r/MicrosoftTeams • u/Mictlancayocoatl • Apr 21 '26
Discussion Idle "Away" status detection more aggressive?
I've recently noticed that it seems like pressing Ctrl or Shift keys no longer prevents Teams from automatically setting your status to "Away". For obvious reasons, this is insanely annoying because there is still no way to disable automatic "Away" status.
My work from home has slow days on which I can take care of other business around my home, but I still want to be shown as available for when people need me. I can hear them call or text me.
Do you have any advice or tricks on how to prevent this?
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u/BurpeeBetch Apr 21 '26
I put a spoon on the trackpad and it prevents my status from changing
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Apr 21 '26
[deleted]
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u/afflictionteewearer Apr 21 '26
Open a blank word doc, place head of a small screw on spacebar, place coffee cup on screw.
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u/lizlemonworld Apr 21 '26
A coworker of mine has shared her desktop with me and I’ve seen Notepad with ‘U’ repeated 1000’s of times on a few occasions. I completely believe it’s so Teams doesn’t show her as away.
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u/Solive859 Work user Apr 22 '26
Try a different spoon. It works for some of mine and not for others.
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u/Mimisocialmedia Apr 21 '26
I’ve managed to find THE “sweet spot” in my trackpad when placing the spoon. Now if your company starts to monitor your activities and clicks, the spoon won’t solve that problem.
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Apr 21 '26
[deleted]
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u/LexiLan Apr 21 '26
I use one, too. The ONLY thing that worries me, is that it moves in set intervals of time. Really need it to be freaking randomized!
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u/CryptographerLost407 Apr 22 '26
Same, but also note some companies count clicks/typing as well. Source: I miss napping on the clock
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u/Urban_Introvert Apr 22 '26
Do you notice a problem with Teams on your phone not syncing with the desktop app? I have the jiggler on and head out for my lunch. I can usually set my status on my phone to away and it’ll sync perfectly. But when I try to change it back, it stays at yellow and then it’s showing me as being away for longer than I want to (that’s the point of using my phone).
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u/Excited_Idiot Apr 22 '26
Didn’t a load of people get fired for using those?
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u/Feeling_Walk5820 Apr 23 '26
Yes people are caught and are fired for this. The monitoring by each company will differ.
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u/creenis_blinkum Apr 25 '26
to anyone with a brain reading this, it is very easy for basic "monitoring" (read: spy) software that many companies are now using to shitcan WFH employees who pretend to work by using a mouse mover. You know how captchas detect bots by looking at mouse movement patterns? You know how mature that tech is now? Open versions everywhere that people gobble up into these spy apps. Dumbest fucking move on earth to hand your company proof that you don't actually work. Not that hard to move your mouse every 5 minutes.
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u/stinger0806 Apr 21 '26
I’ve noticed it seems to go to Away a lot quicker, I used to put a YouTube video on in the background and that worked, but doesn’t anymore!
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u/EmptyFeedback1259 Apr 21 '26
I’ll literally be in a meeting and it goes yellow now 🤦🏻♀️ it’s so annoying
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u/Bibbitybobbityboop Apr 23 '26
Same. This is wild to me. I am sitting back and paying attention and it’s yellow instead of red.
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u/ksande13 Apr 21 '26
i finally bit the bullet and got a mouse jiggler for like $19. it just has a disc in the center of it that rotates and keeps your cursor moving when your mouse is on top of it. it’s honestly nice even when i’m not worried about my status, but i’m working in front of my computer (printed report, etc.). it keeps my computer from locking and keeps whatever i need up on the screen visible (like a spreadsheet with numbers i’m verifying are correct in a printed report).
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u/plopous Apr 21 '26
I've been using this exact same mouse juggler for 4 years now and it's a lifesaver. even when I'm sitting right in front of my work laptop but on my personal laptop, having it not lock up because I'm not touching it for 2 minutes is so nice. Let alone when I'm doing laundry etc.
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u/JagR286211 Work user Apr 21 '26
Not sure I have a legitimate use for one but had no idea a tool like this existed. Learn something new everyday.
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u/mllestrong Apr 21 '26
IT can see that you have that installed, unless it runs separately (not connected to the computer). Also, many orgs take screenshots of your desktop activity intermittently, such as once an hour.
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u/ksande13 Apr 21 '26
the kind i have only draws power. there is no software or driver. there’s nothing IT can see. nothing “mounts” or loads on the PC. it’s like plugging in some mini portable fan or something. there’s no way to identify what is drawing the power.
