Fix · Microsoft Teams

Cannot join a Microsoft Teams meeting: stuck in the lobby, locked out, or told to sign in

Most people who cannot get into a Teams meeting are waiting in the lobby, using a phone’s browser, or blocked by a setting the organiser or their company chose.

What you are seeing

You open a Microsoft Teams meeting link and cannot get in: you are left waiting, told to sign in, or told the meeting is locked.

The likely causes, most common first

Work down the list; most people find theirs in the first two.

1. You are waiting in the lobby

  1. Some organisers hold everybody in a lobby and let people in one by one. Wait, or message the organiser.
  2. After half an hour with no answer the request gives up. Check you have the right link and try again.

Microsoft: “Some organizers might place attendees in a lobby before admitting them into the meeting.” — support.microsoft.com/en-us/teams/meetings/i-can-t-join-a-meeting-in-microsoft-teams

2. You are in a phone’s browser

  1. Teams meetings do not open in the browser on a phone or tablet. Install the Teams app and join from there.

Microsoft: “Teams meetings aren't currently supported in mobile web browsers.” — support.microsoft.com/en-us/teams/meetings/i-can-t-join-a-meeting-in-microsoft-teams

3. It needs a work or school account

  1. “Sign in to join this meeting” means only people signed in with a work or school Teams account may enter.
  2. Sign in with that kind of account, or ask the organiser to have their IT admin let people join without one. Microsoft says that change can take up to a day.

Microsoft: “the meeting doesn't allow people to join unless they're signed in with a Teams work or school account” — support.microsoft.com/en-us/teams/meetings/i-can-t-join-a-meeting-in-microsoft-teams

4. The meeting is locked

  1. Once a meeting has started, the organiser can lock it so nobody new gets in. Ask them to unlock it.

Microsoft: “organizers can lock the meeting to prevent new participants from entering” — support.microsoft.com/en-us/teams/meetings/i-can-t-join-a-meeting-in-microsoft-teams

5. The lobby is full

  1. Wait a few minutes and try again; room frees up as people are let in or give up.

Microsoft: “If the lobby is full, wait a few minutes before trying to join again.” — support.microsoft.com/en-us/teams/meetings/i-can-t-join-a-meeting-in-microsoft-teams

6. The meeting is end-to-end encrypted

  1. When the organiser switches on end-to-end encryption, some people cannot join at all. Tell the organiser — it is their setting.

Microsoft: “You can't join because the organizer has enabled end-to-end encryption for their meeting.” — support.microsoft.com/en-us/teams/meetings/i-can-t-join-a-meeting-in-microsoft-teams

Every quote above is from Microsoft’s own help pages, read on 10 November 2026. Something changed? Tell us.

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Other Microsoft Teams problems

Transcript missingOnly people from the organiser’s own company can start a Teams transcript; the organiser or their IT admin can switch it off altogether; and the file lives in the organiser’s OneDrive.Recording missingA Teams recording goes to the organiser’s OneDrive, or to the team’s SharePoint site for a channel meeting; if Teams cannot save it there, it is deleted after 21 days.Breakout rooms missingOnly the organiser of a Teams meeting, or a breakout room manager they chose, can run breakout rooms — and only from the Teams app on Windows or a Mac.No sound, or people cannot hear youMost Teams sound problems are a mute somewhere — in the meeting or on the headset — Teams not being allowed the microphone, or the wrong speaker picked.Camera not workingWhen the camera fails in Teams, Microsoft’s checklist starts with another app holding the camera, then the computer’s permission, then the browser if you use Teams on the web.Captions in the wrong languageTeams captions follow the meeting’s one spoken language, which only some people can change, and translated captions need Teams Premium or Microsoft Copilot.

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