Microsoft Teams — File & Cache Locations (Mac & Windows)

Overview

This article documents the file system locations used by both the current and legacy Microsoft Teams clients on macOS and Windows. Use this reference when troubleshooting performance issues, clearing corrupted cache, or locating log files.

macOS

New Teams (Current Client)

The new Teams app uses sandboxed container directories instead of the traditional Application Support path. The two primary locations are:

Path

Purpose
~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.com.microsoft.teams Shared group container data across Microsoft apps
~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.teams2 Main container; holds cache, app data, settings, and logs
Within the com.microsoft.teams2 container, key subdirectories include:
  • Data/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/MSTeams/ — General app support data
  • Data/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/MSTeams/Backgrounds/Uploads — Custom meeting backgrounds

Additional helper containers associated with the new client:

  • ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.teams2.launcher
  • ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.teams2.notificationcenter
  • ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.teams2.respawn

To clear the cache (New Teams – Mac):

  1. Fully quit Microsoft Teams (⌘ + Q)
  2. Open Finder → press ⌘ + Shift + G
  3. Navigate to: ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.teams2/Data/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/MSTeams
  4. Delete the contents of the Cache folder (do not delete the folder itself)
  5. Restart Teams

⚠️ Teams may take longer to start after clearing the cache as it rebuilds. Brief "unknown user" glitches may appear during this time.

Classic Teams (Legacy Client)

Classic Teams stored all data under the traditional macOS Application Support path:

  • Root folder: ~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Teams

Key subfolders inside that root:

  • Application Cache/Cache
  • blob_storage
  • Cache
  • databases
  • GPUCache
  • IndexedDB
  • Local Storage
  • tmp

To clear the cache (Classic Teams – Mac):

  1. Fully quit Microsoft Teams (⌘ + Q)
  2. Open Terminal (/Applications/Utilities/Terminal)
  3. Run: rm -r ~/Library/Application\ Support/Microsoft/Teams
  4. Restart Teams

Navigating to These Folders in Finder

  1. Open Finder and press ⌘ + Shift + G (or go to Go → Go to Folder…)
  2. Paste the desired path (e.g., ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.teams2) and click Go

Alternatively, open Terminal and use:

  • open ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.teams2 — opens folder in Finder
  • rm -rf <path> — deletes cache contents via command line

💡 ~/Library is hidden by default. The ⌘ + Shift + G shortcut is the fastest way to reach it without enabling hidden files.

 

Windows

New Teams (Current Client)

New Teams on Windows is distributed as an MSIX package and uses isolated package storage:

Path

Purpose
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\MSTeams_8wekyb3d8bbw Main data & cache
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\MSTeams_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache\Microsoft\MSTeams Cache specifically 
C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\MSTeams_<version>_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe Executable/ Install location

To clear the cache (New Teams – Windows):

  1. Right-click the Teams icon in the system tray → select Quit
  2. Press Win + R to open the Run dialog
  3. Paste: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\MSTeams_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache\Microsoft\MSTeams
  4. Click OK, then delete all files and folders in that directory
  5. Restart Teams

⚠️ Clearing this folder will reset personalization settings (theme, language, etc.). Notify users before performing this step if working on their behalf.

Classic Teams (Legacy Client)

Classic Teams stored all data under the Roaming AppData path:

  • Root folder: %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Teams

Cache subfolders inside that root:

  • Cache
  • blob_storage
  • databases
  • GPUCache
  • IndexedDB
  • Local Storage
  • tmp
  • Service Worker\CacheStorage

To clear the cache (Classic Teams – Windows):

  1. Right-click the Teams icon in the system tray → select Quit
  2. Press Win + R, enter %appdata%\Microsoft\Teams, click OK
  3. Delete all files and folders in the directory
  4. Restart Teams

References

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