What Does the Purple Arrow Mean on Teams? Out of Office

The purple arrow on Microsoft Teams means Out of office. It is a purple circle with a white arrow pointing left, and Teams shows it in two cases: the person turned on automatic replies, or their Outlook calendar has an event right now with Show as set to Out of office. It does not mean they are offline. Someone can be at work in Teams and still show the purple arrow, because the reply or the calendar event decides it, not their activity.

The arrow goes away when the automatic reply period ends and no Out of office event is running. The rest of this page covers what others see, how to set it, and how to clear a purple arrow that stays after you are back. If you are also in Slack, which has no Out of office status, the equivalent is a status with an end time; Slack Green handles the other half of Slack presence, keeping you green from a server during the hours you set.

What sets the purple arrow in Teams

Microsoft's presence documentation says Out of office "is used when an automatic reply is set or your calendar has an event set to show as 'Out of Office.'" Those are the only two sources:

Teams and Outlook share the same automatic replies. Turn them on in one and they are on in the other.

What others see when you show the purple arrow

• • The purple arrow next to your name, in chats, the people list and Outlook contact cards.
• • Your out of office message, at the top of a chat when someone starts writing to you, and on your profile card.
• • Your activity, if you are active. Microsoft notes that if you use Teams during an out of office period, your presence shows next to the Out of office indicator. A profile card can read "Available, Out of office" or "In a call, Out of office".
• • An email auto-reply in Outlook to anyone who emails you in the period.

Messages still arrive and notify you as usual. Out of office does not mute anything.

Out of office vs Away vs Offline in Teams

Away is about the next few minutes; Out of office is about days. The yellow clock is covered in what does inactive mean on Teams, and every icon is in Microsoft Teams status icons meaning.

How to set the purple arrow in Teams

From your profile picture (desktop or web)

Select your profile picture, then Set status message.

Select Schedule out of office at the bottom.

Turn on Turn on automatic replies and type a message. Teams requires a message.

To set dates, select Send replies only during a time period and choose the start and end.

Select Save.

The same screen is under Settings and more, Settings, General, Out of office, Schedule.

Phone app. Tap your profile picture, tap your status, then Out of office. Turn on Set auto reply, write the message, and set the start and end dates.

From Outlook. An event with Show as set to Out of office turns you purple for its length, without any auto-reply. That suits a half-day away where you do not want to email everyone.

Message examples, and the difference between a status message and a full out of office, are in how to set an away message in Teams.

How to remove the purple arrow

Turn off automatic replies. In Teams, open Settings, General, Out of office, Schedule, turn off Turn on automatic replies, and select Save. In Outlook, turn off Automatic replies in the same way; they are one setting.

Check today's calendar. Open Outlook and look for an event that covers now with Show as: Out of office. All-day vacation events and holiday calendars are the usual ones. Change it to Free or delete it.

Give it a few minutes. Teams picks up calendar and reply changes on its own. Microsoft notes delays of up to one hour for mailboxes hosted on-premises.

Purple arrow stuck on Teams after you are back

If you turned off automatic replies and still show purple, one of these is usually why:

• A calendar event you forgot. A multi-day vacation event marked Out of office keeps you purple until its last day ends, even with replies off.

• An end time that has not passed. Replies scheduled to end at 5 pm on your first day back keep you purple all that morning.

• Replies turned back on in Outlook. Outlook on another computer, or a delegate who manages your calendar, can turn them on again. Check both apps.

• An old cached status. Sign out of Teams and sign back in. If the arrow stays for more than an hour after you fixed the reply and the calendar, ask your IT team to check your mailbox.

For a status stuck on the yellow clock instead, see Teams status stuck on Away.

The purple arrow in Outlook

Outlook takes presence from Teams, so the same purple arrow shows on contact cards and in the email header of someone who is out of office. The colors in Outlook are in Outlook status colors meaning.

Out of office on Slack

Slack has no purple arrow. People set a status such as :palm_tree: "Vacationing" with an end date, and pause notifications for the same period. The steps and message examples are in Slack out of office.

FAQ

What does the purple arrow mean on Teams? Out of office. The person has automatic replies on, or an Outlook event marked Out of office is running.

Does the purple arrow mean the person is offline? No. They may be active in Teams. The arrow comes from their reply settings or calendar, not their activity.

How do I get rid of the purple arrow on Teams? Turn off automatic replies in Teams or Outlook, and change any current calendar event shown as Out of office to Free.

Why is my Teams status purple when I am not out of office? An Outlook event marked Out of office covers the current time, or automatic replies are still on.

What is the difference between Out of office and Away in Teams? Out of office is a planned absence from your replies or calendar. Away is a few minutes of no activity or a locked screen.

Can people still message me when I show the purple arrow? Yes. Messages arrive as usual, and senders see your out of office message in the chat.