Teams’ active status function allows users to quickly communicate their availability and indicate their contact preferences, making requests easier to handle and resolve. Regularly updating your status to match your workday schedule aids in effective communication, especially for quick or urgent requests.

In some instances, Teams will automatically update your status to reflect activity. For example, when in a Zoom meeting, Teams will automatically update your status to In a meeting or Busy, indicating that you are focusing on a task but still want to receive message notifications. When the meeting has ended, Teams will automatically switch your availability to Available.

According to Microsoft Support, Teams statuses are defined as:

• Available is when you’re active in Teams and don’t have anything on your calendar (no meetings or calls, for example). Note that Teams will automatically set your status from Available to Away when you lock your computer or when it enters idle or sleep mode. On mobile, this will happen when the Teams app is in the background.

• Busy is when you want to focus on something, and you still want to receive notifications. If you’re in a meeting or call, Teams will automatically change your status to In a meeting or In a call (Busy) when not set to Do not disturb.

• Do not disturb is when you want to focus or present your screen and don’t want to receive notifications.

• Be right back is when you want to say you’re temporarily away. It’s never set automatically.

• Appear away is when you need to work without responding right away.

• Appear offline is when you want to indicate that you're not signed in to Teams and won't be responding until you're back online. You’ll still receive notifications if anyone messages you.

Checking a coworker’s Teams status is a great way to gauge the best method of reaching them. For example, if a coworker is displaying the Do Not Disturb status, a Teams message may not be an ideal way to reach them.

Instead, consider sending an email, or you can ask Teams to notify you when that person’s status changes. Right-click on their Teams profile or your chat and select Notify when available. Unselect the Notify when available option to disable notifications.