Remote work has become a new norm around the world, with many businesses allowing their employees to entirely work from home, or through hybrid opportunities. The need for remote work has led many individuals and businesses to adopt cloud-based video conferencing and team collaboration applications.

Microsoft Teams is one such application that enables individuals to share ideas, collaborate with the team, and communicate in real-time. Teams is pre-installed on Windows 10 and Windows 11, so you don’t have to download anything separately. Teams is scalable and convenient, and filled with a host of features that improve your productivity and efficiency.

Much like any other computer application, Teams is prone to errors, audio-video issues, crashes, and performance issues. You may be able to get rid of these issues by cleaning your cache.

Possible Scenarios Requiring You to Clean Teams Cache

There are several reasons why you might want to clean your Teams cache. Here are some of the possibilities:

• Improve Performance: Teams cache is meant to facilitate faster access to its data and improve the overall performance. However, cache contents can get corrupted, such as when your computer abruptly shuts down, or your Internet connection drops too frequently during video conferencing. When that happens, it impacts your performance. Cleaning the cache might help get back the lost performance.
• Troubleshoot Log-in Issue: Are you unable to log in to your Teams account? If so, it’s a good reason to clean your cache. The corrupted cache may prevent you from logging into your account, even with valid login credentials.
• Voice & Video Conferencing Issues: Voice and video conferencing issues are too common on slow-speed Internet connections. However, corruption of the cache contents can also contribute to such issues. You can resolve them by simply cleaning your cache.
• Other Diagnostic Purpose: At times, Teams may not work as expectedly. If your Teams is becoming unresponsive, crashing, or displaying errors, cleaning the cache can resolve it.
• Reclaim Lost Storage: This shouldn’t be a scenario for most users, as Teams cache may not take significant storage. However, if you’re running extremely low and unable to perform basic tasks, it can be a breath of fresh air.

Is It Safe to Clean the Microsoft Teams Cache?

Absolutely, it’s safe to clear the Teams cache. The cache is a temporary location that contains files stored for short-term use. They are written for a variety of reasons, and it’s safe to delete them to diagnose specific problems with the application. However, it’s best to have your sign in credentials in-hand, just in the case.

Will You Require Signing In to Teams After Cleaning the Cache?

No, you will not need to sign in to your Teams account again after cleaning the cache. Cleaning the cache does not clear your sign-in credentials.

How to Clean Teams Cache? (Windows, Mac, Android, iPhone & Browser)

There are several ways to clean the Teams cache depending on the operating system you use.

Microsoft Windows

There are multiple ways to clean Teams cache on Microsoft Windows. Here’s how:

Method 1: Using the File Explorer

1. Right-click on the Microsoft Teams icon in the system tray area of your Taskbar.
2. Select the Quit option.
3. Press the Windows Key + R.
4. Type “appdata” (without quotes), and click OK.
5. File Explorer will open with the AppData folder.
6. Go to the following folders: …\Microsoft\Teams
7. Delete the following folders: 1) cache 2) blob_storage 3) IndexedDB
8. Re-launch Teams.

Method 2: Using the Teams Settings

1. Right-click on the Microsoft Teams icon in the system tray area of your Taskbar.
2. Select the Settings option.
3. Click on the General tab.
4. Click on the Clear button under the Clear Cache section.

MacOS

If you’re using Teams on Mac, follow the steps given below:

1. Exit Microsoft Teams.
2. Open the Finder.
3. Click on Go > Go to Finder.
4. Type the following path in the textbox: ~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft
5. Click on the Go button.
6. The Finder will launch the Microsoft folder.
7. Right-click on the Teams sub-folder, and select Move to Trash.
8. Re-launch Teams.

Android

If you’re using the Teams app on Android, here are the steps to clean up your app cache:

1. Close the Teams app.
2. Open your phone’s settings.
3. Tap on Storage.
4. Tap on Apps.
5. Scroll down, and look for the Teams app. Tap it.
6. Tap on Clear Cache.
7. If your issue persists, tap on Clear Storage. Keep in mind that you will need to sign in to your account again.

iPhone

Here are the steps to clean the Teams cache on your iPhone:

1. Close the Teams app.
2. Open your iPhone’s settings.
3. Tap on the General category, followed by iPhone Storage.
4. Scroll down, and look for the Teams app. Tap it.
5. Tap on the Offload App button.

Web Browser

Assuming that you’ve already logged in to your Teams account, follow the steps outlined below:

1. Open Teams in your web browser.
2. Click on the Padlock icon to the left of the Address Bar.
3. In the new drop-down menu options, select Clear Cookie & Site Data.
4. Click on Remove in the confirmation prompt.

Tips & Tricks to Improve Teams Performance & Stability

Besides cleaning the Teams cache, there are steps that you can take to improve the Teams performance and reduce potential problems.

• Keep Microsoft Teams updated with the latest security updates and patches.
• Connect to a high-speed & stable Wi-Fi Internet. An unstable Internet can cause a range of issues, including cache corruption.
• If you’re facing performance issues, try closing and re-starting Teams again, or restarting your computer. Cache cleaning may not be required in every scenario.
• Make sure that your computer does not run through low disk storage problems. Regularly running Disk CleanUp and finding duplicates with DupInOut Duplicate Finder might be helpful.

The Wrap Up

Teams is the techno-giant’s answer to video conferencing and file-sharing necessity in the post-pandemic era. If you’re encountering issues while using Teams, simply closing and re-opening Teams, and clearing the cache might help. However, the exact steps may depend on your operating system and how you access Teams.