Where to find and change your work hours in Teams
Your work hours in Microsoft Teams live in your calendar settings, not in the Teams app itself. Open Teams, select your profile picture in the top right corner, then click Settings and more (the three dots). From there, go to Settings > Privacy > Work hours. You can also reach this through the web version at teams.microsoft.com by clicking your profile picture and selecting Settings.
Once you're in the work hours section, you'll see a toggle to turn work hours on or off, and fields to enter the days and times you work. Teams uses this information to show your availability to colleagues and to set when you receive notifications. The changes take effect when ready, though it may take a few minutes for other people's calendars to reflect your updated status.
If you use Outlook on the same device, your Teams work hours and Outlook calendar hours should sync automatically. If they don't match, check that both applications are signed in with the same work account. Teams pulls this data from your calendar settings, so keeping them aligned prevents confusion about when you're actually available.
Key Takeaways
- Work hours in Teams are set through your profile settings under Privacy, not through a dedicated Teams feature.
- You can set different hours for each day of the week, and Teams will show you as away outside those times.
- Your work hours affect when colleagues see you as available and when you receive notifications, but they don't automatically silence your device.
- If you use Outlook, make sure your work hours match in both apps so your availability is consistent across Microsoft applications.
Setting different hours for different days
Teams lets you customize your hours for each day separately. In the work hours settings, you'll see a row for each day of the week with start and end time fields. If you work 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday but have different hours on Wednesday, you can set Wednesday's times independently without changing the others.
To skip a day entirely—say you don't work Saturdays—leave both the start and end time blank for that day. Teams will show you as away during those hours. If you work a split shift or have irregular hours, you cannot set two separate time blocks within a single day in Teams; you would need to pick the broader window that covers both periods, or adjust your settings on days when your schedule changes.
Once you've entered your hours, click Save or Done depending on your device. The change applies to your entire Teams account across all devices you're signed into, so you only need to update it once.
What happens when you set work hours
When work hours are active, Teams shows a status indicator to other people in your organization. Outside your set hours, your status appears as Away even if you're actively using Teams. During your work hours, your status reflects your actual activity—Available if you're using the app, Away if you haven't interacted with it for a few minutes, or Do Not Disturb if you've set that manually.
Work hours also affect notifications. Outside your set hours, Teams will not send you notifications for most messages and calls unless someone marks a message as urgent. During work hours, you receive notifications normally. This helps prevent interruptions when you're off the clock, though you can still manually check Teams and respond to messages if you choose to.
Your work hours do not automatically mute your device or lock you out of Teams. You can still send and receive messages outside your work hours; the setting only changes how others perceive your availability and when notifications arrive. If you need to truly disconnect, you can sign out of Teams or turn off notifications separately in your device settings.
Syncing work hours with Outlook calendar
If your organization uses both Teams and Outlook, you may notice that work hours appear in both places. Teams can pull your working hours from your Outlook calendar automatically, but this only works if your calendar has a specific event or setting that defines your work hours. Check your Outlook calendar settings to see if a work hours block is already scheduled.
To add work hours to your Outlook calendar, open Outlook on the web or desktop, go to Settings > Calendar, and look for Working hours. Set your hours there, and Teams should recognize them within a few minutes. If you set hours in Teams but not in Outlook, the two won't sync—you'll need to update both places separately to keep them consistent.
Some organizations use calendar blocks or recurring events to show work hours instead of using the built-in work hours feature. If your workplace does this, those blocks won't automatically appear in Teams' work hours settings. You would need to manually enter your hours in Teams, or ask your IT department whether your organization uses a different method to manage availability across applications.
Turning work hours off and on
You can disable work hours entirely by toggling the Work hours switch to off in your Teams settings. When work hours are off, your status is based only on your actual activity in Teams—you won't appear as away during any particular times. This is useful if you have a flexible schedule or if you want colleagues to see your real-time availability rather than a preset schedule.
To turn work hours back on, return to the same settings page and toggle the switch on. Your previously saved hours will still be there, so you don't have to re-enter them. If you want to change your hours temporarily—for example, during a vacation week—you can either turn off work hours entirely or update the times for those specific days and then change them back when you return.
Keep in mind that turning off work hours doesn't hide your status from colleagues; it just means your status will update in real time based on your activity rather than following a fixed schedule. If you're taking time off and don't want to appear available at all, you should set your status to Do Not Disturb or Away manually, or use Teams' built-in vacation or out-of-office features if your organization has set those up.
Troubleshooting work hours that won't update
If you've changed your work hours but they're not showing up for other people, first check that you clicked Save and that the change was confirmed. Then sign out of Teams completely and sign back in. Sometimes the app needs to refresh to sync your settings across devices.
If the problem persists, verify that you're signed in with your work account and not a personal Microsoft account. Teams keeps separate settings for each account, so if you have multiple accounts on your device, make sure you're updating the right one. You can check which account is active by looking at your profile picture—it should show your work email address.
If work hours still won't update after signing out and back in, try clearing your Teams cache. On Windows, close Teams completely, then delete the folder at C:\Users\[YourUsername]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Teams. On Mac, close Teams and delete the folder at ~/Library/process Support/Microsoft/Teams. When you reopen Teams, it will rebuild the cache and should sync your settings correctly. If none of these steps work, contact your IT department—they may need to check your account settings on the server side.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I set work hours that are different each week?
No, Teams work hours are fixed to the same schedule every week. You set hours for Monday, Tuesday, and so on, and they repeat every week. If your schedule changes weekly, you would need to manually update your work hours each week, or use a different method like calendar blocks to show your availability.
Do work hours prevent people from messaging me?
No. Work hours only change your status and notification settings. People can still send you messages at any time, and you can still read and respond to them. Messages marked as urgent will still send notifications even outside your work hours. If you want to truly block messages, you need to set your status to Do Not Disturb manually.
Will my work hours show on my calendar?
Work hours appear as your availability status in Teams, but they don't automatically create calendar blocks in Outlook unless you've set them there separately. Some organizations use calendar events to show work hours instead of using Teams' built-in feature. Check with your IT department to see what your organization uses.
What if I work nights or weekends?
You can set your work hours to any times you choose. If you work 6 p.m. to 2 a.m., enter those times in the work hours settings. Teams will show you as away outside those hours and available during them, regardless of whether they're traditional business hours.
Do work hours sync across my phone and computer?
Yes. Work hours are tied to your Teams account, not to a specific device. If you change them on your phone, they update on your computer automatically, and vice versa. All devices signed into your work account will use the same work hours settings.