How to leave a Microsoft Team
Microsoft Teams allows multiple people to easily communicate and collaborate together by putting them in a team. The team is normally structured around active directory accounts but guest users can be invited and any email account can be used to invite a user to a Microsoft Teams team.
Leave a Microsoft Team
Users are normally invited to a Microsoft Teams team and until that invitation is accepted, a user is not formally added to the team. When a user is added to a team in Microsoft Teams, they may be granted a license to use the app.
The license is issued by the team administrator who has purchased it for team members. A user that has been invited to a team and given a license will only be able to use the license as long as they remain part of the team.
Additionally, if your email was created specifically for use with a Microsoft Teams team, you may not be able to remove yourself from the team without admin access.
Leave Microsoft team – desktop/web
To leave a Microsoft Teams team from the desktop app or the web app, follow these steps.
- Open Microsoft Teams (or visit it in your browser).
- In the column on the left, select Teams.
- Select the team you want to leave.
- Click the more options (three dots) button next to the team name.
- Select ‘Leave Team’ from the menu.
Note: Once you leave a team, you cannot join it again unless you’re invited.
Leave Microsoft Team – mobile apps
You can leave a Microsoft Teams team from its Android app however, the same feature is NOT available on the iOS app. You will have to use either the desktop or the web app to leave a Microsoft team if you use an iPhone.
- Open the Microsoft Teams app on your Android phone.
- Go to the Teams tab.
- Select the name of the team you want to leave.
- Click the more option (three dots) button and select Leave Team from the menu.
‘Leave team’ option missing
If you’ve followed the above steps on both desktop/web and the Android app, but you do not see the ‘Leave team’ option where it should be, it is likely you’re trying to leave an organization-wide team.
Users cannot voluntarily leave an organization-wide team. They must be removed by the team admin. To check if the team you’re a part of is an org-wide team, do the following.
On the desktop/web app:
- Open Microsoft Teams.
- Select the team you want to leave.
- Tap the more options button and select Manage team.
- Look at the top right corner for an org-wide tag. If it is present, the team is an organization-wide team.
On the Android app;
- Open Microsoft Teams app.
- Go to the Teams tab.
- Tap the more options (three dots) button next to the team you want to leave.
- In the menu, look for ‘Org-wide’ under the team name. If it is present, you cannot leave the team voluntarily.
Conclusion
Leaving a Microsoft Teams team is simple if the team is a private one. Teams configured by organizations are often linked with licenses for the app, among other restrictions, which is why end-users do not have control over who can and cannot be included in the team.
