How to Keep Your Teams Light Green (Maintaining Active Status)

PHOTO: DANIEL CONSTANTE / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

Even when we are away from our computers, we must sometimes appear online. Unfortunately, if you leave your computer for an extended period of time, your Teams active status light will become yellow. So, how can you prevent Microsoft Teams from disappearing after five minutes? How do you keep the Teams light on?

First, there isn’t a natural way to do it, so we had to comb the internet for information and do a slew of tests until the indicator stayed green. We did, however, maintain our Teams light green on both Mac and Windows devices.

We’ll walk you through each step below, but the process involves of keeping your computer awake and creating a secret conference. When you do this, Teams will display you as active for as long as you require. Now we’ll walk you through the methods to keep Teams green for longer.

How to Keep the Teams Light Green on Windows

On Windows, we utilize Microsoft Teams more than any other program. Fortunately, after adjusting a few settings and starting a meeting, we were able to maintain our Teams status active for more than six hours.

Hopefully, you will not need to be active for that long, but if you do, follow these steps:

Step 1: Go to Settings

We must first ensure that our computer does not go to sleep before we may remain active. To begin, click the Windowsicon in the lower left corner and pick Settings from the menu.

Keep Teams green
Click the Windows icon in the lower left-hand corner and select Settings.

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Step 2: Go to Personalization

The first settings page will display a plethora of icons and options. To open the next option, select Personalization.

Keep Teams green
Under Settings, click on the Personalization option to open up the next menu.

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Step 3: Click Lock Screen

In the Personalization menu on the left side of your screen, select Lock Screen.

Keep Teams green
Click Lock Screen in the menu on the left side of your screen.

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Step 4: Click Screen Timeout Settings

Scroll to the bottom of the Personalization page and click the Screen timeout settings (it looks like a hyperlink).

Keep Teams green
Click the Screen timeout settings text toward the bottom of your screen.

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Step 5: Click Never

Choose Never from the drop-down menu under Sleep.

To keep Teams running on your laptop, select theNever option underScreen.

Keep Teams green
Select Never from the drop-down menu under Sleep.

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Step 6: Start a Meeting

Now, go to Teams and organize a meeting without inviting anyone (unless you have a friend who wishes to keep involved as well). Your meeting will be opened in a new window.

Keep Teams green
Open Teams and click on the Meet Now button.

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Step 7: Set Your Activity Status to Available

Close or minimize the private meeting window, but do not minimize it. In the top right, click your Activity status. Now, chooseAvailable. Continue with your day while the Teams meeting is still running in the other window.

Keep Teams green
Click your Activity status in the top right and select the green Available light.

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How to Keep the Teams Light Green on Mac

When not using their keyboards, Mac users can keep their Teams light green. Of course, we’ll employ the same workaround as before. You must disable your screen timeouts and launch a private Teams meeting. On a Mac, follow these steps:

Step 1: Go to System Settings

Click the Apple Icon in the upper left corner and pick System Settings (earlier OSX users will see System Preferences; if this is the case, click it) from the dropdown menu.

Keep Teams green
Click on the Apple Icon in the top left-hand corner, then select System Settings from the menu.

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Step 2: Click Lock Screen

To rapidly access it, click the Lock Screen option or put lock screen into the search bar.

Keep teams green
Click on Lock Screen or type lock screen into the search bar at the top left.

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Step 3: Set the Lock Screen Timer to Never

Select Start Screen Saver When Inactive from the drop-down option. Then click Never.

Keep Teams green
Select Never from the drop-down menu next to Start Screen Saver When Inactive.

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Step 4: Start a Meeting

Begin a private meeting with the Teams app. The meeting will be opened in a new window.

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In the Teams app, click the Meet now button to begin a private meeting.

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Step 5: Change Your Teams Activity Status to Green

Close the meeting window but do not shrink or move it. Set your activity status to Available now.

Your Mac will not sleep, and the meeting will cause the application to believe you are active even if you do not move your cursor. You can leave the meeting yet continue to use other apps without losing your Teams green light.

Keep Teams green
With the meeting open in the other window, set your Teams activity status to Available.

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How to Keep the Teams Light Green on a Mobile App

We naturally tested the Teamsmobile app on iOS and Android. Unfortunately, whenever we switched apps or shut our phone screens, the Teams light turned red. We tried the meeting method, as well as launching the desktop version of our mobile web browsers. Unfortunately, none of them maintained our active position.

While there are numerous alternatives, they all involve leaving Teams open on your home screen and periodically tapping the screen. If you want to keep an active status on the Teams mobile app, your best bet is to create a custom away message that lets your colleagues and clients know it’s okay to message you. Here’s how you do it:

Step 1: Tap Your Profile Icon

Launch the Teams app on your mobile device and select the profile icon in the upper left corner.

Step 2: Tap Set Status Message

In the menu, select the option Set status message.

Step 3: Save the Message

Fill in the blanks with your message (it can be whatever you choose). Then, at the bottom, change the expiration date and clickDone.

When someone comes to message you, they will see the red light on Teams, but they will also see a status message informing them that you are accessible.

Other Nifty Teams Workarounds to Keep the Light Green

One thing about us tech geeks is that we are constantly coming up with fresh and exciting ways to work around developer constraints. Fortunately, we’ve discovered a few honorable mention-type remedies that we’ll share with you.

If the procedures listed above do not work for you, you can try the following:

  • Teams changes your status anytime you quit moving the mouse or keys on your keyboard. So, open a Word Doc and place an object on one of the keys. Let the object type for you while you step away for a much-deserved break.
  • You can use a jiggler to make your computer think you re moving your mouse. You can purchase a jiggler device on Amazon, or download an app. Just be sure to read reviews first.
  • Play YouTube, Spotify, or Pandora while Teams is active. Of course, you ll want to test this method first to ensure that it will work.

When you run into a technological stumbling block, get inventive and you’ll soon overcome whatever limits you confront. Of course, simplicity is usually preferable. So, put a calculator on the space bar and go get some coffee. You deserve it.

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08/05/2023 03:54 am GMT

Wrap Up

Microsoft Teams is well-known for producing problems. Some seemingly simple jobs can quickly turn into nightmares. Everything, thankfully, has a workaround. You can utilize the default settings or get creative with some office products and the correct settings. In any case, you may now prevent Teams from displaying when inactive and notify all of your contacts that you are still active on Teams.

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