Missing Chat Option on Teams:

Owned by Anthony Orofiamma
May 08, 2024
3 min read

These troubleshooting steps cover a comprehensive range of potential issues with the chat option in Teams.

Refreshing or restarting the app is often the first step, and clearing cache and cookies can help resolve browser-based issues.

Deleting and reinstalling Teams can also be effective, particularly if there are corrupted files causing problems.

 

Ensuring the correct account type and permissions are set up is crucial, especially for guest users or those with restricted access. Connecting the appropriate work or school account and checking permissions can address many chat-related issues.

 

If you're experiencing issues with the chat option on Teams, there could be a few reasons why this is happening. Here are some troubleshooting steps you can try:

 

  1. Refresh or Restart: Try refreshing the Teams app or restarting it altogether. Sometimes a simple restart can resolve minor glitches. Signing out and signing in could be an approach.

  2. Clear Cache and Cookies: Clearing your browser's cache and cookies can sometimes resolve issues with web-based applications like Teams.

  • New Teams cache file location:

    • Windows + R and C:\Users\user.name\AppData\Local\Packages\MSTeams_8wekyb3d8bbwe` Select and Delete all.

  • Old Teams cache file location:

    • In the Run dialog box, enter %appdata%\Microsoft\Teams, and then select OK. Clear cache from there and try to relogging and see if the option is available now.

  1. Connecting Work or School Account on Windows:

    • If the user is logging in as Guest on teams(the option for chat would be unavailable).

    • If permissions are set right, connecting the Student email on Windows accounts section would re-enable the chat feature.

      • Open the Settings app and select Accounts.

      • Under Access Work or school, select Add a work or school account.

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      • Enter your work or school credentials and follow the onscreen prompts to finish connecting.

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      • Your account will be added as a connection.

  2. Check Permissions: The instructor needs to make sure they have added the user to the teams, this could be the reason why Chat option would be greyed out.

  • Here’s how a teacher/admin can look up for the settings:

    • In the left pane, click on Teams icon.

    • Now under your Teams name, click on the Members tab. Hit Add member and add the person facing this issue as the member of your team.

  1. Enabling Chat in Meeting:

  • Within the Microsoft Teams Admin Centre, select Users from the left pane. Then proceed to find the user experiencing this issue and click on Policies followed by Meeting policy and finally Global (Org-wide default).

  • On the subsequent page, under the Participants & guests section, adjust the setting for Allow chat in meetings to be set as Enabled.

  • To ensure that these changes take effect, click on Save.