How to Clear Microsoft Teams Cache to Fix Performance Issues

Before clearing the cache, you must fully close Teams to prevent file access conflicts. Simply closing the window isn't enough — Teams continues running in the background.

Windows:

1. Right-click the Teams icon in the system tray (bottom-right corner)
2. Select Quit from the context menu
3. Open Task Manager by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc
4. Look for any remaining Teams processes: Teams.exe, TeamsHelper.exe, or Squirrel.exe
5. Right-click each process and select End task

macOS:

1. Right-click the Teams icon in the Dock
2. Select Quit or press Cmd + Q while Teams is active
3. Open Activity Monitor from Applications > Utilities
4. Search for "Teams" and force quit any remaining processes

Microsoft Teams has two versions in 2026: Classic Teams and New Teams (the default UWP-based client). The cache location differs between versions, so you need to identify which one you're using.

Check your Teams version:

1. Press Win + I to open Windows Settings
2. Navigate to Apps > Installed apps
3. Search for "Teams" in the app list
4. Look for either:
• Microsoft Teams (New Teams) — package ID: MSTeams_8wekyb3d8bbwe
• Microsoft Teams classic (Classic Teams)

Alternatively, if Teams is still running, click your profile picture in Teams and look for version information. New Teams will show "New Teams" in the interface.

For New Teams, Microsoft provides a built-in reset option that's cleaner than manual file deletion. This method preserves your Teams installation while clearing all cache and settings.

Using Windows Settings (Recommended):

1. Press Win + I to open Settings
2. Go to Apps > Installed apps
3. Search for "Microsoft Teams"
4. Click the three dots (...) next to Microsoft Teams
5. Select Advanced options
6. Scroll down and click Reset
7. Confirm by clicking Reset again

This method deletes all app data, settings, and cache while keeping the application installed.

Manual Method (Alternative):

If the reset option doesn't work, use manual cache deletion:

1. Press Win + R to open Run dialog
2. Type: %userprofile%\appdata\local\Packages\MSTeams_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache\Microsoft\MSTeams
3. Press Enter
4. Select all files and folders in the directory
5. Press Delete or Shift + Delete for permanent deletion

Classic Teams stores cache in a different location under the user's AppData folder. This method manually deletes all cache files and folders.

1. Press Win + R to open the Run dialog
2. Type: %appdata%\Microsoft\Teams
3. Press Enter to open the Teams cache directory
4. You'll see several folders and files including:
• blob_storage
• Cache
• databases
• GPUCache
• IndexedDB
• Local Storage
• tmp
5. Select all items by pressing Ctrl + A
6. Delete everything by pressing Delete or Shift + Delete

If you encounter "file in use" errors, ensure Teams is completely closed (refer to Step 1).

macOS stores Teams cache in the Library folder. You can clear it using Terminal commands or Finder navigation.

Using Terminal (Recommended):

1. Open Terminal from Applications > Utilities
2. Run the following command to clear New Teams cache:

rm -rf ~/Library/Group\ Containers/UBF8T346G9.com.microsoft.teams

3. For Classic Teams, also run:

rm -rf "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Teams"

4. Clear additional cache locations:

rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/com.microsoft.teams*

Using Finder (Alternative):

1. Open Finder and press Cmd + Shift + G
2. Type: ~/Library/Group Containers/
3. Look for folders starting with UBF8T346G9.com.microsoft.teams
4. Delete these folders
5. Navigate to ~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/
6. Delete the Teams folder if present

For IT administrators or power users, PowerShell provides an automated way to clear Teams cache. This script handles both process termination and cache deletion.

PowerShell Script for Classic Teams:

# Stop all Teams processes
Get-Process -Name "Teams" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Stop-Process -Force
Get-Process -Name "TeamsHelper" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Stop-Process -Force
Get-Process -Name "Squirrel" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Stop-Process -Force

# Wait for processes to fully terminate
Start-Sleep -Seconds 3

# Clear Classic Teams cache
$teamsPath = "$env:APPDATA\Microsoft\Teams"
if (Test-Path $teamsPath) {
    Remove-Item "$teamsPath\*" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    Write-Host "Classic Teams cache cleared successfully" -ForegroundColor Green
} else {
    Write-Host "Classic Teams cache path not found" -ForegroundColor Yellow
}

PowerShell Script for New Teams:

# Stop all Teams processes
Get-Process -Name "ms-teams" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Stop-Process -Force

# Wait for processes to fully terminate
Start-Sleep -Seconds 3

# Clear New Teams cache
$newTeamsPath = "$env:USERPROFILE\AppData\Local\Packages\MSTeams_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache\Microsoft\MSTeams"
if (Test-Path $newTeamsPath) {
    Remove-Item "$newTeamsPath\*" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    Write-Host "New Teams cache cleared successfully" -ForegroundColor Green
} else {
    Write-Host "New Teams cache path not found" -ForegroundColor Yellow
}

To run the script:

1. Open PowerShell as Administrator
2. Copy and paste the appropriate script
3. Press Enter to execute

After clearing the cache, restart Teams to rebuild fresh cache files from Microsoft's servers. The first startup will be slower as Teams downloads fresh data.

Restart Teams:

1. Windows: Click the Start menu and search for "Teams", then click to launch
2. macOS: Open Applications folder and double-click Microsoft Teams
3. Sign in with your credentials if prompted
4. Wait for Teams to fully load and sync your data

What to expect after cache clearing:

• Slower initial startup (30-60 seconds longer than usual)
• Fresh download of profile pictures and file thumbnails
• Reset notification settings (you may need to reconfigure)
• Cleared chat history display (messages will reload from server)
• Reset custom themes and interface preferences

Performance improvements you should notice:

• Faster message loading and sending
• Resolved sign-in issues
• Fixed missing or outdated contact information
• Smoother video call performance
• Resolved sync issues with files and conversations

Sometimes cache clearing doesn't work as expected. Here are solutions for the most common problems.

"File in use" or "Access denied" errors:

1. Ensure Teams is completely closed (check Task Manager/Activity Monitor)
2. Wait 30 seconds after closing Teams before attempting cache deletion
3. Restart your computer if processes won't terminate
4. On Windows, try running as Administrator

Cache folder not found:

1. Verify you're using the correct path for your Teams version
2. Check if Teams is installed for all users vs. current user only
3. For New Teams, confirm the package ID: MSTeams_8wekyb3d8bbwe

Teams won't start after cache clearing:

1. Restart your computer
2. Reinstall Teams from the Microsoft Store or download page
3. Check Windows Event Viewer for error messages

Settings and preferences lost:

This is normal behavior. You'll need to reconfigure:

• Notification preferences
• Theme and appearance settings
• Custom status messages
• Meeting and calling preferences

Performance issues persist:

1. Update Teams to the latest version
2. Check available disk space (Teams needs at least 1GB free)
3. Disable unnecessary browser extensions if using Teams in browser
4. Contact your IT administrator for network-related issues