How to remove accounts from "Add another account" screen in Teams?

Question

How to remove accounts from "Add another account" screen in Teams?

Michal Z 20

I want to remove old accounts from "Add another account" screen.
I've tried already,

removing ~/Library entries related to Microsoft.
remove entries in KeyChain access.

Still old accounts are appearing.

Can anyone provide a script which solves that problem?

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Answer 1

Anonymous

Hello @Michal Z Thank you for reaching out and providing details about the issue you're experiencing with Microsoft Teams on macOS.

This behavior is often caused by Teams caching identity and configuration data in multiple locations across macOS. To fully reset Teams and remove all traces of old accounts, I recommend following the steps below:

Step 1: Sign Out of All Microsoft Applications

Before proceeding, please sign out of all Microsoft apps on your Mac, including Outlook, OneDrive, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. These apps may sync identity data across services and reintroduce cached credentials.

Step 2: Fully Quit Microsoft Teams

Ensure Teams is not running in the background. Right-click the Teams icon in your Dock and select Quit.

Step 3: Clear Keychain Entries

Open Keychain Access (found in /Applications/Utilities or via Spotlight).
In the search bar in the top-right corner of the Keychain Access window, search for and delete all entries that contain the following keywords. Search for them one by one:
1. Microsoft Teams
2. ADAL (Microsoft Authentication Library)
3. Office
Right-click each entry and choose Delete "[entry name]".

Step 4: Delete Teams Cache and Configuration Files

Open Finder.
Click Go in the menu bar and select Go to Folder….
You will need to delete the contents of a few specific locations. Copy and paste the following paths into the "Go to Folder" box one at a time and press Go:
1. ~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Teams
2. ~/Library/Caches/com.microsoft.teams
3. ~/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.teams.plist
4. ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.com.microsoft.teams (this folder often contains persistent identity data)

Step 5: Restart Your Mac (Optional but Recommended)

Restarting ensures all background processes related to Teams and Microsoft identity services are terminated.

Step 6: Relaunch Teams

Open Microsoft Teams. It should now behave like a fresh installation, prompting you to sign in without showing any previously used accounts.

Optional: Script to Automate Folder Deletion

If you're comfortable using Terminal, you can run the following commands to automate Step 4. Please be cautious, these commands permanently delete files without moving them to Trash.

rm -rf "~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Teams"
rm -rf "~/Library/Caches/com.microsoft.teams" 
rm -rf "~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.com.microsoft.teams"  
rm -f "~/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.teams.plist"

After running these commands and clearing the Keychain, the issue should be resolved.

Please let me know if this solves the problem or if you have any further questions.

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment”.

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Michal Z 20 Reputation points

2025-07-28T15:40:07.6766667+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion but I've followed those instructions already twice - the same approach I previously tested was recommended on other thread, but nothing works.
Anonymous

2025-07-29T09:59:34.5333333+00:00
Hi @Michal Z,

Thank you for your prompt reply and for confirming that you've already performed those steps.

I'm sorry to hear that the standard solution didn't resolve the issue.

This situation suggests that the account information is being cached or re-synced from a more persistent location on your Mac, which isn't affected by the typical cache clearing process. To diagnose this further, I need a little more information about your setup.

Could you please help me with the following questions?

Device Management: Is this your personal Mac, or is it a device managed by your company's IT department? (Company-managed devices can sometimes automatically re-apply account settings).

Teams Version: Are you using the "New" Microsoft Teams (it usually has a "New" banner on the icon) or the classic version?

macOS Version: What version of macOS are you running (e.g., Sonoma 14.5, Ventura 13.6)?

In the meantime, there is a diagnostic step we can take to isolate the problem: Try Teams on a New macOS User Profile

Creating a new user profile on your Mac provides a completely clean environment. This is the most effective way to determine if the issue is specific to your current user profile's settings or if it's a system-wide problem.

Go to System Settings > Users & Groups.

Click Add Account... (you may need to enter your Mac's password).

Create a new Standard user (you can name it "Test" or something similar) and set a simple password.

Log out of your current macOS account and log in to the new "Test" account.

Download and install Microsoft Teams.

Open Teams and see if it prompts for a fresh login without showing the old accounts.

What the results will tell us:

If Teams works correctly in the new profile: The problem lies within your original user profile (likely a hidden configuration file or a corrupted setting).

If the old accounts still appear: This points towards a system-level configuration, most likely a management profile pushed by your organization's IT department (related to question #1).

Thank you for your patience as we work through this. I look forward to your reply.

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Michal Z 20 Reputation points

2025-07-29T20:15:05.1166667+00:00

Since this is a personal laptop, the organization’s IT management profile doesn’t apply here, also IT management profile should not contain other companies data.

I'm using newest osx and newest version of Teams (the new one).

The new profile won’t have that information either, as the accounts are separate.
Also, Teams data can’t be stored across the system—that would be a big security risk.

Thanks for your suggestions, but they feel a bit too general in this case. It’s unlikely to be a system-wide problem because Teams has to read that data from somewhere specific from users profile.

There’s no hidden configuration or magic—Teams simply reads profiles from a certain place in the system, based on its code.

The main question is who in the world knows besides the devs, where the Teams store that information? It's not some certain place, because other Microsoft applications don't have these accounts listed, so this must be something Teams specific.

People from Reddit are forced to even reset their os to get rid of those old accounts. Something is really wrong here. It's a privacy issue like a browser which can't clear browsing history.
Anonymous

2025-07-30T14:36:02+00:00
Hi @Michal Z,

Thanks again for your patience and for sharing such detailed insights.

After reviewing your case, I want to confirm that you're right, this issue is not caused by anything you've done incorrectly.

The new Teams client uses a deeply integrated identity system that caches credentials persistently. While this was designed to improve sign-in experience, it unfortunately makes it very difficult to remove old accounts, even after clearing cache and Keychain entries. This behavior has been reported by other advanced users and is tied to how Teams manages identity at the core level.

At this time, there’s no supported script or manual method to fully remove these cached accounts without risking issues with other Microsoft services.

The best way to escalate this to our engineering team is by submitting feedback directly from the Teams app:

Click the (...) menu next to your profile picture.

Go to Help > Give feedback.

Describe the issue and mention the privacy concerns.

Feedback submitted this way includes diagnostic data that helps our developers understand and prioritize the issue.

In the meantime, we kindly ask for your patience while waiting for future updates that may address this behavior. I’ve also escalated your case internally to highlight the impact and privacy concerns you've raised.

I’m truly sorry we don’t have an immediate fix, but I appreciate you bringing this to our attention and helping us improve the product. If you need any further assistance or clarification, feel free to let me know.

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Michal Z 20 Reputation points

2025-07-31T03:12:02.75+00:00

I did it. thanks
Anonymous

2025-07-31T08:03:51.61+00:00

Hi @Michal Z,

Thank you again for your understanding and for taking the time to submit feedback.

If you have a moment, I would appreciate it if you can click “Accept Answer”. I believe many other users may encounter a similar situation, doing this will help them find the solution more easily when searching for related issues.

Thanks once again, and if you have any further questions or need assistance, please feel free to contact us anytime.

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