How to Clear the Teams Cache (Windows and Mac)

Teams opens to a spinning logo and never gets further. Or it says "We're sorry, we've run into an issue" or "Something went wrong", with buttons to restart or sign out that don't help. Chats are missing, messages won't send, a channel is stuck on "Loading…", your status is wrong, or a colleague's new name or photo just won't update.

Many of these problems come from Teams' local cache: the copy of data it keeps on your computer to load faster. Clearing it is safe, quick and fixes a surprising number of issues.

Why This Happens

Teams stores cached messages, images, settings and sign-in data locally. If that data gets corrupted, perhaps after an update, a crash or a full disk, Teams can fail to load or show out-of-date information. The new Teams app (which replaced classic Teams) stores its cache in a different place from the old one, so older guides that point to %appdata%\Microsoft\Teams no longer apply.

Step 1: Quit Teams Properly

Closing the window leaves Teams running in the background. On Windows, right-click the Teams icon in the system tray (bottom right, near the clock) and choose Quit. On a Mac, use Teams > Quit Microsoft Teams or press Cmd+Q. If it's frozen, end it in Task Manager (Windows) or with Force Quit (Mac).

Step 2: Clear the Cache on Windows (New Teams)

Option A: Repair or Reset (recommended)

1. Open Settings > Apps > Installed apps.
2. Find Microsoft Teams, click the three dots and choose Advanced options.
3. Click Repair first. This keeps your data and fixes the app files. Open Teams to test.
4. If that doesn't help, return and click Reset. This clears the app's data, including the cache and sign-in, so you'll need to sign in again.

Option B: Delete the cache folder

1. Quit Teams.
2. Press Windows + R, paste %userprofile%\appdata\local\Packages\MSTeams_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache\Microsoft\MSTeams and press Enter.
3. Delete everything in that folder.
4. Restart Teams.

Step 3: Clear the Cache on a Mac (New Teams)

1. Quit Teams with Cmd+Q.
2. Open Finder, choose Go > Go to Folder and paste ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.com.microsoft.teams. Move that folder to the Bin.
3. Do the same for ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.teams2.
4. Restart Teams and sign in.

If macOS warns that the folder is in use, make sure Teams has fully quit, then try again.

Step 4: Sign Out Properly

If Teams keeps loading the wrong account or loops at sign-in, sign out properly: click your profile picture in Teams and choose Sign out. On Windows, also check Settings > Accounts > Access work or school to make sure your work account is connected and not showing an error, and remove old Teams entries from Credential Manager (look under Windows Credentials for entries mentioning msteams). Our guide to Outlook password prompts covers the same sign-in components, as Teams and Outlook share them.

Step 5: Reinstall If Needed

If none of the above works, uninstall Microsoft Teams from Settings > Apps (Windows) or move it to the Bin (Mac), restart, and install the latest version from Microsoft's Teams download page. If you still see "Microsoft Teams classic" installed, remove it too.

What About Missing Chats?

Chats and channel messages are stored in Microsoft 365, not on your computer, so a cache reset won't delete them, and a missing chat after a reset will usually reappear once Teams syncs. If a chat is genuinely gone:

• Check whether it's hidden: search for the person's name and open the chat, or look for a filter applied in the chat list.
• Check you're in the right organisation if you're a guest in other tenants.
• If your account was recently recreated, history tied to the old account won't appear.

For Your Microsoft 365 Admin

• Check Service health in the Microsoft 365 admin centre for Teams incidents before chasing local fixes.
• Deploy new Teams centrally with Intune, and remove classic Teams so users don't run two clients.
• If a user can't sign in at all, check the Entra sign-in logs for Conditional Access or licence problems, and confirm a Teams licence is assigned.
• For a PowerShell-based reset across machines, the Reset-AppxPackage cmdlet (Windows 11) resets an app package, for example Get-AppxPackage MSTeams | Reset-AppxPackage, run as the affected user.

How to Stop It Happening Again

Teams problems multiply on unmanaged PCs: old versions lingering, full disks, inconsistent sign-ins and no visibility of what's installed. Keeping Teams and Windows updated automatically, managing devices through Intune and keeping enough free disk space prevents most cache corruption. Users then spend their time working rather than fixing apps.

When to Call in Help

If Teams problems keep returning, affect several people, or you suspect a sign-in or licensing issue, our IT support team can fix it remotely. Our managed IT service keeps apps deployed and updated centrally. Get in touch.

Related Reading

• Teams Calls Dropping or Poor Quality? How to Fix It
• Outlook Keeps Asking for Password? How to Fix It
• Office Says Unlicensed Product? How to Fix It