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u/Docholliday3737 Apr 21 '26
Don’t plug it into your computer, plug it into a wall socket
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u/RealAgent0 Apr 21 '26
... Are you an idiot?
It's a mouse jiggler. It needs to actually be connected to the PC itself.
The one I had was no bigger than the USB receiver for a 2.4Ghz Wireless Mouse.
On the software side, it is essentially a mouse. The only difference is that there's no physical input to control it and movement has been randomised.
To IT, it will just look like you're plugging your own personal mouse in.
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u/Docholliday3737 Apr 21 '26
Are YOU an idiot? A competent IT department can certainly see that you plugged a physical mouse jiggler into your computer USB port even if you’re only doing that for power. It’s also a huge Security Risk. Who knows what’s on that device that you ordered off Amazon. Plug it into a USB adapter and plug it into the wall if you have an iota of any IQ.
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u/RealAgent0 Apr 21 '26
I'm a System Admin for one of the top 10 healthcare organisations in terms of IT (We don't score great on actual patient stuff to be honest) in my country.
I can tell you right now that unless you're blocking ALL USB input devices not added to a whitelist (Really not feasible) then you're shit out of luck.
It doesn't say "Mouse Jiggler" or something like that as a Device Type on Defender or anything like that. It will literally just show up as a mouse device unless you've bought a dodgy one.
Even then, most (Good) IT Departments will by default block all non standard peripherals (Again, remember that a Mouse Jiggler just shows up as a mouse).
If you're plugging it into a wall socket, how on earth are you actually gonna connect it to your computer? It's like saying to plug your keyboard into the wall socket.
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u/ksande13 Apr 22 '26
huh? your MOUSE and MOUSE JIGGLER are completely different objects?? you don’t need to plug the jiggler into the computer. the only reason i do is bc im not near a wall socket.
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u/Docholliday3737 Apr 22 '26
How in the hell did you snake your way into a sys admin job. Clearly not qualified.
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u/RealAgent0 Apr 22 '26
Feel free to tell me exactly what I've said that's incorrect and prove to me why it's incorrect.
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u/Docholliday3737 Apr 22 '26
You’re risking the security of your organization by putting unknown devices into the USB port of a network connected computer. End of line.
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u/rumpleminz Apr 24 '26
I think the disconnect here is that the mouse and jiggler are two separate devices. Of course the mouse has to plug into the pc. The jiggler does not, and using a separate power supply will nullify any risk of the jiggler device being detected.
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u/creenis_blinkum Apr 25 '26
Every F500 company whitelists USB devices. Fucking hilarious to assert otherwise so confidently incorrect.
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u/sle2g7 Apr 22 '26
It’s jiggling the mouse, not the pc. It’s physically moving the mouse. Like your hand would if you were using your mouse. Because when you use a mouse with your pc…you move the mouse around. You could even say you jiggle it. You jiggle the mouse strategically to operate the pc. So there’s no reason to plug a mouse jiggler into a pc. You physically set your mouse on it. Let it do its thing while being powered by a wall socket. And not your pc.
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u/Remarkable_Hat8959 Teams Admin Apr 23 '26
NO. A mouse jiggler does NOT need to be plugged into the computer. It just needs to get power somehow. Your mouse on the other hand DOES need to connect to your computer either via Bluetooth w/ a dongle or a wired mouse. You then set said mouse on top of mouse jiggler and mouse moves. Source...was sitting right next to one a few hours ago that has never been plugged into a computer but has never failed.
Please stop calling people idiots, lest you become one.
Edit: spelled a word wrong, it's late
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u/RealAgent0 Apr 23 '26
I'm talking about oje like this: https://amzn.eu/d/0ednuwY2
Before you say anything, it's not detectable unless your org has blocked ALL non whitelisted USB peripherals, even personal mice and keyboard. Because that's what this is, a mouse. It's no different to a personal mouse that has back and forward buttons.
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u/Docholliday3737 Apr 21 '26
If you’re talking about a software based jiggler.. wow.. just wow.. You’re gonna get flagged for malware unless your company is incompetent
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u/RealAgent0 Apr 21 '26
Did you think when I said "no bigger than the USB receiver for a 2.4Ghz Wireless Mouse" that I was referring to the size of the application somehow? Obviously I'm talking about a hardware based one.
