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Joining Teams for work or school meetings from Teams (free)

MiikkaOksanen's avatar
MiikkaOksanen
Icon for Microsoft rankMicrosoft
Jun 16, 2023

There are many ways to join Teams meetings depending on your account, device and even the type of the meeting (defined by who organizes the meeting). This blog post covers a few key scenarios how to join a meeting organized by a Teams for work or school user when you are using the free version of Teams.

 

Windows 11


When invited to a Teams meeting organized by a Teams for work or school user and if you don’t have a Teams for work or school account, there are two options to join the meeting. When you tap the Teams meeting link or select ‘Join’ from Calendar, the following page opens in your default web browser:

  1. You can join the meeting as a guest in browser. This option requires no app installation and is a quick way to join the meeting. Most meeting features are available in browser like in the Teams app. Please note that the Teams app coming with Windows 11 supports only personal accounts and it does not support joining Teams for work or school meetings in the app.
  2. Alternatively, you can download and install the Teams for work or school app (which is separate from the Teams app coming with Windows 11) and use that to join the meeting as a guest. After tapping ‘Download it now’ and installing the Teams app, it opens automatically and connects you to the meeting. If this does not happen, you can tap the button ‘Join on the Teams app’ to join the meeting after the app is installed.

If you have a Teams for work or school account, you can install the Teams for work or school app and sign in with the account. You can then join a Teams for work or school meeting in the app instead of browser. Please note that when you join a meeting with your work or school account, the organizer of the meeting will see your account name and your company or school name. If you don’t want the meeting organizer to see this information, you can join as a guest as described above.

 

Windows 10 and macOS


When invited to a Teams meeting organized by a Teams for work or school user and when there’s no Teams app installed on your computer, tapping a Teams meeting link opens the following page in your default web browser:

  1. You can join the meeting as a guest in browser. This option requires no app installation and is a quick way to join the meeting. Most meeting features are available in browser like in the Teams app.
  2. Alternatively, you can download and install the Teams app and use that to join the meeting as a guest. Tap ‘Download it now’ to install the Teams app.

When you have the Teams app installed on your computer, tapping a Teams meeting link opens the Teams app on this screen:

  1. You need to type in your name, select if you want to join with camera and/or microphone enabled and tap ‘Join now’ to get connected to the meeting.
  2. If you have a Teams for work or school account, you can sign in with that account for the best meeting experience. Please note that when you join a meeting with your work or school account, the organizer of the meeting will see your account name and your company or school name. If you don’t want the meeting organizer to see this information, you can join as a guest as described above.

 

Android and iOS

 

When joining a Teams for work or school meeting without a Teams for work or school account, you can join the meeting as a guest in the Teams mobile app. You can install the Teams mobile app by opening this link on your mobile device. After installing the Teams mobile app, when you tap the Teams meeting link, the following page opens in the Teams mobile app:

Tapping ‘Join as a guest’ asks you to type in your name and then connects you to the meeting.


If you have a Teams for work or school account, you can sign in with that account instead by tapping ‘Sign in and join’ for the best meeting experience. Please note that when you join a meeting with your work or school account, the organizer of the meeting will see your account name and your company or school name. If you don’t want the meeting organizer to see this information, you can join as a guest as described above.

 

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Updated Jun 16, 2023
Version 2.0

17 Comments

  • Arthur_Cayetano's avatar
    Arthur_Cayetano
    Copper Contributor

    Hi MiikkaOksanen ,

     

    How do I setup a Teams meeting invite without using the MS Exchange Online Calendar built-in with Teams. To give you more context, I manage small school with technology users that are a Google Workspace / Gmail 1st users and would like them to still use the Google Calendar when setting up their Teams meeting. Thanks in advance!

  • amy247's avatar
    amy247
    Copper Contributor

    Hey MiikkaOksanen 

    No I have not tried icognito, just standard Chrome browser window (my default browser).

    I will clear cache & cookies before my next meeting on that laptop and see if that helps - thanks for the suggestion

  • Hey amy247 ,

     

    just to double check, did you try opening the meeting link in inPrivate / incognito browser window?

     

    You could also try clearing the browser cache/cookies to stop the desktop app always opening when tapping a meeting link.

  • amy247's avatar
    amy247
    Copper Contributor

    Hi MiikkaOksanen , thanks for your reply.

     

    Unfortunately, if I sign out, it just immediately signs me back in as soon as it launches Teams when I click Join Meeting. I have tried also signing out of my email, clearing cache in Teams (several times!) but it still logs straight back in. 

     

    When the tab opens in my browser displaying options to join in browser or on teams app - it then immediately launches Teams work or school app (with me logged back in under corporate account) and opens the meeting there before I can click on either option in browser.

    However, I have now discovered that if I go back to browser and click 'Continue on Browser', it will also open the meeting in browser as a guest.  This is a rather clunky work-around but at least I don't have to join every meeting under corporate account.

     

    Hope there will soon be an update making it possible to choose which account meetings are opened in.

     

    - Incidentally, this did not used to be a problem. I have joined meetings (in the app) numerous times in the past on this same laptop without it logging me in to the work account. I can't remember though if it was always as guest or signed in with personal account, and did not notice if it was in the work or free Teams app. 

  • Hey amy247 ,

     

    it sounds like this meeting was organized by a Teams for work or school user. You have two options to join this meeting without using your corporate account:

    1) Sign out of your corporate account and use that Teams app to join the meeting as a guest. You can select your display name and your corporate account identity is not shown to the meeting participants. This could be the preferred option as joining the meeting in the app gives you the best meeting experience.

    2) Join the meeting as a guest in browser. Similarly, you can select your display name and your corporate account identity is not shown to the meeting participants. This is a simple option with a good meeting experience and no need to sign out of your corporate account.

     

    The Teams free app on Windows 11 used with your personal login does not yet support meetings organized by Teams for work or school users.

     

    Hope this helps!

     

    Miikka (Teams PM)

  • amy247's avatar
    amy247
    Copper Contributor

    How do you open a meeting in the Teams free app (with my personal login) when you also have the work or school app downloaded?  It always re-opens work or school and logs me back in under corporate account, which I DO NOT want to use for meeting invite sent to my personal email.

    This is on Windows 11.