Teams Away vs Offline: What Each Status Means and Who Sets It

In Microsoft Teams, Away means you are signed in but Teams sees no activity: about 5 minutes without keyboard or mouse input, a locked screen, Teams in the background on your phone, or Away set by hand. Offline means Teams sees no device signed in at all: you signed out, the computer is asleep, or you picked Appear offline. Away is a yellow clock and Offline is a grey circle with an x. Messages reach you in both states.

Microsoft's admin documentation puts it this way: on a computer, presence "becomes Away automatically if they're inactive for a few minutes or if the computer is locked; and it becomes Offline when the computer enters sleep mode." Slack has only two states, active and away, and its own timer.

Away vs Offline at a glance

Both show a "Last seen" time on your profile card; how it is set is in what does Last seen mean on Teams.

The four statuses that look alike

We drew these badges from Microsoft's own files on 7 October 2026: the icons from Microsoft's Fluent system icons, the colours from the Teams light theme in @fluentui/tokens, and the choice of icon from the PresenceBadge component in @fluentui/react-badge 9.5.6, Microsoft's open-source UI library. Its code gives Away and Offline their own icons, and the same purple arrow for both when Out of office is on, so during automatic replies you cannot tell Away from Offline by the icon:

case 'away':
    return outOfOffice ? presenceOofRegular[size] : presenceAwayFilled[size];
case 'offline':
    return outOfOffice ? presenceOofRegular[size] : presenceOfflineRegular[size];

• • Away vs Be right back. Same yellow clock. Teams sets Away by itself when you are idle, and you can also choose Appear away. Be right back is never set automatically; someone chose it. The automatic kind is what people call inactive, covered in what does inactive mean on Teams.
• • Offline vs Appear offline. Same grey x. Coworkers cannot tell whether you are signed out or hiding. Appear offline lasts until you change it, and you keep using Teams normally; how to set it and what still gives you away is in how to appear offline on Teams.

Hover over a name to see the status in words. The icon alone does not say who set it.

How Teams moves you from Away to Offline

On a computer, the order is Available, then Away after about 5 minutes without input or when you lock the screen, then Offline once the computer sleeps or you quit and sign out. Closing the lid usually means sleep, so a closed laptop reads as Offline within minutes; details in does Teams stay green when the computer is asleep.

On a phone, Teams shows Away as soon as the app goes to the background, and Microsoft says it becomes Offline "after 24 hours of inactivity". When you use more than one device, Teams shows the status of the device you used most recently, so your phone can show you Away while your laptop is asleep.

What coworkers can assume from each

Away says "signed in, not at the keyboard right now". A reply is likely soon, and people often message anyway. It says nothing about why: a meeting in a room, lunch, or reading a printout all look the same.

Offline says "not in Teams on any device, or hiding". People usually expect a reply later. If you use Appear offline during work hours, a manager who checks your status sees the same thing as if you had signed off.

Neither status blocks anything. Chats are delivered either way, and you see them when you look. For calls, a signed-in device can still ring while you show Away; with no device signed in, the caller gets voicemail or a missed call.

How to change between Away and Offline yourself

• Select your profile picture in Teams.
• Select your current status.
• Pick Appear away, Be right back or Appear offline. To go back to automatic, pick Reset status.

You can also type /away or /offline in the search box at the top of Teams. If Teams keeps showing Away when you did not choose it, work through Teams status stuck on Away.

FAQ

What is the difference between Away and Offline in Teams? Away means you are signed in but idle, locked, or set it by hand. Offline means no device is signed in, the computer is asleep, or you chose Appear offline.

Does Offline mean someone signed out of Teams? Not always. Appear offline looks the same as being signed out, so the person may be using Teams.

Can I still message someone who is Away or Offline? Yes. Messages are delivered in both states and wait until the person opens Teams.

How long before Teams goes from Away to Offline? On a computer, when it sleeps or Teams is closed. On a phone, after 24 hours without using Teams.

Is Be right back the same as Away? They share the yellow clock icon, but Be right back is only ever set by hand.