How to Keep Microsoft Teams Running in the Taskbar

Microsoft Teams staying open in the Taskbar lets you keep the collaboration app handy even when you close its main window. This setting ensures Teams is ready to go instantly.

Microsoft Teams is a program for work and school communication, letting you chat, call, and share files. The free version often appears on your Windows Taskbar.

By default, Teams might close completely when you click the ‘X’ button. However, a recent update allows Teams to keep running in the background, like a small icon on your Taskbar.

Keeping Microsoft Teams running in the Taskbar helps you avoid slow loading times and ensures you never miss an important message or meeting notification. This quick method allows you to jump back into your Teams conversations faster.

Turn “On close, keep the applications running and minimize it to the taskbar” on or off in Teams

You can keep Microsoft Teams running in the background, minimized to your taskbar, even after you close the main window. This setting makes sure you don’t miss any messages or calls while you’re working on other things.

Here’s how.

First, launch the Microsoft Teams app by clicking the Start menu and selecting Teams on the All Apps list. This action opens the main Microsoft Teams window, allowing you to access its features and settings.

You can also launch the app from the Taskbar or Taskbar overflow.

When you first launch the Teams app, the mini window will open. Click the expansion button on the menu bar to open the full Teams window.

In the full Teams window, click the Settings and more ( …) button next to your profile picture and select Settings from the menu.

Next, select the General tab on the left of the Settings page. Then, under ‘System,’ check the box next to “On close, keep the application running and minimize it to the taskbar” to enable it.

To disable it, uncheck the box.

That should do it!

Conclusion:

• Enabling this feature allows quick access to the Teams app without reloading
• Helps in ensuring essential notifications and messages are not missed when away from the computer
• Convenient for swiftly joining meetings or calls without reopening the app from scratch