Managing presence indicators such as Available, Busy, or Away to reflect user availability
If Teams presence updates only after the phone app is opened, the most recent active device is likely controlling presence. When a user is signed in on multiple devices, Teams uses the device that was active most recently to determine status.
Try this end-to-end check:
- On the desktop app, select the profile picture > current status > Reset status.
- On the phone app, also reset the status.
- Then actively use Teams on the computer for a moment so the computer becomes the most recently active device.
- Keep the Teams desktop app in the foreground and confirm the computer is not locked, idle, or asleep. On a computer, Teams changes presence to Away automatically after a few minutes of inactivity or when the computer is locked. It becomes Offline when the computer enters sleep mode.
- If the issue is mainly in Teams for web, turn on Settings > Notifications and Activity > Presence > Keep my current status when I'm active outside of Teams on the web. When prompted by the browser, select Allow. If Block is selected, Teams may still switch to Away while work continues in other tabs or apps.
- If presence still does not reflect correctly on desktop, run the Teams Presence Based on Calendar Events connectivity test in the Microsoft Remote Connectivity Analyzer. Sign in with the affected account, complete verification, and review any warnings or failures shown by the test.
Important behavior to expect:
- If signed in on both desktop and mobile, the device used most recently determines presence.
- On mobile, presence becomes Away when the Teams app is in the background, and Offline after 24 hours of inactivity.
- On desktop, presence becomes Away after inactivity, lock, or idle/sleep.
- A manual status can be reset automatically based on activity, calendar, and computer state.
If the goal is for the computer to drive status for the team, the practical fix is to make the desktop app the most recently active Teams device and prevent the computer from becoming idle or locked while working.