[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":376},["ShallowReactive",2],{"guide-\u002Fguides\u002Fkeep-microsoft-teams-green-windows":3},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"description":365,"extension":366,"lang":367,"meta":368,"navigation":369,"order":370,"path":371,"seo":372,"stem":373,"updated":374,"__hash__":375},"guides\u002Fguides\u002Fkeep-microsoft-teams-green-windows.md","Keep Microsoft Teams green on Windows (without a mouse jiggler)",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":346},"minimark",[9,13,22,25,30,47,50,59,63,81,85,93,96,113,117,151,159,163,166,169,172,198,213,217,224,228,258,265,269,274,280,284,287,291,298,302,309,313],[10,11,5],"h1",{"id":12},"keep-microsoft-teams-green-on-windows-without-a-mouse-jiggler",[14,15,16,17,21],"p",{},"Microsoft Teams on Windows shows you as ",[18,19,20],"strong",{},"Away"," after about five minutes without keyboard or mouse input. Read a long document, take a call on your phone, or sketch something on paper, and your dot turns yellow, even though you are sitting right there.",[14,23,24],{},"Most people try the obvious things first: set themselves to Available, change the power settings, install PowerToys Awake. None of them hold. Here is why, what you can do for free, and what actually keeps you green.",[26,27,29],"h2",{"id":28},"why-teams-on-windows-sets-you-to-away","Why Teams on Windows sets you to Away",[14,31,32,33,40,41,46],{},"Teams does not know whether you are working. It only knows whether the PC it runs on is getting input. Microsoft's troubleshooting article says your status changes to Away \"if your desktop is inactive for more than five minutes\", and it counts the desktop as inactive when you lock the computer, when it enters idle or sleep mode, or when you are actively using the Teams mobile app instead of the desktop app (",[34,35,39],"a",{"href":36,"rel":37},"https:\u002F\u002Flearn.microsoft.com\u002Fen-us\u002Ftroubleshoot\u002Fmicrosoftteams\u002Fteams-im-presence\u002Fpresence-not-show-actual-status",[38],"nofollow","Microsoft Learn: The correct presence status isn't reflected in Teams","). The admin documentation adds that a sleeping computer eventually shows you as Offline (",[34,42,45],{"href":43,"rel":44},"https:\u002F\u002Flearn.microsoft.com\u002Fen-us\u002Fmicrosoftteams\u002Fpresence-admins",[38],"Microsoft Learn: User presence in Teams",").",[14,48,49],{},"On Windows, \"inactive\" means the system idle timer: the time since your last keypress or mouse movement. Teams reads it, and so do Slack, Zoom and Discord.",[14,51,52,53,58],{},"This applies to the current Teams app. If you still remember \"classic Teams\": Microsoft ended its availability on Windows and Mac from July 1, 2025, and pointed everyone to the new Teams app or Teams on the web (",[34,54,57],{"href":55,"rel":56},"https:\u002F\u002Fmc.merill.net\u002Fmessage\u002FMC1059667",[38],"Microsoft 365 Message Center, MC1059667","). The five-minute behavior is the same story in the new app.",[26,60,62],{"id":61},"why-setting-yourself-to-available-does-not-stick","Why setting yourself to Available does not stick",[14,64,65,66,69,70,74,75,80],{},"You can pick ",[18,67,68],{},"Available"," from your status menu, but Teams only lets you manually choose a status that is \"less available than the automatically calculated status\" (",[34,71,73],{"href":43,"rel":72},[38],"Microsoft Learn","). You can also set a duration for every status except Available (",[34,76,79],{"href":77,"rel":78},"https:\u002F\u002Fsupport.microsoft.com\u002Fen-us\u002Foffice\u002Fchange-your-status-in-microsoft-teams-ce36ed14-6bc9-4775-a33e-6629ba4ff78e",[38],"Microsoft Support: Change your status in Microsoft Teams","). Once the idle timer runs past the limit, the automatic Away wins again.",[26,82,84],{"id":83},"why-powertoys-awake-and-power-settings-do-not-keep-you-green","Why PowerToys Awake and power settings do not keep you green",[14,86,87,88,46],{},"PowerToys Awake is a good tool. It keeps your PC from sleeping, and optionally keeps the screen on, by telling Windows that a background thread needs the machine awake. It does not change your power plan and it does not create any input (",[34,89,92],{"href":90,"rel":91},"https:\u002F\u002Flearn.microsoft.com\u002Fen-us\u002Fwindows\u002Fpowertoys\u002Fawake",[38],"Microsoft