is noticeably smarter, faster, and better suited to my healthcare recruitment business."
