Configuring settings in Microsoft Teams

Description

You can change the settings in Teams to suit your individual needs. This article will focus on the following: 

1. General settings to keep Teams running whenever you're at your workstation 

2. Notifications settings to ensure you never miss an important message 

3. Devices settings to check that your microphone and camera are ready to go 

4. Using status colors and messages to let others know when you are (and aren't) available to chat 

Environment

Mac, PC, web browser, and mobile app

Solution 

1.  In the top right of your Teams window, click on your profile icon, which appears as your employee picture or your initials

2. Click on Settings

   

3. On the left, you will see the following settings options: General, Privacy, Notifications, Permissions, and Calls

General settings

To ensure you're reachable during work hours, it's best to have Teams open whenever you're at your workstation

1. Under the General tab, make sure the following are checked:

   • Auto-start application

   • Open application in background

   • On close, keep the application running

Notifications settings

1. By managing your notifications in Teams, you can control which types of notifications you receive:

   • Banner notifications appear in the bottom-right of your screen when you have the Teams app open

   • Banner and email notifications

     • When you have the Teams app open, you will receive a banner notification

     • If you do not check the banner notification or if the Teams app is closed, you will receive a follow-up email notification

   • Only show in feed means that you will receive a small, unintrusive (but potentially easy-to-miss) notification in your Activity feed

2. The following Notifications settings will make important messages hard to miss:

• Mentions: 

  • Personal mentions - Banner and email

  • Channel mentions - Banner and email

  • Teams mentions - Banner and email

• Messages:

  • Chat messages - Banner and email

  • Replies to conversations I started - Banner

  • Replies to conversations I replied to - Banner

  • Likes and reactions - Banner

  • Followed channels - Banner and Email

  • Trending - Only show in feed

• Other:

  • Team membership changes - Banner

  • Team role changes - Banner

  • Notification sounds - Call, mention and chat

  • Missed activity emails - Once every hour

Device settings

This is where you can check to ensure your system is ready for video chat, especially if you're using something other than your device's built in microphone or camera.

Instead of waiting for a meeting to begin, you can make a test call to assess your device settings beforehand.

If you are having sound or video issues during a meeting, you can return to this screen to assess your device settings.

Using status colors and messages

Whether you're away, offline, or busy, Teams will share your status with anyone who tries to message you. Although your status will update automatically based on your availability in your Outlook calendar, you can also change your status manually:

1. Select your profile icon in the upper right corner of your Teams window

   

2. Here, you can set:

   • Your status:

     • Turning on Do not disturb will mute all Teams notifications until you turn it back off, which can be very useful for reducing distractions

     • Microsoft has a full list of statuses in Teams

   • Your status message (e.g. "Be back by 1:20pm" or "Working from home")

     • This can be set for a few hours, a day, a week, or a custom time frame.

     • Note: When you have set out of office replies in Outlook, your status will appear as a purple circle with an arrow in Microsoft Teams.

Outcome: You should now be able to check and configure settings in Microsoft Teams

Get help from OIT

• Visit the Microsoft Teams page to create a ticket

• Visit the Help and Resources article for further assistance with Microsoft Teams

• Visit the Technology Resources and Training page for an OIT training