Microsoft Teams is a core part of daily work for millions of people, but it has a reputation for being sluggish — especially after it has been running for a few hours. Whether Teams is taking forever to load, freezing mid-call, or grinding your entire machine to a halt, the good news is that most of these problems have straightforward fixes. This guide walks through every cause and solution, from a quick cache clear to a full reinstall.
Why Does Microsoft Teams Run Slow or Fail to Load?
Before jumping to fixes, it helps to understand what is actually causing the slowdown. Teams is an Electron-based app — essentially a web browser running inside a desktop wrapper — which means it can be memory-hungry and sensitive to a number of common issues:
- Cache bloat: Teams stores temporary files, images, and message data locally. Over time this cache can grow to several gigabytes and actively slow the app down.
- Outdated app version: Microsoft releases Teams updates frequently. Running an old version can mean missing performance patches and bug fixes.
- GPU hardware acceleration: On some machines, forcing Teams to use the GPU for rendering causes more problems than it solves, particularly on older or integrated graphics cards.
- Network issues: Teams is cloud-dependent. A slow or unstable connection causes messages to load late, calls to drop, and the interface to feel unresponsive.
- RAM pressure: Teams can consume 500 MB to over 1 GB of RAM on its own. If your machine is already stretched, Teams will suffer first.
- Too many open tabs and chats: Every open chat and channel in Teams keeps content loaded in memory. The more you have open, the heavier the app becomes.
Work through the fixes below in order — the earlier steps are quick and resolve most cases, while the later ones are for more persistent problems.
Fix 1: Clear the Microsoft Teams Cache
This is the single most effective fix for a slow or unresponsive Teams installation. The cache folder fills up over time and can easily reach several gigabytes, causing the app to slow down noticeably.
- Fully quit Microsoft Teams — right-click the Teams icon in the system tray and choose Quit. Do not just close the window.
- Press Windows + R, type
%appdata%\Microsoft\Teamsand press Enter. - Delete the contents of these folders (do not delete the folders themselves, just the files inside): Cache, blob_storage, databases, GPUCache, IndexedDB, Local Storage, and tmp.
- Restart Teams and sign back in if prompted.
Most users see an immediate improvement in load times and responsiveness after clearing the cache. It is worth doing this every few months as routine maintenance.
Fix 2: Restart Teams Properly (From the System Tray)
Clicking the X to close the Teams window does not actually close the application — it keeps running in the background. Over a long session, Teams can accumulate memory leaks and background processes that make it progressively slower. A proper restart clears all of this.
Right-click the Teams icon in the Windows system tray (bottom-right of the taskbar, in the notification area) and select Quit. Wait a few seconds to make sure it has fully closed, then relaunch Teams from the Start menu or desktop shortcut.
If Teams does not appear in the tray, open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc), look for any Microsoft Teams processes under the Processes tab, and end all of them before restarting.
Fix 3: Update Microsoft Teams to the Latest Version
Microsoft pushes regular updates to Teams that include performance improvements and bug fixes. If you are running an outdated version, you may be missing patches that directly address slow loading or high memory usage.
To update, click your profile picture in the top-right corner of Teams and select Check for updates. Teams will download and apply any available update, usually requiring a restart. If Teams fails to load at all, updating via the Microsoft website or your organisation’s IT admin tools is an alternative route.
Fix 4: Disable GPU Hardware Acceleration
Teams uses GPU hardware acceleration by default to render the interface, which is supposed to improve performance. On some systems — particularly those with older or integrated graphics chips — this actually causes sluggishness, rendering issues, or crashes. Disabling it forces Teams to use the CPU for rendering instead, which is more stable on these systems.
- Open Teams and click the three-dot menu (…) next to your profile picture.
- Select Settings.
- Go to General and scroll down to find Disable GPU hardware acceleration.
- Tick the box and restart Teams when prompted.
This setting is particularly worth trying if Teams is slow specifically when scrolling through chats or switching between channels.
Fix 5: Check Your Network Connection and Bandwidth
Teams is entirely cloud-based, so a slow or unreliable network connection will directly affect how fast it loads and how well calls perform. Microsoft recommends a minimum of 1.5 Mbps upload and download for HD video calling in Teams. For group calls and screen sharing, more bandwidth is needed.
Run a speed test at a site like fast.com or speedtest.net to check your current speeds. If your connection is fine, check whether Teams is being slowed by network congestion — this is common in offices where many people are using video calls simultaneously. If you are on Wi-Fi, try connecting via ethernet to rule out a wireless signal issue.
You can also lower the video quality in Teams calls to reduce the bandwidth demand: go to Settings > Devices and adjust the camera resolution, or turn off your camera during calls where video is not essential.
