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I'm using Microsoft Teams on a Windows machine. Sometimes I find myself needing to step away from my computer for a moment, but I don't want people in the call to think I am still there.

There doesn't appear to be a way to manually put the call on hold, is there any workarounds for this?

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    In my company, people just announce their temporary absence during call using chat and leaving a message there. I have never thought about using 'hold' function.
    – user11153
    Jul 8, 2022 at 8:57
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    If you put a group call on hold, everyone gets a hold tone. People can't continue the call without you/until you take the call off hold. Jul 8, 2022 at 14:30
  • @spikey_richie Bad memories - I remember being on a global conference call (analogue phones) with 40+ people from scotland/india/us/nz/etc... Someone put their phone on hold and it started playing Local Radio into the call, and noone could get rid of it. The conference call went on with some blatherous talkback going on the entire 3 hours.
    – Criggie
    Jul 8, 2022 at 23:06

3 Answers 3

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Whilst in a call, click ... More and then choose || Hold from the menu

enter image description here

The above screenshot is from the desktop app.

There's currently no documented shortcut key for this operation.

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    Given that my Teams version says it's from yesterday, I guess this is disabled on my work account by some sort of policy ):
    – TeamDman
    Jul 6, 2022 at 17:45
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    "You have Microsoft Teams Version 1.5.00.17656 (64-bit). It was last updated on 06/07/2022." - and it works for me, so yeah possibly the case that it's disabled group-wide. Jul 6, 2022 at 17:46
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    On my Teams Work I only have this option in 1to1 calls, not in meetings. It's of course possible that this is due to company restrictions though. Jul 7, 2022 at 13:47
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    What do the others see when you click on "Hold"? Jul 8, 2022 at 8:05
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    If it puts the whole call on hold then I'll have to change the accepted answer, I just want to individually be on hold
    – TeamDman
    Jul 8, 2022 at 21:37
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As mentioned, the app now has a built-in button for this.

Alternatively, opening the Settings > Devices > Make a test call option will place you in a call with yourself (putting the original on hold), then you can just hang up the test call.

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    The real MVP :)
    – sehe
    Jul 7, 2022 at 12:51
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    If the "hold" option in the menu is disabled by your company, they probably won't be happy about you working around it. Jul 7, 2022 at 20:13
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    @user2357112, the person who decided this (if it actually was a conscious decision) can be very far removed from the people in the meeting, who are who I would care about.
    – Carsten S
    Jul 8, 2022 at 10:21
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The accepted answer works only in calls, not in meetings. However the "Hold" functionality is available also in meetings, just not easily accessible via a built-in GUI button.

To put yourself on hold during a Teams meeting you have to join another meeting.

The easiest way is go to the Calendar tab in the main Teams window and click the Meet now button, and enter your meeting. Now you're on hold in the first meeting, and you can close the new one.

enter image description here

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