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Chat messages not loading in Teams

The chat list stays empty, old messages do not appear, or one chat is silent. These are the common causes.

Last verified:

Affected systems

windows macos web ios android

Quick fixes

  • Restart Teams completely
  • Compare against the web client at https://teams.microsoft.com
  • Clear the cache if only the desktop client is affected

Web client as a baseline

If chat loads instantly in the browser at https://teams.microsoft.com, it is a desktop-client issue. If it also fails in the web, it is server- or account-side.

Clear the cache (desktop)

A corrupt local cache almost always responds to:

%appdata%\Microsoft\Teams

On macOS:

~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Teams

Teams reloads chats fresh on next launch.

A specific chat is broken

If only one chat hangs, scroll to the top - Teams lazy-loads old messages. On very long chats this can take a few seconds.

Tenant retention policy

Accounts with retention policies automatically delete messages older than a certain age. If you expect old messages to be there but they are missing, ask IT about the policy.

Sync lag

After signing into the tenant from another device, sync can take a few minutes. Be patient - do not sign out while sync is running.

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