Microsoft Teams common issues & troubleshooting
Organizations using MS Teams are aware that it automatically logs in every time the app is launched. However, this is not always the case. It may show that you are not connected to the internet even though other apps are working fine. In other cases, the login may have failed and asked to restart the application. Users reported that the application cannot detect real problems and displays a common error message “We’re Sorry – we’ve run into an issue”.
Causes for Microsoft Teams has stopped working
- Corrupted Cache – After some time has passed since installing MS Teams, corrupted caches accumulate in cache memory and eventually Microsoft Teams stops working. This broken build can be caused by third party software, outdated application files, etc.
- Corrupted Configuration Files – Like other software and programs, Microsoft Teams also creates a user account configuration file on your PC. These configuration files can become corrupted for various reasons, including Power outages, inappropriate termination of MS Teams, etc.
- Corrupted Application Files – There are a number of pre-boot processes that run in the background before Windows software or programs run. Successful execution depends on these pre-boot processes. If it fails, the software or program will not run automatically. Similarly, corrupted MS Teams application files can cause the pre-launch process to fail and prevent MS Teams from launching properly.
Solution to fix the error
1. Clear Microsoft Teams Cache
- Right-click on the taskbar and select Task Manager from the list
- Look for Microsoft Teams in the Processes section, right-click and select End Task
- Click on Start & open the Run window.
- Copy-paste the address location in the Run window & click on Ok
%AppData%\Microsoft\teams\cache
- Select all the files (Ctrl + A) and permanently delete the files in the displayed folder.
- Repeat the same steps one by one for the following address location using the Run window
%AppData%\Microsoft\teams\blob_storage
%AppData%\Microsoft\teams\databases
%AppData%\Microsoft\teams\application cache\cache
%AppData%\Microsoft\teams\gpucache
%AppData%\Microsoft\teams\Indexeddb
%AppData%\Microsoft\teams\Local Storage
%AppData%\Microsoft\teams\tmp
%LocalAppData%\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Cache
%LocalAppData%\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Cookies
%LocalAppData%\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Web Data
- Once all the files are deleted from the above address locations, try running Microsoft Teams application
2. Clean Uninstall & Reinstall Microsoft Teams
- Right-click on the taskbar and select Task Manager from the list
- Look for Microsoft Teams in the Processes section, right-click and select End Task
- Click on Start and navigate to Control Panel > Programs and Features
- Select Microsoft Teams & click on Uninstall
- Once the application is uninstalled close the control panel window & open the Run window (Windows + R)
- Type in %appdata% and click on Ok
- Open Microsoft folder, right-click on Teams folder and select Delete
- Close all the windows & again open the Run window & type in %Programdata% and click Ok
- Open Microsoft folder, right-click on Teams folder and select Delete
- Restart the system
- Download & Install a fresh & updated copy of Microsoft Teams application
Other common issues and fixes
- Unable to establish a connection to Teams – Make sure that the system can access other networks or online contents. If the network is connected but still unable to access the Teams application, check the Microsoft Support Page (https://admin.microsoft.com/servicestatus) to check the Teams service status.
- Video camera or audio not working – Another common issue in Teams troubleshooting is failure to detect the video camera or audio during video conferences.
Video Camera Solution 1 – Make sure Microsoft Teams has permission to use the video webcam
- Navigate to Windows Settings (Windows key + I)
- Go to Privacy & select Camera
- Make sure that Allow apps to access your Camera is activated
- Also, make sure that Choose apps that can use your camera is activated for Teams
- If it is already on, turn it off and wait for few seconds before turning it back on again.
Video Camera Solution 2 – Another common reason for why a camera is not being detected is old camera drivers. Hence need to update the camera drivers.
- Navigate to Device Manager
- Right-click on the device you want to update
- Select Update Driver
- Restart the system
Audio Solution – After updating the camera driver & the audio driver, change the privacy settings
- Navigate to Settings > Privacy and select Microphone
- Make sure the setting for Microphone access for this device is turned On
- If the setting is already turned on, turn the setting off then back on again
- Close all applications and restart the system
3. Unable to login to Teams – For login issues, please check the login credentials that is entered. If the credentials are correct but still getting the message as ‘Access Denied’, one of the following error codes might appear.
- 0xCAA20003: Authorization problem – Make sure the date and time are set up correctly.
- 0xCAA82EE7: Server not resolved – Confirm that the system is connected to the internet, and firewall issues aren’t stopping access to the service.
- 0xCAA20004: Request requires approval – Make sure that organization is complying with Azure Active Directory configuration policies.
- 0xCAA90018: Incorrect credentials – Incorrect credentials used to sign-in to Microsoft 365 services.
If any of these error codes are received, please contact the system admin or IT department to fix it.
4. Not receiving notifications on the desktop – If you stop receiving notifications from Microsoft Teams, the issue could be that permissions have changed.
- Start by ensuring the Teams app has the right permissions and settings enabled.
- To do this, open the Microsoft Teams app and locate users profile photo, then choose Settings.
- Select the Notifications option and check that notifications are still on, and permissions are enabled.
5. Not being able to share desktop screen – In this case, the meeting participants can only see a black screen instead of the desktop which someone is trying to share.
- Web Browser – Browser issues occur if the user is trying to run Microsoft Teams on any browser other than the latest version of Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, or Firefox, which all have expansive cache and bandwidth capacity.
- Corrupted or full cache – The more information stored in the cache, the slower the computer will be. A corrupted cache may take up a lot of space in the cache memory meaning there isn’t much room left for screen sharing data to process.
- Outdated version of Teams – Follow the clear cache process for Microsoft Teams.
Conclusion:
Successful use of Microsoft Teams requires continuous performance monitoring. Monitoring and performance management can help and prevent some of the known issues users experience with MS Teams.
