# Article Name 3 Ways to Disable a User in Microsoft Teams # Article Summary Discover three ways to disable a user in Microsoft Teams to manage access and maintain control across your organization as needed # Original HTML URL on Toriihq.com https://www.toriihq.com/articles/how-to-disable-user-microsoft-teams # Details When someone leaves, goes on leave, or during an incident, you may need to quickly block a user in Microsoft Teams. You want to stop access to chats, channels, and files without breaking other services. This guide shows three practical paths: in the Teams admin center, in the Microsoft 365/Entra ID admin centers, and with PowerShell. You’ll learn when to use each and what changes they make across your tenant. ## Use Microsoft Teams's UI Here, you’ll use the Microsoft Teams app to remove someone from teams and chats, which is how Microsoft’s own docs explain handling access in the client. This does not turn off their account, but it stops them from participating in your Teams spaces. ### Remove the person from each team In the Teams desktop or web app, team owners can remove members right in the app. Microsoft’s docs confirm this path with Manage team. - Open Teams, then go to Teams on the left. - Find the team. Select More options (.) next to the team name, then choose Manage team. - On the Members tab, find the person and select Remove. - Repeat for every team where they appear. - If you do not see Remove, you likely are not a team owner. Ask an owner to do this. ### Remove them from private channels Microsoft’s docs note that private channels have their own membership. Channel owners manage these in the app. - In the same Manage team view, open the Channels tab. - For each private channel, select More options (.) then Manage channel. - On the Members list, remove the person. - If you do not own that private channel, ask a channel owner to remove them. ### Remove them from group chats Per Microsoft’s docs, you can remove people from group chats if allowed by your org and chat role. - Open Chat, then the group chat. - At the top, select View and add participants or the people icon. - Find the person, select Remove. - Repeat in other group chats as needed. ### Block them in 1:1 chat Docs also cover blocking contacts in the Teams client. Blocking stops messages and calls from that person to you. - Open the 1:1 chat with the person. - Select their name at the top to open the profile, or select More options (.) in the chat. - Choose Block. If you change your mind later, you can unblock from the same place. ### Double check what they can still see Removing someone from teams and private channels cuts off access to those spaces. Old messages and files they had access to before may still exist, and their name can remain on past activity. - Quick review to confirm: - They no longer appear under Members in each team. - They no longer appear in private channel membership. - They are removed from group chats that matter. - You have blocked them in 1:1 chat if needed. If you need to fully disable a user’s account across your organization, Microsoft’s documentation points to doing that outside the Teams app. This guide focuses only on what the Teams UI allows. ## Use Torii Rather than accessing Microsoft Teams directly, consider using Torii [https://www.toriihq.com/], a SaaS Management Platform, to disable a user in Microsoft Teams. SMPs centralize control of SaaS subscriptions and integrations in one place, making it easy to programmatically on/offboard users, view subscription details, and more. In contrast to the manual steps in Microsoft Teams, Torii lets you automate this task so it runs automatically when a trigger is met. Triggers might include a new hire, an offboarding event, or a contract renewal. This can save time if you need to repeat the action regularly. To disable user in Microsoft Teams straight from Torii, follow these steps: ### 1. Sign up for Torii Contact Torii [https://www.toriihq.com/], and ask for your free two-week proof-of-concept. ### 2. Connect your Microsoft Teams account to Torii Once your account is active, connect Microsoft Teams to Torii (assuming you already have an account). Here are the instructions for the Microsoft Teams integration [https://support.toriihq.com/hc/en-us/articles/8800543593371]. ### 3. Create a Torii workflow for Microsoft Teams Within Torii, you can build automated workflows to disable user in Microsoft Teams. Go to the Workflows tab, define a trigger, and add an action that will disable user in Microsoft Teams. From then on, whenever the trigger criteria are met, Microsoft Teams will be updated. ## Use Microsoft Teams's API Use Microsoft Graph to disable a user’s access to Teams Here, you’ll use Microsoft Graph (the API surface for Teams) to turn off a user account and revoke active sessions. This blocks the user from signing in to Microsoft Teams. ### Get an app access token You need an Azure AD app with application permissions approved by an admin: - Required application permissions: - User.ReadWrite.All Example token request with client credentials is: Copy the accesstoken from the response. ### Find the user You can look up the user by UPN or email to get their id and current state. Example curl is: Note the id and the accountEnabled field. ### Disable the user account Set accountEnabled to false. This blocks sign in to Microsoft 365, including Teams. This uses Microsoft Graph Users: Update user. Example curl is: You should receive a 204 No Content on success. ### Revoke active Teams sessions End any active sessions so the user is signed out right away from Teams clients. This uses Microsoft Graph Users: revokeSignInSessions. Example curl is: The response includes signInSessionInvalidationDateTime when tokens become invalid. ### Verify the user is disabled Check the user again to confirm accountEnabled is false. Example curl is: ### Optional: Remove the Teams service plan instead of full account disable If you need the user to keep other Microsoft 365 services but lose Teams access, remove the Teams service plan from their license using Microsoft Graph Users: assignLicense. - You need the skuId and the Teams servicePlanId to disable: - Find assigned licenses: GET /users/{id}/licenseDetails - Identify the servicePlanId for Microsoft Teams within the license Example curl is: This keeps the account enabled but turns off Teams for that user.