Fix 6: Reduce the Number of Open Chats and Channels
Every chat thread and channel you have open in Teams keeps that content in memory. If you have dozens of pinned chats, multiple active team channels, and several open conversations, Teams has to maintain all of that simultaneously. This is one of the quieter causes of slow performance that is easy to overlook.
Close chats you are not actively using by right-clicking them and selecting Close chat. Unpin channels you rarely visit. If you are using Teams on a machine with less than 8 GB of RAM, keeping the active conversation count low makes a noticeable difference.
Fix 7: Use Teams in a Browser as a Temporary Workaround
If the desktop app is completely unusable, the Teams web app at teams.microsoft.com is a reliable alternative. It supports messaging, calls, file sharing, and most day-to-day features. The browser version tends to use slightly less memory than the desktop app and avoids any local installation issues.
Sign in with your Microsoft 365 account and you will have access to your messages, channels, and meetings without needing the desktop app. This is a good option while you work through more involved fixes like a reinstall.
Fix 8: Reinstall Microsoft Teams
If Teams remains slow after clearing the cache and trying the fixes above, a clean reinstall is the next step. This removes any corrupted files from the local installation that a cache clear would not catch.
- Quit Teams completely from the system tray.
- Go to Settings > Apps (Windows 11) or Control Panel > Programs (Windows 10), find Microsoft Teams, and uninstall it.
- After uninstalling, navigate to
%appdata%\Microsoft\Teamsand%localappdata%\Microsoft\Teamsand delete both folders entirely. - Download the latest version of Teams from microsoft.com and install it fresh.
Deleting the AppData folders is the step that most guides miss — skipping it means the reinstall may inherit the same corrupted data.
Fix 9: Check Microsoft’s Server Status
Sometimes the problem is not on your machine at all. Microsoft Teams relies on Microsoft 365 cloud infrastructure, and when those servers experience issues, Teams slows down or fails to load for everyone — no local fix will help in that situation.
Check the Microsoft 365 Service Health dashboard at status.office365.com or, if you have admin access, via the Microsoft 365 admin centre under Health > Service health. If there is a reported incident affecting Teams, the fix is simply to wait for Microsoft to resolve it.
New Teams (Teams 2.0) vs Classic Teams: Does It Make a Difference?
Microsoft has been rolling out a rebuilt version of Teams — often called Teams 2.0 or “new Teams” — which replaces the original Electron-based app with a version built on the Edge WebView2 runtime. The new Teams is significantly faster to launch, uses around 50% less memory, and is more responsive during use.
If you are still on classic Teams, you can switch to the new version by toggling Try the new Teams in the top-left corner of the Teams window. From early 2024, Microsoft began migrating all users to the new Teams automatically. If you are experiencing performance issues on classic Teams and the switch is available to you, enabling new Teams is one of the most impactful changes you can make.
Note that new Teams has a separate cache location. If you have already switched and Teams is still slow, clear the cache at %localappdata%\Packages\MSTeams_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache\Microsoft\MSTeams rather than the classic Teams path.
If Teams is causing you other issues beyond performance, you may also want to read our guide on Microsoft Teams notifications not working or Teams status not updating, as these can sometimes be symptoms of the same underlying problems covered here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Microsoft Teams use so much RAM?
Classic Teams is built on Electron, which embeds a full Chromium browser engine — the same reason many Electron apps are memory-intensive. New Teams (Teams 2.0) uses the more efficient Edge WebView2 runtime and is substantially lighter on RAM. If memory usage is a recurring problem, switching to new Teams or upgrading your machine’s RAM are the most effective long-term solutions.
How often should I clear the Teams cache?
There is no fixed rule, but clearing the cache every one to three months is reasonable for heavy Teams users. If you notice Teams becoming progressively slower over weeks, clearing the cache every month or so will keep it running cleanly. It is also worth doing immediately after a major Teams update if performance dips.
Is Teams faster in the browser than the desktop app?
In some cases, yes — particularly on lower-spec machines. The browser version does not carry the overhead of a separate Electron runtime, and modern browsers are highly optimised. The trade-off is that the browser version lacks some features, such as background blur in calls and certain notification options. New Teams (2.0) is generally faster than both classic Teams and the browser version on supported machines.
Can IT admins do anything to improve Teams performance for the whole organisation?
Yes — Microsoft recommends configuring Quality of Service (QoS) policies on the network to prioritise Teams traffic, particularly for calls and meetings. Admins can also enforce the use of new Teams across the organisation via Group Policy or Microsoft Intune, and can set media quality policies in the Teams admin centre to manage bandwidth usage per user. Ensuring that all users are on a supported Windows version and have adequate RAM (8 GB minimum, 16 GB recommended for power users) makes a significant difference across the board. For more on getting the most from Teams, see our guide on how to create a team in Microsoft Teams and how to use Whiteboard in Microsoft Teams.
