How to put Microsoft Teams call on hold?

Question

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?

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 08 '22 at 08:57
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. — spikey_richie, Jul 08 '22 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 08 '22 at 23:06

spikey_richie · Accepted Answer · 2022-07-06T10:31:52.080

28

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

The above screenshot is from the desktop app.

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

edited Jul 06 '22 at 10:31

answered Jul 06 '22 at 07:15

spikey_richie

8,367
2
25
42

2

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 06 '22 at 17:45
3

"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. – spikey_richie Jul 06 '22 at 17:46
2

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. – Gerald Schneider Jul 07 '22 at 13:47
1

What do the others see when you click on "Hold"? – Eric Duminil Jul 08 '22 at 08:05
@EricDuminil that's a different question. – spikey_richie Jul 08 '22 at 12:47
1

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 08 '22 at 21:37

TeamDman · Answer 2 · 2022-07-06T17:44:17.847

17

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.

edited Jul 06 '22 at 17:44

answered Jul 05 '22 at 19:59

TeamDman

601
1
5
10

1

The real MVP :) – sehe Jul 07 '22 at 12:51
1

If the "hold" option in the menu is disabled by your company, they probably won't be happy about you working around it. – user2357112 Jul 07 '22 at 20:13
2

@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 08 '22 at 10:21

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 24 '23 at 08:38

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.

How to put Microsoft Teams call on hold?

3 Answers3