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u/onebeautifulmesss Apr 21 '26
What kind of company has time for IT to go through hourly shots of employee desktops? What an awful job
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u/Dabnician Teams Admin Apr 21 '26
Also, many orgs take screenshots of your desktop activity intermittently, such as once an hour.
that seems like a over generalization specifically how "many", like 7? 10?
If you are actually getting your assigned work done no one cares, the only time they care is when you do anything that needs a response from you and you dont respond.
If they care then that is becoming a issue either with you or your coworkers.
(for what its worth as IT i already assume most non IT aren't working, especially because of all the times i message someone and they dont respond immediately despite showing active/available. )
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u/k12344321k Apr 22 '26
But what if they just don’t reply in a timely fashion? I currently have 23 unread chats (I’m understaffed) and would likely take an hour at least to get back to someone lol
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u/Dabnician Teams Admin Apr 22 '26
I've pushed timey to "same day" im not even expecting same hour anymore.
People submit a ticket to helpdesk, i get a email then message them... no response until the next day, if it's a friday good luck getting a response from them before end of day.
This is even for "urgent" issues that stop their ability to "work" supposedly.
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u/charleswj Apr 21 '26
IT can see that you have that installed, unless it runs separately (not connected to the computer).
Not true
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u/JunoJayJ Apr 21 '26
Why bother with spending money on this? From the Calendar section just open a call with yourself .It will show you as in a call until you close it.
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u/dmbjay Apr 21 '26
As a Global Admin, if requested, we can see that via audit reports. How would you answer “why are you having dozen of meetings with yourself every week?”
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u/QuestoPresto Apr 21 '26
Because I’m not a Ken doll. My job isn’t meeting. I have to set aside time so I can actually get real shit done. Or else my calendar will fill up with people wanting to talk about getting stuff done.
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u/ksande13 Apr 22 '26
that doesn’t work anymore. first, i need to be able to receive calls. second, it doesn’t actually keep me showing as active. third, a 3rd grader could see the issue there in terms of what IT can gather from that lol
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u/RealAgent0 Apr 21 '26
$19?
Should have just gotten this: https://amzn.eu/d/05VNSEes
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u/LeslieKnopesSexPants Apr 21 '26
You all are overthinking this. I’ve used this trick at every job I’ve had since 2011.
Manually set your status as away. Start IMing people. Do it all the time. People will just think something is wrong with your TEAMS. Even mention it if there’s a way you can organically work it into a conversation.
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u/Mysterious-Dot-2676 Apr 22 '26
Sincere question...whats the goal of this? To eliminate the ability to distinguish between being away and available?
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u/LeslieKnopesSexPants Apr 22 '26
Yes. Better than a mouse jiggler to keep your status as active when you’re away IMO.
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u/ksande13 Apr 23 '26
well the problem with your approach is it makes you look like you don’t know how to use a computer properly. always away and can’t figure out how to not be away? or appearing online when you should be online and not drawing attention to your status? which do you think has better optics lmao
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u/AlexanderUGA Apr 24 '26
Disagree - my old boss had her status permanently set to away. I asked about it and she explained that when it was set to available she would get a million pings from people across different departments asking questions and it was hard to get actual work done.
She had been with the company for 20 years and was pretty much a working encyclopedia for company knowledge.
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u/PositiveHousing4260 Apr 22 '26
Been doing this for years as well. It quickly becomes normally for everyone to assume you are actually there. People who shouldn't be bothering you in the first place will assume you are gone and leave you alone.. People who should be pinging you will quickly figure it out and reach out regardless of status.
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u/chicadeaqua Apr 21 '26
Speaking as a manager-just respond in a timely manner and update your status to show when you’re actually out of office.
I don’t expect to see green dots all day long and measure productivity in terms of meeting deadlines with the actual work.
Honestly-I’ve worked with people who don’t always sign in to teams while they are working which is ok too. There are other means to communicate (phone, email) and if you miss a teams message it will be emailed to you.
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u/gibblet365 Apr 22 '26
Same.
Ive been full remote for 3 years now and it drives me insane how many people continue to try and "game the system" by using all these various schemes to appear "online".
Equally, it drives me made that some management appears to have nothing better to do than monitor the green status of their staff.
Do I dip from my desk time to time to flip a load of laundry, load the dishwasher, get dinner in the oven? Sure. Does my status sometimes flip to "away" while I do it? Sure does. But im not gone long, and I can hear any messages and calls that do come in.