Learn: PowerToys Awake",[14,94,95],{},"That is exactly the problem. Teams decides you are Away from the idle timer, not from whether the PC is awake. With Awake running, your screen stays on and your dot still turns yellow at the five-minute mark. Microsoft also notes that Awake does not work while the lock screen is displayed.",[14,97,98,99,102,103,106,107,112],{},"Changing ",[18,100,101],{},"Settings > System > Power & battery"," (Windows 11) or ",[18,104,105],{},"Power & sleep"," (Windows 10) has the same limit (",[34,108,111],{"href":109,"rel":110},"https:\u002F\u002Fsupport.microsoft.com\u002Fwindows\u002Fhow-to-adjust-power-and-sleep-settings-26f623b5-4fcc-4194-863d-b824e5ea7679",[38],"Microsoft Support: How to adjust power and sleep settings in Windows","). Longer timeouts stop the screen from turning off or the PC from sleeping, which helps with the Offline case. They do nothing for the five-minute idle trigger.",[26,114,116],{"id":115},"what-you-can-do-for-free","What you can do for free",[118,119,120,135,145],"ul",{},[121,122,123,126,127,130,131,134],"li",{},[18,124,125],{},"Set an honest status."," If you are heads-down, ",[18,128,129],{},"Busy"," or ",[18,132,133],{},"Do not disturb"," with a duration often says more than a green dot.",[121,136,137,140,141,144],{},[18,138,139],{},"Run Teams where you type."," Teams follows the device where you were most recently active (",[34,142,73],{"href":43,"rel":143},[38],"). If you answer Teams on your phone while the laptop sits idle, the phone's state can take over, and the mobile app shows Away as soon as it is in the background.",[121,146,147,150],{},[18,148,149],{},"Lengthen screen and sleep timeouts",", if your workplace allows it. This helps against locking and sleep, not against the idle timer.",[14,152,153,154,158],{},"For the full breakdown of the triggers, see ",[34,155,157],{"href":156},"\u002Fguides\u002Fteams-away-after-5-minutes-windows","Teams goes Away after 5 minutes on Windows: why and how to fix it",".",[26,160,162],{"id":161},"what-actually-keeps-you-green","What actually keeps you green",[14,164,165],{},"To stay green, something has to reset the Windows idle timer. Reset it and every presence-aware app reads you as active at once, because they all read the same timer.",[14,167,168],{},"Full disclosure: Stay Green is our app, and it does exactly that. It sits in the system tray and watches the idle timer. Only once you have actually been idle for a few minutes (four by default, adjustable) does it send one harmless keypress, F20 by default, a key standard keyboards do not have and that does nothing visible. Windows counts it as input, the idle timer resets, and Teams, Slack, Zoom and Discord keep showing you as active. Your cursor never moves.",[14,170,171],{},"It is also built around the working day:",[118,173,174,180,186,192],{},[121,175,176,179],{},[18,177,178],{},"Work hours."," It pauses itself outside your work hours (9 to 5 by default, adjustable), so you are not shown as Available at midnight.",[121,181,182,185],{},[18,183,184],{},"Lunch pause."," Set an optional lunch break and it steps aside then too.",[121,187,188,191],{},[18,189,190],{},"Meeting aware."," When it notices you are on a call, it relaxes, because the call already keeps you active.",[121,193,194,197],{},[18,195,196],{},"Screen awake, optionally."," You can also stop the display from sleeping while Stay Green is on, like PowerToys Awake.",[14,199,200,201,205,206,209,210,158],{},"Stay Green runs on Windows 10 and 11 (x64). One license works on a Mac or a PC, and the ",[34,202,204],{"href":203},"\u002Fdownload","14-day free trial needs no card",". The installer is not code-signed yet, so Windows may show \"Windows protected your PC\" the first time; click ",[18,207,208],{},"More info",", then ",[18,211,212],{},"Run anyway",[26,214,216],{"id":215},"why-not-a-mouse-jiggler","Why not a mouse jiggler?",[14,218,219,220,158],{},"A USB jiggler or a cursor-moving app works, because it creates real input. But the pointer drifts on screen (awkward when you share your screen), a dongle takes a port, and most run around the clock with no idea of your work hours. We compare the options honestly, including Move Mouse, PowerToys