How to Join a Microsoft Teams Meeting as a Guest

To join a Microsoft Teams meeting as a guest, open the meeting link in your invitation, choose the browser or Teams app, and follow the joining prompts. For many work or school meetings, you can attend without a Teams account or team membership. However, the organizer's policies may require email verification or an authorized account.

Do you need a guest account?

Teams uses “guest” in two different ways:

• Joining without an account: You attend an individual meeting through its link, subject to the host's rules.
• Organization guest access: An organization invites you to collaborate in its Teams environment. You accept that separate invitation and use the invited identity.

A meeting invitation alone does not give you access to the organization's teams, channels, or files. The interface examples below use sample details; labels and layouts can vary.

Join a Teams meeting in your desktop browser

Use Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome for the browser joining process. You do not need to install the desktop app.

1. Open the meeting invitation

   Select the meeting URL in your email or calendar invitation. Some invitations show a full URL; others use linked text such as Join the meeting now. Both take you to the meeting.

   

2. Choose the browser option

   Select Continue on this browser. If you prefer an installed Teams app, use the app option instead. A browser prompt may also offer to open Teams; choose the route you intend to use.

   

3. Check microphone and camera permissions

   Allow the browser to access the devices you plan to use. Granting permission does not require you to leave your microphone or camera switched on during the meeting.

   

4. Enter your name and check your setup

   On the pre-join screen, enter a name the organizer will recognize. Check your audio selection and camera state before proceeding. If Teams has selected an existing account, confirm that it is the identity you intend to use.

   

5. Select Join now and complete verification if requested

   Some meetings ask for an email address. Follow the sign-in prompts for an existing Microsoft account, or request and enter the emailed code when that option is offered. Continue joining after verification. This requirement depends on the host's settings; it is not universal.

   

6. Wait for admission if you enter the lobby

   A waiting message means you have reached the lobby, not the meeting itself. Someone authorized to manage admission must let you in. Contact the organizer if the meeting has started and you are still waiting.

   

The host controls who waits in the lobby. Email-code requirements are governed by anonymous participant verification settings.

Join as a guest on iPhone or Android

Use the Teams mobile app; Teams meetings are not supported in mobile web browsers. Open the invitation link, install the app if necessary, then reopen the link. Choose Join as a guest, enter your name, and tap Join meeting. Allow microphone access if you want to speak. Email verification or an authorized sign-in may still be required.

If you were invited as an organization guest

First accept the separate guest invitation using the email address that was invited, and review any requested permissions. Guest team access can take a few hours to become available.

In Teams, open your profile picture and select the host organization. Open the meeting link or its calendar entry. On the pre-join screen, check the organization shown; use Change if you need to select the correct guest identity. If the guest organization is missing after you have accepted access, restart Teams.

Microsoft explains these account choices in its guide to meetings outside your organization. For an active channel meeting you can access, open the channel and select Join, as described in the meeting joining guide.

What to do if you cannot join

• Sign-in required: Use the authorized work or school account. Ask the organizer for help if you do not have one; installing Teams does not override access policies.
• Wrong-account message: Switch to the account that received the invitation.
• Locked meeting or full lobby: Contact the organizer or retry after space becomes available.
• Lobby timeout: After 30 minutes without admission, your request can time out. Reopen the correct link and alert the organizer.

Meetings hosted through Teams personal accounts can require a Teams account. Share the exact error message with the organizer and consult Microsoft's meeting access troubleshooting instead of assuming every failure is a guest-access setting.