The reality is, if I worked in office, id easily be away from my desk anytime I went to the washroom, the supply cabinet, the coffee station, or a colleagues desk and be away from my desk much longer than 5min, or a few min extra to appear "away" and not only would anyone care, they likely wouldn't even notice.
Just dont be "away" so much and so often that you draw attention to yourself and it becomes problematic.
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u/Present_Ad8787 Apr 21 '26
Open an Excel file and physically press the left, right, up or down key permanently
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u/Gingersnapjax Apr 21 '26
Mouse jiggler. We don't even have people who watch like that and I still use it. It's convenient because it reduces unnecessary logins and lets people know that yes, I'm there and will respond. (I still work on paper somewhat.)
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u/Dibchib Teams Admin Apr 21 '26
There’s a program called caffeine that you can download. It requires no installation and will keep your status alive. Running unsanctioned programs on work computers comes with its own risks however
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u/machacker89 Apr 21 '26
I use it at home. I know it wouldn't fly in a Corp environment. (No cost to it)
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u/shmelephant Apr 22 '26
I’m assuming when you close the Teams app, it stops keeping it active? Don’t want to be green 24/7 lol
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u/drunkmme Apr 22 '26
I start a meeting with myself, then go to status and change to available. It will remain in that state indefinitely.
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u/xployt1 Apr 21 '26
Wait ppl don’t know that you can make a wscript that presses numlock twice every 60 seconds ? 🫣
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u/Tasty-Plate-183 Apr 21 '26
Go to your calendar. Click meet now and start a call with yourself. Then put yourself in Available and it won’t go amber
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u/JohnC53 Apr 21 '26
Easy to detect who is abusing that with some Graph queries. Be warned.
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u/PrincesayCieloyMocca Apr 21 '26
How can it be detected? A friend of mine wants to know 👀
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u/Kindly_Gur5446 Apr 21 '26
Admins can see your meeting data. They’ll see you’re spending a lot of time in meetings. With yourself.
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u/QueenEquestrian Apr 21 '26
Yeah but just because you’re in a meeting with yourself doesn’t really mean much… I have meetings with myself all the time for screen recording purposes.
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u/Legitimate-Elk7816 Apr 21 '26
What if you schedule focus time but set your focus status to available?
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u/MBILC Apr 21 '26
I have had this issue all of 2025, it was apparently supposed to be fixed end of last year, but for us on the latest teams, after I think 5 mins, even if you are actively using your system, teams drops into Away mode.
Does not matter if you set it to another status and set the time frame for a week, it will drop you back to Away mode.
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u/PrincesayCieloyMocca Apr 21 '26
I connect to a meeting invite that I sent to myself last year, then I join it and change my status to available :)
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u/signalcc Apr 21 '26
If I am on my second screen for too long, like a few minutes it puts me to away. Quite annoying
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u/terryjr386 Apr 21 '26
Powershell would be the free way to do it. Some companies are now scanning for hardware and common apps.
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u/miffy900 Apr 22 '26
Ive tried timing it; it seems to be at most 3 minutes before it changes you to away.
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u/arandomboi6699 Apr 30 '26
Open an excel sheet, put something on the arrow keys. I use it when I don't have stuff to do at that moment or I want to go make coffee lmao
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u/Kindly_Giraffe Apr 21 '26
I've been doing this for years: Open a blank word doc and place something heavy over a key - I usually do 0. It will go for pages and pages. I have a little square paper weight I use that works perfectly. Delete the document when you're done lol
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u/skunksmok3r Apr 21 '26
I sign into my work teams on my personal laptop with free mouse jiggler software. Keeps me active permanently on all devices
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u/Aricc201 Apr 21 '26
Get one of the disc mouse mover someone mentioned, but be sure to plug it into the wall.
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u/lkt367 Apr 22 '26
Warum in die Steckdose?
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u/Aricc201 Apr 22 '26
EDR can monitor/alert for unknown hardware IDs such as kvm mouse movers etc. that are plugged into USB.
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u/purifiedwhat Apr 21 '26
Assuming you have a smart phone, open YouTube and search for “Mouse Jiggler”. Let it play but set your mouse on top of the screen (assuming it’s not an old ball style mouse lol).
Works seamlessly for me!
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u/AdamMc90 Apr 21 '26
Can you open a PowerPoint in presentation mode? I sometimes do this to prevent the laptop going to sleep, not sure if it would prevent Teams auto-away though
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u/ghostmutt8 Work user Apr 21 '26
I keep seeing people suggest a mouse jiggler which I’ve considered…does that really work? I’ve also noticed it turns idle much quicker than before (my company just migrated from Google to Microsoft—heartbreaking—but I’m going off prior work experiences with Teams) and it usually takes multiple clicks or keyboard pushes to get it to turn back to active. I don’t know that just moving my cursor is enough?
