Teams Status Automatically Changes from "Away" to "Offline" After ~15 Minutes When System is Locked

Dustin 0 Reputation points
2026-04-22T08:30:52.64+00:00

User is experiencing an unusual Teams presence issue
Problem Description:** - User sets their status to "Away" and locks their system - After approximately 15 or 20 minutes, the status automatically changes to "Offline" - This is NEW behavior - the user did not experience this issue previously
and user is also connected to internet when locked the system

Triubleshooting performed

  • Cleared Teams cache
    *Reset Teams app completely,
  • Checked the open application in background, issue still persists

What else could be done to keep the presence as away even after locking the system 1 hr. and let us know how to fix this issue

Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Teams for business | Settings | Online status
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  1. AI answer

    2026-04-22T08:31:28.0866667+00:00

    Teams presence is designed to follow activity, calendar, and device state. When the computer is locked or idle, Teams automatically moves from Available to Away, and can later show Offline when there is no active connection/activity for a longer period. This behavior is automatic and cannot be fully overridden, but the impact can be reduced.

    Key points and options:

    1. Automatic status behavior
      On desktop, Teams automatically changes presence based on computer state:
      • Available → Away when the computer is locked or goes idle/sleep.
      • Extended inactivity or loss of connectivity can lead to Offline.
        This is by design and not controlled by cache or app reset.
    2. Adjust device idle/sleep behavior
      Because status changes are tied to lock/idle, extending the time before the device is considered idle can help keep the account from going Offline as quickly:
      • Increase the time before the device sleeps or turns off the display.
      • This aligns with guidance that changing the device’s sleep/idle settings can delay the switch from Available to Away.
    3. Manually set and time-bound statuses
      Teams allows manually setting a status and a duration, but after the duration ends, Teams returns to automatic behavior based on activity, calendar, and device state:
      • Set Away and then set a Duration (for example, 1 hour).
      • After the duration, Teams will again follow normal rules and may show Offline if the device remains locked and inactive.
    4. Multi-device considerations
      If Teams is signed in on multiple devices (for example, desktop and mobile), presence can be influenced by the other device:
      • If another device (like mobile) remains active, its status can be reflected on desktop.
      • To test behavior, sign out of Teams on other devices and observe whether the desktop still moves to Offline in the same way.
    5. Known macOS-specific presence behavior (if using Mac)
      On macOS, there is a known issue where presence subscriptions can expire when the device is locked and not be recreated on resume, causing stale or incorrect presence. Workarounds include:
      • Manually resetting status after unlocking.
      • Restarting the Teams client on macOS.
      • Signing out of Teams on other devices if they are affecting presence.
    6. When to escalate
      If presence is consistently incorrect (for example, showing Offline while actively using Teams, or not updating at all), and not just after long idle/lock periods, an administrator can:
      • Run the Teams Presence diagnostic in the Microsoft 365 admin center to verify presence requirements and follow the remediation links provided.

    There is no supported setting to force Teams to remain permanently Away for long periods while the device is locked. The practical options are to extend device idle/sleep timers, use status duration for planned periods, and ensure no presence issues exist by using the admin diagnostic if behavior appears abnormal beyond the expected automatic changes.

    References:

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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  2. Jess-Q 12,705 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-04-22T10:10:15+00:00

    Hi @Dustin

    Regarding your issue, may I kindly ask a few questions to help understand it better. 

    • Does the same behavior occur if you sign in to Teams on the web or does it only happen in the Teams desktop app? 
    • Are other users in your organization experiencing the same presence behavior when locking their devices, or does this seem to affect only your account? 
    • On your device, have you configured Screen, Sleep, and Hibernate timeouts so that “Turn my screen off after” and “Make my device sleep after” are set to 1 hour (or longer) to see if it triggers the issue? You can do this by going to System > Power & battery > Screen, Sleep, and Hibernate timeouts  
    • Have you tried manually setting your Teams status to Away and using Set duration to keep it for 1 hour, then locking the device to see if the status still changes to Offline within that time window? 
    • User's image
    • Have you tried running the Microsoft diagnostic outlined in the following article to see if it helps identify the issue? For more details, please refer to: The correct presence status isn't reflected in Teams

    Hope to hear back from you soon.   

    The initial response may not fully address your needs, but it will help me better understand your situation. Once I get the information, I will try my best to find the next steps.  

    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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