Managing presence indicators such as Available, Busy, or Away to reflect user availability
Hi @Sci Lee,
Thank you for sharing this detailed description.
From what you described, this behavior is most likely due to how Teams manages presence in the background. Even if your status appears as Available, Teams may briefly switch your presence behind the scenes based on activity signals such as keyboard/mouse input, short idle periods, screen lock, system sleep, calls, or calendar updates. When your status transitions back to Available, even for a moment, it can trigger a new notification for anyone tracking your presence.
Reference: User presence in Teams - Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn.
Please try the following steps to troubleshoots:
1/ Update and refresh Teams sessions
Make sure both you and your colleague are using the latest Teams client. Then sign out of Teams completely and sign back in to refresh presence synchronization.
2/ Clear Teams cache
For Windows:
- If Teams is still running, right-click the Teams icon on the taskbar and select Quit.
- Press Windows + R to open the Run dialog box.
- In the Run dialog box, enter the following path and click OK:
%userprofile%\appdata\local\Packages\MSTeams_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache\Microsoft\MSTeams
- Delete all files and folders in this directory.
- Restart Teams.
For macOS:
- If Teams is still running, right-click the Teams icon in the dock and select Quit, or press Command + Q.
- Open Finder > go to Applications > Utilities > double-click Terminal.
- Enter the following commands, pressing Return after each one:
rm -rf ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.com.microsoft.teams
rm -rf ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.teams2
- Restart Teams.
For reference: Clear the Teams client cache - Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn
3/ Check for brief idle or system state changes
Even short inactivity (for example, stepping away briefly, screen dimming, or system sleep) can switch your status to Away and then back to Available, which will trigger notifications again.
Reference: Change your status in Microsoft Teams - Microsoft Support
4/ Review Outlook calendar interactions
Teams also updates presence based on calendar events. A quick change to Busy or In a meeting, followed by a return to Available, can generate another notification.
5/ Reset the presence notification on your colleague’s side Ask your colleague to:
- Go to Settings > Notifications and activity
- Under Presence, select Manage notifications
- Remove the alert for you, then add it again.
For reference: Manage notifications in Microsoft Teams - Microsoft Support.
If it continues:
Please ask your IT admin to run the Teams Presence diagnostic in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center to check for any presence-related issues, following the guidance in The correct presence status isn't reflected in Teams - Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn.
They can also open a support ticket through the Microsoft 365 Admin Center using the steps in Get support - Microsoft 365 admin | Microsoft Learn. This will allow Microsoft support engineers to review backend presence logs and investigate synchronization behavior in more detail.
If you’re unsure who your IT admin is, you can find guidance here: How do I find my Microsoft 365 admin? - Microsoft Support.
I hope this helps clarify what may be causing the repeated notifications. If you notice any patterns (for example, notifications after specific actions), please feel free to share. I’d be happy to help look into it further.
Thank you for your patience and understanding, and I look forward to supporting you.
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