Teams App Crashing on Startup

If Microsoft Teams crashes immediately after launching, freezes on the splash screen, or closes itself within seconds of opening, the problem usually stems from a corrupted cache, an incompatible update, or conflicts with other software. Follow these steps in order to resolve the issue.

Step 1: Kill Stuck Teams Processes

Background Teams processes that did not shut down cleanly can prevent the app from launching again.

On Windows:

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
2. Look for any processes named Microsoft Teams or Teams.exe.
3. Select each one and click End task.
4. Also check for ms-teams.exe if you are using the new Teams client.

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

On macOS:

1. Open Activity Monitor (search via Spotlight).
2. Search for Teams in the search bar.
3. Select all Teams processes and click the X button > Force Quit.

# Terminal: Force-kill Teams
pkill -f "Microsoft Teams"

After killing all processes, wait 5 seconds and try launching Teams again.

Step 2: Clear the Teams Cache

A corrupted cache is the most common cause of startup crashes. Clearing it forces Teams to download fresh data.

On Windows:

1. Make sure Teams is fully closed (see Step 1).
2. Press Win + R, type the following path, and press Enter:

%appdata%\Microsoft\Teams

3. Delete all contents within these subfolders:
   • Cache, blob_storage, databases, GPUCache, Local Storage, tmp
4. Do not delete the root Teams folder itself.
5. Relaunch Teams.

On macOS:

# Quit Teams first, then run:
rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Microsoft/Teams/Cache
rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Microsoft/Teams/GPUCache
rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Microsoft/Teams/databases
rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Microsoft/Teams/blob_storage
rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Microsoft/Teams/Local\ Storage
rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Microsoft/Teams/tmp

Relaunch Teams after clearing the cache. You will need to sign in again.

Step 3: Repair or Reset the Teams App

Windows offers built-in app repair tools that can fix corrupted installations without losing data.

On Windows (new Teams / MSIX package):

1. Open Settings > Apps > Installed apps.
2. Search for Microsoft Teams, click the ··· menu, and select Advanced options.
3. Scroll down and click Repair first. If that does not resolve the crash, click Reset.

On Windows (classic Teams):

• The classic Teams installer does not support in-place repair. Proceed to Step 5 for a clean reinstall.

On macOS:

• macOS does not have a built-in repair option for apps. Proceed to clearing preferences:

defaults delete com.microsoft.teams2
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/com.microsoft.teams2*

• Restart your Mac and try launching Teams again.

Step 4: Check for OS and App Updates

Teams may crash if there is a version incompatibility between the app and your operating system.

Minimum requirements:

• Windows: Windows 10 version 1903 or later
• macOS: macOS 12 (Monterey) or later for new Teams; macOS 11 for classic Teams

1. Update your OS:

   • Windows: Settings > Windows Update > Check for updates.
   • macOS: System Settings > General > Software Update.

2. If Teams launches briefly before crashing, check if an update is available:

   • Click ··· > Check for updates in the Teams title bar.
   • The new Teams app updates automatically via the Microsoft 365 update channel.

3. Check for conflicting software:

   • Antivirus programs can interfere with Teams startup. Temporarily disable real-time scanning and test.
   • VPN software that injects network hooks can cause crashes. Disconnect and test.
   • Outdated GPU drivers can crash the Electron/WebView2 rendering engine used by Teams.

Step 5: Perform a Clean Reinstallation

If nothing else works, a clean reinstall removes all local data and starts fresh.

On Windows:

1. Uninstall Teams from Settings > Apps > Installed apps.
2. Delete leftover data:

rmdir /s /q %appdata%\Microsoft\Teams
rmdir /s /q %localappdata%\Microsoft\Teams
rmdir /s /q %localappdata%\Packages\MSTeams_8wekyb3d8bbwe

3. Restart your computer.
4. Download the latest Teams from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/download-app.

On macOS:

1. Drag Microsoft Teams from Applications to the Trash.
2. Remove all associated data:

rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Microsoft/Teams
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/com.microsoft.teams*
rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.teams*
rm -rf ~/Library/Saved\ Application\ State/com.microsoft.teams*

3. Empty the Trash, restart your Mac, and install Teams fresh from the download page.

• If Teams continues to crash after a clean install, the issue may be hardware-related. Try booting in Safe Mode to rule out third-party kernel extensions or drivers.