Awake and Caffeine, in ",[34,221,223],{"href":222},"\u002Fguides\u002Fmouse-jiggler-alternative-windows","a mouse jiggler alternative for Windows",[26,225,227],{"id":226},"honest-caveats","Honest caveats",[118,229,230,240,246,252],{},[121,231,232,235,236,239],{},[18,233,234],{},"A locked screen is Away, whatever you run."," Teams treats a locked computer as inactive (",[34,237,73],{"href":43,"rel":238},[38],"). No app on your PC changes that, and it should not.",[121,241,242,245],{},[18,243,244],{},"Respect your IT lock policy."," Many managed PCs lock after a set time through Group Policy, for good security reasons. Stay Green is not meant to get around that. If your company sets a lock timeout, leave it in place.",[121,247,248,251],{},[18,249,250],{},"Your phone can override your PC."," If you are active in Teams mobile, that device can decide your status.",[121,253,254,257],{},[18,255,256],{},"Check your workplace policy."," Some employers have rules about activity simulation. Stay Green is built for the honest case: not dropping to Away while you read, think, take a call or wait on a long task.",[14,259,260,261,158],{},"Stay Green reads nothing, logs no keystrokes and never looks at your screen. The only things that leave your PC are an update check and a license check. More on that in ",[34,262,264],{"href":263},"\u002Fguides\u002Fis-stay-green-safe-to-use-at-work","is Stay Green safe to use at work?",[26,266,268],{"id":267},"faq","FAQ",[270,271,273],"h3",{"id":272},"does-powertoys-awake-keep-teams-green","Does PowerToys Awake keep Teams green?",[14,275,276,277,46],{},"No. Awake keeps the PC (and optionally the screen) awake, but it does not create input, so the idle timer still runs and Teams goes Away after about five minutes (",[34,278,92],{"href":90,"rel":279},[38],[270,281,283],{"id":282},"does-stay-green-move-my-mouse","Does Stay Green move my mouse?",[14,285,286],{},"No. By default it sends a single F20 keypress, which does nothing visible. Your cursor stays where it is.",[270,288,290],{"id":289},"does-it-work-for-slack-too","Does it work for Slack too?",[14,292,293,294,158],{},"Yes. Slack reads the same idle timer, with a 10-minute limit instead of five. See ",[34,295,297],{"href":296},"\u002Fguides\u002Fkeep-slack-active-windows","keep Slack active on Windows",[270,299,301],{"id":300},"i-also-use-a-mac-does-my-license-work-there","I also use a Mac. Does my license work there?",[14,303,304,305,158],{},"A Stay Green license works on a Mac or a PC. A purchased license is active on one device at a time, and you can deactivate it to move it to another machine. For the Mac version of this guide, see ",[34,306,308],{"href":307},"\u002Fguides\u002Fkeep-microsoft-teams-green-mac","keep Microsoft Teams green on Mac",[26,310,312],{"id":311},"sources","Sources",[118,314,315,320,325,330,335,340],{},[121,316,317],{},[34,318,45],{"href":43,"rel":319},[38],[121,321,322],{},[34,323,39],{"href":36,"rel":324},[38],[121,326,327],{},[34,328,79],{"href":77,"rel":329},[38],[121,331,332],{},[34,333,92],{"href":90,"rel":334},[38],[121,336,337],{},[34,338,111],{"href":109,"rel":339},[38],[121,341,342],{},[34,343,345],{"href":55,"rel":344},[38],"Microsoft 365 Message Center: Classic Microsoft Teams end of availability (MC1059667)",{"title":347,"searchDepth":348,"depth":348,"links":349},"",2,[350,351,352,353,354,355,356,357,364],{"id":28,"depth":348,"text":29},{"id":61,"depth":348,"text":62},{"id":83,"depth":348,"text":84},{"id":115,"depth":348,"text":116},{"id":161,"depth":348,"text":162},{"id":215,"depth":348,"text":216},{"id":226,"depth":348,"text":227},{"id":267,"depth":348,"text":268,"children":358},[359,361,362,363],{"id":272,"depth":360,"text":273},3,{"id":282,"depth":360,"text":283},{"id":289,"depth":360,"text":290},{"id":300,"depth":360,"text":301},{"id":311,"depth":348,"text":312},"Teams on Windows flips you to Away after about five minutes without input. Here is why PowerToys Awake and power settings do not fix it, the free options worth trying first, and how to stay green on Windows 10 and 11.","md",null,{},true,13,"\u002Fguides\u002Fkeep-microsoft-teams-green-windows",{"title":5,"description":365},"guides\u002Fkeep-microsoft-teams-green-windows","2026-10-19","ouFWkS7480E3LY_Dc-Ug4awOVIONMNA9S0gZ8g8adas",1792953342943]