Every way to stay Available — and which actually works

Why there's no "slack.green" for Teams

If you've looked for Slack, you'll have found cloud tools like slack.green and Idle Pilot that keep your dot green with your laptop off. Here's the catch: both are Slack-only. Microsoft Teams uses a tougher authentication model that's far harder to maintain from a server, so almost nobody offers Teams as a cloud service — the field is mostly mouse jigglers and keep-awake apps that need your machine running. Stay Green On Teams is one of the few built specifically to keep Teams Available from the cloud (and it does Slack too, from one account).

Mouse jigglers

A jiggler — USB dongle or software — nudges your cursor so your machine never goes idle. It works, but only while your laptop stays on, awake and unlocked. Close the lid and Teams flips you to Away in about five minutes. There's no schedule either, so left running you're suspiciously green at 3am. Full comparison: mouse jiggler vs a Teams always-available app →

Caffeine & keep-awake apps

The common trap. Caffeine, Amphetamine and PowerToys Awake stop your computer sleeping — but they don't create any activity, and Teams marks you Away from a lack of input, not from sleep. So your laptop runs all night and Teams still flips you to Away after about five idle minutes. They fix the wrong half of the problem.

Leaving a Teams tab open

Keeping Teams open in a browser tab or the desktop app keeps you Available — until your laptop sleeps or you close the lid, at which point presence stops within minutes. It's free and needs no tools, but it ties "am I Available" to "is my laptop awake," which is exactly the link you're trying to break.

PowerShell & Graph scripts

Technically you can script Teams presence via the Microsoft Graph API. It's free and tweakable — and also fragile, requires your machine on, breaks when Microsoft changes auth, and is a maintenance project. Most people want their evening back, not a side quest.

A note on locked-down work accounts

One honest caveat that applies to every method here: if your employer enforces Conditional Access "Token Protection," Microsoft blocks servers from refreshing your session, so full hands-off coverage isn't possible for anyone. Stay Green On Teams checks your account the moment you connect and tells you straight away — and the trial is free, so you can find out at no cost. How it works & which accounts are supported →