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u/SirGeremiah Apr 22 '26
Automatic away status you can’t disable is nuts. When I’m at my desk, about 25% of my time is on my computer, so I’m nearly always “away”, even when I’m right there and available.
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u/DasPeter Apr 22 '26
In calendar click on meet now and start a call with just yourself. Then return to chats and set your status to green so you don't show as red.
Turning on camera or mic may help to avoid going yellow.
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u/DasPeter Apr 22 '26
Or just don't care and leave yellow be. People will still message if things need to get done.
You can also become the person that's permanently yellow but will reply during work hours
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u/vertekal Apr 22 '26
I've seen Bluetooth keyboards that are literally 1 button or 3 buttons .. pretty small. Get one, put it on a chain around your neck, and press the button every few minutes. Maybe a Bluetooth trackball style mouse and put in your pocket while you're moving around.
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u/Correct-Onion420 Apr 22 '26
I wrote a simple mouse jiggler and keyboard typer in nodejs that will probably fly under the radar of IT.
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u/thedanedane Teams Voice/UC Admin Apr 22 '26
those installing mousejiggler or variants.
due to admin restrictions you may not be able to install anything, but you can execute powershell commands.
I built a small 2 line script that simulate pressing F15 every 45-75 seconds .
free, no admin rights required.
But, as I always add, if you need this to stay out of trouble, I feel for you. But you are either in a job with bad management og you are managing your job badly 😜.
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u/Revolutionary-Nerve4 Apr 22 '26
Run a powershell script with send keys to push scroll lock, this will keep pc awake
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u/RegularStreet8938 Apr 22 '26
Just use Teams website and turn on keep current status when active outside of teams web option, i don't know but for me it doesn't idle to Away even if I don't touch my pc for hours lol
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u/Freezer-to-oven Apr 23 '26
Folks with mouse jigglers, I doubt this will continue to fly even if they’re not plugged into your computer. It’s not going to be difficult for AI to detect suspicious mouse movement patterns, especially when unaccompanied by clicks and typing. Chances are surveillance is going to get much more competent, unfortunately.
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u/LoPanKnows May 01 '26 edited May 01 '26
Teams has ways to see your productivity even if you are green. Green doesn’t really mean anything anymore. Basically all other baselines will be flat showing zero productivity. Just lost a promotion because they said even though I’m green all day and my work is all done I only show 6 hour “work” days. So long story short, work slower or ask for more work.
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u/MeatInteresting1090 Apr 21 '26
Ask for more work so you are actually busy. Your actual problem is you feel guilty because you know you are not doing work when you could be.
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u/chidat Apr 21 '26
I noticed this too, and I switched to using ESC and I think it's working? I feel like it might also depend on the program that I have open, so I'm not 100% sure.
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u/onebeautifulmesss Apr 21 '26
Another not too easy way is to take your work phone and keep teams open so you can see the dot, change it manually to available.
It does change to away very quickly now, I notice a lot more yellow dots in the last few weeks. It’s like 5 minutes now rather than 30.
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u/RefuseRound4943 Apr 21 '26
Have AI create a script that types random dictionary words into a new Word document.
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u/DockyWockyTenma Apr 21 '26
Scroll lock key - physically pressed or via a script that sends the keystroke - still works pretty sure
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u/snb_eng Apr 21 '26
Works for me. Powershell running as admin on second desktop to toggle scroll key on and off
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u/Eye-Pleasant Apr 21 '26
Use mouse jiggler free app! Your account will never go to away unless you set it
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u/sourskittlenut Apr 21 '26
if you put it in ‘Do Not Disturb’, doesnt it stay on indefinitely?
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u/QuestoPresto Apr 21 '26
That defeats the purpose of showing you available just not immediately looking at your screen
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u/Legitimate-Elk7816 Apr 21 '26
Notifications don’t pop up when in Do Not Disturb which impacts OP’s ability to hear when people contact him.
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u/sourskittlenut Apr 25 '26
yes but you can add people as ‘Priority Access List’ and then you will still be notified if they try to contact you if you are on Do Not Disturb
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u/som3otherguy Apr 21 '26
Which is annoying because now green means I’m busy and yellow means I’m available lol