29 Feb How to Clear the Microsoft Teams Client Cache: A Comprehensive Guide

How to Clear the Microsoft Teams Client Cache: A Comprehensive Guide

In the fast-paced world of digital communication, Microsoft Teams stands out as a critical tool for collaboration and productivity. To enhance user experience and ensure quick access to data, Microsoft Teams caches certain information locally. This includes general user details like display names and telephone numbers, which can be cached for up to 28 days, and profile photos, which may be stored for up to 60 days. While caching is beneficial for faster response times, it can sometimes lead to issues, especially when cached data becomes outdated or corrupt. In such cases, clearing the Teams client cache can be a helpful troubleshooting step.

Why Does Teams Cache Data?

Caching is a technique used to store data temporarily to reduce load times and improve responsiveness. For Microsoft Teams, caching means quicker access to frequently used data, reducing the need to fetch this information from the server each time it’s needed. This is particularly useful for enhancing performance and user experience in real-time communication environments.

What Information is Cached?

Teams client caches a variety of information, including:

• User display names and telephone numbers
• Profile photos
• Conversation histories
• Attachment previews

Clearing the Cache: When and Why?

Clearing the Teams cache can resolve issues related to outdated information, meeting join, access, login problems, or general app performance. It’s a recommended step before contacting support for issues that persist despite restarting the app. However, it’s important to note that clearing the cache will remove personalization settings and require the app to rebuild cache files, which might take longer than usual upon the next startup.

How to Clear the Cache in Microsoft Teams Desktop clients?

For Windows Users

Teams Classic Client:

1. Quit Teams if it’s running by right-clicking the Teams icon on the taskbar and selecting Quit.
2. Press the Windows logo key + R to open the Run dialog box.
3. Type %appdata%\Microsoft\Teams and press OK.
4. Delete all files and folders in the directory. Figure 1 shows sample cache data with folders.
5. 
6. Restart Teams and login again. It may take a while to login.

New Teams Client:

Method 1: Reset the App

1. Type “settings” in the search box and select the Settings app.
2. Go to Apps > Installed apps and search for Microsoft Teams.
3. Find the New Microsoft Teams app, select More options (…), then Advanced options. Refer to Figure 2.

Figure 2, Advanced options

4. In the Reset section, select Reset. Refer the figure 3.

Figure 3, New Teams reset option.

5. Restart Teams.

Method 2: Delete the Files

1. Quit Teams if it’s running.
2. Press the Windows logo key + R to open the Run dialog box.
3. Type %userprofile%\appdata\local\Packages\MSTeams_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache\Microsoft\MSTeams and press OK. Refer to Figure 4.

Figure 4, New Teams cache

4. Delete all files and folders in the directory.

For macOS Users

Teams Classic Client:

1. Quit Teams by right-clicking the Teams icon in the dock and selecting Quit or pressing Command (⌘)-Q.
2. Open Terminal from /Applications/Utilities.
3. Type rm -r ~/Library/Application\ Support/Microsoft/Teams and press Return.
4. Restart Teams.

New Teams Client:

1. Quit Teams if it’s running.
2. Open Terminal from /Applications/Utilities.
3. Enter the following commands, pressing Return after each:
   • rm -rf ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.com.microsoft.teams
   • rm -rf ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.teams2
4. Restart Teams.

Regularly clearing the cache in Microsoft Teams can help ensure the app runs smoothly, especially when encountering performance issues or outdated information. By following the steps outlined above, users can effectively manage their Teams client and maintain an optimal collaboration environment.

Disclaimer

This blog post is intended for informational purposes only. The Bloguc organization does not take any responsibility for adverse effects that may arise from clearing the cache as described. Users should proceed with caution and consider their specific configuration and data backup needs.