How To Stop Microsoft Teams from Auto-Starting in Ubuntu

In the world of remote work and online collaboration, Microsoft Teams has become a go-to platform for many organizations. However, one common concern among Ubuntu users is the auto-start feature of Microsoft Teams. By default, the application is set to launch at system startup, which can be a bit annoying for some users. In this article, we’ll guide you through several methods to stop Microsoft Teams from auto-starting in Ubuntu.

Method 1: Configuring Settings in Teams

The first and simplest method involves changing the settings within the Teams application itself.

1. Open Microsoft Teams. Click on your profile picture located at the top-right corner of the application.
2. Navigate to Settings. From the drop-down menu, select ‘Settings’.
3. Disable Auto-start. Under the ‘General’ section, you’ll find an option labeled ‘Auto-start application’. Uncheck this box to disable the auto-start feature.

Method 2: Modifying the Startup Applications List

If the first method doesn’t work, you can try disabling Microsoft Teams from the Startup Applications list.

1. Open Startup Applications. You can find this program in your applications list or by searching for it in the dash.
2. Disable Microsoft Teams. In the Startup Applications list, look for Microsoft Teams and uncheck the box next to it.

Method 3: Deleting the .desktop File

This method involves deleting a specific file that triggers the auto-start of Microsoft Teams.

1. Open Terminal. You can do this by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T.
2. Navigate to the autostart directory. Type cd ~/.config/autostart and press Enter.
3. Delete the .desktop file. Type rm teams.desktop and press Enter. This command removes the file that triggers Teams to auto-start.

Method 4: Modifying the desktop-config.json File

If you haven’t logged into the Teams app, you can modify the desktop-config.json file.

1. Open Terminal. Press Ctrl+Alt+T to open the terminal.
2. Open the desktop-config.json file. Type nano ~/.config/Microsoft/Microsoft\ Teams/desktop-config.json and press Enter.
3. Modify the file. Look for the line "openAtLogin": true and change it to "openAtLogin": false.
4. Save and exit. Press Ctrl+X to exit, then Y to confirm the changes, and finally Enter to save the file.

Method 5: Modifying the teams.desktop File

This method involves editing the teams.desktop file to disable the auto-start feature.

1. Open Terminal. Press Ctrl+Alt+T to open the terminal.
2. Open the teams.desktop file. Type nano ~/.config/autostart/teams.desktop and press Enter.
3. Modify the file. Look for the line X-GNOME-Autostart-enabled=true and change it to X-GNOME-Autostart-enabled=false.
4. Save and exit. Press Ctrl+X to exit, then Y to confirm the changes, and finally Enter to save the file.
5. Prevent changes to the file. To prevent Teams from modifying this file in the future, you can use the command sudo chattr +i ~/.config/autostart/teams.desktop. This command changes the file attributes to make it immutable, meaning it cannot be modified, deleted, or renamed.

Conclusion

We’ve covered several methods to stop Microsoft Teams from auto-starting in Ubuntu. Remember that the effectiveness of these methods may vary depending on the version of Teams and your system configuration. If one method doesn’t work, try another until you find the one that works best for you.

By taking control of your startup applications, you can ensure a smoother and faster boot time, and a more personalized user experience. Happy computing!