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Attendee auto-joining Teams meetings when Teams is not open?

MeganEscobar-4977 0 Reputation points
2025-12-01T15:57:42.48+00:00

An employee left the company but we are keeping the desktop and microsoft licenses in place temporarily while we go through files and records to pull out what we need to keep. The user is invited to several teams meetings on the outlook calendar, and is showing as an active joined attendee in these meetings as they occur even though teams is completely closed and signed out of on the desktop. The teams meeting organizers/hosts are both within our organization and outside our organization. This is creating confusion and security concerns among other attendees who know that this user is no longer with our company. There are no other devices logged into any microsoft products, and all passwords were changed, so we know that it's not a security breach or the user logging in from another site.

Why is this user showing in these meetings when they have not joined them and cannot join them, because Teams is not even open? Is there a way for us to prevent this from happening?

Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Teams for business | Settings | Other
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  1. Hani-N 5,365 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2025-12-01T18:39:38.05+00:00

    Hi @Megan Escobar 

    Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum.   

    Thank you for reaching out and sharing these details. I understand how confusing and concerning it can be to see a former employee appear as an active attendee in meetings. 

    This behavior is actually related to how Microsoft Teams integrates with Outlook and Exchange calendars. When a user is invited to a meeting and has the event on their calendar (especially if it was accepted), Teams may show them as “In a meeting” or list them in the participant pane, even if the Teams app is closed and the user is signed out. This is a presence indicator, not an actual join. The user does not have access to audio, video, or meeting content. 

    To prevent this from happening, here are a few options you can consider: 

    Remove the user from meeting invites 

    1. Open Outlook (desktop or web). 
    2. Go to the Calendar and locate any recurring or upcoming Teams meetings. 
    3. Open the meeting invite and click Edit. 
    4. In the Attendees list, remove the former employee’s email address. 
    5. Click Send Update so the change applies to all participants. 

    Disable presence without deleting the account 

    If you need to keep the account for file access but stop Teams/Exchange presence: 

    Option 1: Block sign-in 

    1. Sign in to Microsoft 365 Admin Center 
    2. Go to Users > Active Users.  User's image
    3. Select the user. 
    4. Under Block sign-in, toggle Yes. 
    5. Click Save changes. User's imageUser's image

    This prevents sign-in but keeps the mailbox and files intact. 

    Option 2: Remove Teams and Exchange licenses 

    1. In Microsoft 365 Admin Center, select the user. 
    2. Click Licenses and Apps. User's image
    3. Uncheck Microsoft Teams and Exchange Online. 
    4. Save changes. 

    This stops calendar presence and Teams integration while keeping OneDrive or other services if needed. 

    Option 3: Hide from address lists 

    1. In Exchange Admin Center 
    2. Go to Recipients > Mailboxes. User's image
    3. Select the user and edit mailbox settings. 
    4. Enable Hide from address lists. 
    5. Save changes. 

    This prevents the account from appearing in global address lists and reduces confusion. 

    Here are some sources that provides more insight: 

    I hope this information is helpful. Please follow these steps and let me know if it works for you. If not, we can work together to resolve this.    

    Thank you for your patience and your understanding. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please feel free to share them in the comments on this post so I can continue to support you. 

    I look forward to your thoughts on this. 

     

    If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".      

    Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.   

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