If you have ever clicked “Share” in a Microsoft Teams meeting and accidentally clicked “Leave” instead, you are not alone. The Quit option in Teams has caught plenty of people out, especially when you are clicking quickly between controls during a fast-paced meeting. Microsoft has now moved it to the system tray, so you are far less likely to drop out of a call by mistake.
Hi, I’m Andy from Initial IT. We run Microsoft Teams across most of our clients in Lichfield, Tamworth, Cannock and the wider West Midlands, and this fix has come up in nearly every weekly check-in for months. So here is what is changing, and the setting you should switch on while you are in there.
Key takeaways
- Microsoft has moved the Teams Quit button into the system tray, away from the main meeting controls.
- The desktop app should update automatically. Nothing your IT team needs to switch on.
- It is not a perfect cure: you can still misclick the Leave button next to Share.
- Turn on the “confirm before leaving a meeting” setting in Teams. It is hiding in Settings › General.
- Microsoft is also rolling out an option to hide the meeting toolbar during calls, freeing up screen space when presenting.
Why was the Teams Quit button a problem in the first place?
The old Teams meeting controls clustered everything close together: mic, camera, share, react, and Leave. In a fast-moving meeting (and most of ours are), it was very easy to aim for Share and land on Leave. Awkward at best, embarrassing in front of a client at worst.
Enough people complained that Microsoft has now decoupled Quit from the in-meeting cluster. You can still leave a meeting from the obvious in-meeting button, but a stray click is much less likely to end your call.
What has changed and where the button now lives
If you use the Microsoft Teams desktop app on Windows, the new behaviour should already be live. The Quit option has moved into the system tray (the small area near the clock at the bottom-right of your taskbar). Nothing for your IT team to flip. It is just there.
Quick disclaimer: this does not eliminate the risk of misclicking Leave instead of Share inside the meeting controls. If you click the wrong button, you still leave the meeting. Microsoft has just removed one of the worst overlap traps.
The setting most people have never turned on
While we are talking about Teams, there is a hidden setting that does properly help. Open Teams Settings › General and switch on the option to confirm before leaving a meeting. Teams will then ask “Are you sure you want to leave?” before dropping you. One extra click, no more disappearing acts.
And one more Teams change worth a heads-up
Microsoft is also rolling out an option to hide the meeting toolbar during a call. More screen, fewer distractions when you are presenting a deck or sharing a complicated spreadsheet. Useful when you are working on a 13-inch laptop in a Lichfield meeting room and every pixel counts.
How we help
If your team is wrestling with Microsoft Teams, hybrid working or call quality across multiple Lichfield, Tamworth or Cannock offices, that is part of what our Microsoft 365 service covers. We set up Teams the way it should be (governance, devices, phones), then keep an eye on it through our managed IT support. Book a quick chat if you would like a hand.
Frequently asked questions
Why do I keep accidentally leaving Microsoft Teams meetings?
For years the Quit and Leave controls sat too close to the Share button. Microsoft has now moved Quit out of the main meeting toolbar into the system tray on Windows, and there is also a confirmation setting you can switch on for extra safety.
How do I turn on a confirmation before leaving a Teams meeting?
Open Microsoft Teams, go to Settings, then General. Look for the option to confirm before leaving a meeting and switch it on. Teams will then ask before dropping you out of a call.
Will this Teams fix apply automatically across our company?
Yes. The desktop Teams client updates in the background, so the new Quit behaviour appears without IT needing to push anything. We still recommend running Teams through Microsoft Intune so larger businesses have predictable update rings.
Can I hide the Teams meeting toolbar while presenting?
Microsoft is rolling out the ability to hide the meeting toolbar during calls. Once live for your tenant, you will find it inside the in-meeting view.
Where can I read about the latest Microsoft Teams changes?
Microsoft publishes a public roadmap and message centre. For most UK businesses we keep a watch on it and share the relevant items in our monthly client update.
– Andy Price, Founder & MD, Initial IT · 01543 524 594 · hello@initialit.co.uk