Microsoft Teams offers a seamless platform for company-wide meetings, remote work, online file sharing, training, in-meeting chat messaging, and shared workspace.
Much like any other software, Teams creates a cache. A cache is nothing but temporary data that plays an important role in the overall functioning and performance of your application. It facilitates easy access to the most frequently required information and speeds up the processing.
However, at times, the cache can become corrupt. Or it may become so large that it can negatively affect the application performance. When that happens, you may experience frequent connectivity issues while conducting or participating in online meetings, and audio-video conferencing. Or Teams may just crash to Desktop for no apparent reason.
If you’re experiencing one or more of these problems, it’s time to clear Teams cache. Worry not, clearing the cache is safe. Teams will rebuild it again from scratch, and you will be able to experience smooth performance without lags or freezes.
I. Microsoft Windows
Classic Teams
Method 1: Using File Explorer
Classic Teams does not provide a direct way to clear your cache. You will need to locate the application data folder and delete all the contents from the “Teams” sub-folder.
- Right-click on the Microsoft Teams icon in the system tray area of your Taskbar.
- Select Quit.
- Press Windows Key + R.
- Type the following path and press Enter: %appdata%
- Double-click to open the following folder: …\Microsoft\Teams
- Select all the files and sub-folders from the “Teams” folder and delete them.
- Re-open Teams.
II. New Teams
Method 1: Using File Explorer
Similar to the classic version, you can clear the cache using the File Explorer as well:
- Right-click on the Teams icon.
- Select the Quit option.
- Press Windows Key + R.
- Type the following path and press Enter: %userprofile%
- Open the following location: appdata\local\Packages\MSTeams_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache\Microsoft\MSTeams
- Delete all the files and sub-folders from the “MSTeams” sub-folder.
Method 2: Using PC Settings
Another simple way is to reset your Teams using the Settings app in Windows. This will automatically clear your cache contents.
- Click on the Start button.
- Click on the Settings icon.
- Click on the Apps tab.
- Click on Installed Apps.
- Scroll down and locate the Microsoft Teams app.
- Click on its menu icon and select Advanced Options.
- Click on the Reset button.
II. MacOS
Classic Teams
Method 1: Using Terminal
Much like Windows, the Classic Teams in Mac does not provide a direct way to clear your cache. You will need to delete the cached files using the Finder.
- Right-click on the Microsoft Teams icon on your Dock.
- Select Quit.
- Click on the Finder icon displayed on your Dock.
- Open Applications > Utilities > Terminal.
- Run all the commands given below one by one:
rm -rf ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.com.microsoft.teams
rm -rf ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.teams2
- Re-open Teams.
Bonus Tip: Recover Lost Storage and Improve Teams Performance
Large or corrupt cache is not the only culprit for most performance issues faced by the Teams users. Teams may suffer from performance and stability issues if your computer is running low on storage due to the accumulation of many duplicate files.
When your computer runs low on storage, Teams may lag while collaborating with colleagues, conducting online meetings, and sharing files may take longer than expected. You can fix all these issues by de-duplicating your PC. A handy tool, Clone Files Checker, can help.
- Download and install Clone Files Checker.
- Click on System Scan.
- Click on File Search.
- Click on Add in the Select Drive/ Folder.
- Select the folders you want to scan for duplication.
- You can add multiple folders as you want.
- Select one of the search options from All Files to Custom. Select All Files to scan all files, irrespective of their types. Select the Custom option to scan only specific file types.
- Click on Start Search.
- Once the scan is finished, choose Review & Fix.
- Check the duplicate files you want to delete and uncheck the ones you want to keep. You can automate this task by using the Select Duplicates button.
- Click on Select Action.
- Choose whether to delete the checked duplicates or move them to a separate folder.
Benefits of Using CFC
Although you can manually find and remove duplicates, using a dedicated tool is always beneficial. Here are some of the prominent features offered by CFC:
- Music Scan: Search for duplicate music by their tags. It makes it easier to free up space by fixing your cluttered music library.
- iTunes Scan: Duplicates can cause your iTunes library to grow exponentially. A large iTunes library can lead to slowed performance and repeated tracks. CFC makes it easier to automatically identify and delete duplicate tracks from your iTunes library and optimize its size.
- Cloud Scan: CFC comes with a complimentary subscription to the Cloud Duplicate Finder that enables you to find and remove duplicate documents, photos, videos, and music from your favorite cloud platform. CDF supports Dropbox, Google Drive, Amazon S3, and OneDrive, among others.
- History: CFC keeps track of all the scans and actions taken. This helps you go through the changes you have made to your file system.
- Backup: If you’re worried about deleting duplicates, CFC can help you with automated backups. Backups typically take up less space than duplicates. If you don’t need them, you can delete them as well.
- Exclude Folders: Scanning an entire drive or a large folder can take a lot of time. Save your time by excluding unnecessary folders from the new scan. Furthermore, you can customize the scan by excluding certain file types and file sizes (such as large files).
Conclusion
Teams cache can become corrupt or large over time. You may need to clean it regularly to improve the performance, fix errors, and unexpected crashes, and make sure Teams run smoothly and efficiently. The exact steps for the same depend on the version of Teams installed (classic or newer), and your operating system.