Does Teams Show Your Location? Work Location, Wi-Fi and Privacy

Teams does not show your coworkers a map pin or your address, and it does not track where you go. The presence data each coworker's Teams loads about you carries a work location, where it came from, and a building name, with no coordinates; we read that in the Teams web client code on 28 October 2026. What it can show is a work location: In the office, a building name, or Remote. You can set that yourself, or your company can turn on workplace check-in, which updates it when your laptop joins the office Wi-Fi or you plug into a mapped desk monitor. Microsoft says check-in is "always off by default", only works in the Teams desktop app, and is cleared at the end of your working hours. Your profile card also shows your local time. Admins see the IP address and rough location of each sign-in, like any Microsoft 365 app.

Teams is one of several apps that report where and whether you are working. Slack shows only a green or grey dot, and it turns grey after 10 minutes without input on the computer.

What Teams shows about your location, feature by feature

Microsoft's page on work location says it "can only be shared inside users' organization and is not visible to Microsoft". People outside your company, such as guests in a chat, do not see it. Your status and Last seen time work differently: by default they are shared outside, as explained in does Teams show Last seen to external users.

Workplace check-in: how Teams sets your office from Wi-Fi

This is the feature behind most "does Teams track my location" worries. From Microsoft Learn, Configure workplace check-in:

• • It is off by default. An admin enables it with a Teams policy for the whole company or for chosen groups.
• • It needs the Teams desktop app on Windows or macOS. Teams on the web and on phones does not check you in.
• • It reads two signals: the office Wi-Fi network your laptop connects to, and desk peripherals such as a monitor at a bookable desk.
• • With only the Wi-Fi name configured, you show as In the office. With the access-point list mapped to buildings, you show the building name.
• • It updates only during your working hours and clears at the end of them. Microsoft says there is no location history.
• • It "doesn't provide admins with monitoring or reporting views". Microsoft calls it "not a tracking tool".

Admins choose one of three modes. In Ask mode you see a banner and nothing is shared until you opt in. In Inform mode your location is shared until you opt out. In Off mode the feature is disabled. In Ask and Inform modes you can switch it on or off in Teams Settings at any time.

It still tells coworkers something: that you are at the office, or that you are not. If you work from home on a day you said you would be in, a blank or Remote location shows it.

What the Teams client code says about location

We downloaded the Teams web client from teams.microsoft.com/v2 on 28 October 2026, with no sign-in, and printed the location parts of the presence data it asks for, plus its work location messages (teams_presence_check.py, the same script as in our Teams stuck on Away check):

Teams web client fetched 2026-10-28 01:25 UTC

[work location]
  presence fields the client asks for: workLocation {location,locationSource,approximateDetails {id,name,idType}}
  string: In the office
  string: Working remotely
  string: Each time you connect to your organization's networks or devices, your profile card will show you're in the office.
  string: Your work location was cleared because your device is no longer connected to Wi-Fi.
  string: Your work location will be shared with Outlook and Places.
  string: We're unable to automatically set your work location on this device. You'll need to enable OS location permissions for both Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Teams ModuleHost. Once enabled, restart Teams to apply the change.

The presence query names three location fields: location, locationSource (set by you, or detected), and approximateDetails with an id, a name and an id type, which is how a building name reaches your profile card. No latitude, longitude or address field is in it. The messages match Microsoft's description of check-in: the office status comes from the company network or devices, it clears when your device leaves the Wi-Fi, it is shared with Outlook and Places, and automatic check-in needs the operating system's location permission for Teams.

Does the Teams app track your location on your laptop or phone?

The Teams desktop app asks the operating system for location access when you first sign in. Microsoft's support page Manage location sharing in Microsoft Teams says Teams uses it for emergency calls and "IT Admin insights" such as network troubleshooting. You pick Allow all or Keep emergency only. On company-managed devices, these settings are on by default and only IT can turn them off.

To change it yourself: Settings and more, Settings, Privacy, Location. On Windows 11 you can also turn off Let apps access your location for Microsoft Teams in Windows Privacy & security, Location.

On a phone, Teams asks for location only for features that use it, such as emergency calling or clocking in with Shifts. You can deny it in the phone's app settings.

Shifts: clock-in location for frontline workers

If your team uses Shifts with the time clock, a manager can turn on location detection. Microsoft Support says that when it is on and you allow Teams access to your location, "your location is documented when you clock in and out". Only the clock-in and clock-out points are recorded, and the time report shows whether you were at the set site. It is not tracked between those points.

Time zone, IP address and what admins can see

• • Time zone. Your profile card shows your local time, based on the time zone in your Teams or Outlook settings. Coworkers see it when they hover over your name. A different time zone from the rest of your team is visible to anyone.
• • IP address. Microsoft Entra sign-in logs record the IP address and approximate location of each sign-in. A VPN changes what shows there. This is the same for Outlook, OneDrive and every Microsoft 365 app.
• • Presence. Your status dot shows whether you are active, not where. How it is calculated is in does Teams track your activity and how long before Teams shows Away.

For the full picture of what a company can see on a work laptop, read how employers monitor remote workers. How IT locates the laptop itself, through IP logs, Intune and anti-theft agents, is in can my employer track my work laptop location. Slack's version of this question is answered in does Slack track location.

FAQ

Can my boss see my location on Teams?

Only the work location you or workplace check-in set: office, building or remote. Admins also see sign-in IP addresses. Teams has no live map of employees.

Does Teams show if I am working from home?

If work location is in use, coworkers see Remote or no office location. Without it, Teams shows only your status and local time.

Can I turn off location in Teams?

Yes. Choose Keep emergency only in Settings, Privacy, Location, and opt out of workplace check-in in Settings if your company uses Ask or Inform mode. A managed device may lock these.

Does Teams show your time zone?

Yes. Your profile card shows your local time.

Does Teams on my phone track my location?

Workplace check-in does not run on mobile. The phone app uses location only for features you use, such as Shifts clock-in with location detection.