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Teams and channels do not reliably appear after update

Jesse Allen 40 Reputation points
2025-08-21T20:27:18.66+00:00

After a recent update, Teams and Channels are no longer available from the sidebar (desktop version). Occasionally they appear below Pinned and Recent chats, but now they've stopped even doing that, so the only way I can access them is when there is Activity on them:
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The other view with Teams and Channels at the bottom appears only for a fraction of a second when clicking Chat now, then defaults to the above (but expanded).

I searched this issue and this post came up, but I do not have the option it tells me to select to separate chats and channels:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/4427653/teams-channels-disappeared-after-layout-update?forum=msteams-all&referrer=answers&page=3&source=docs#answers
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Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Teams for business | Teams and channels | Other

Answer accepted by question author

  1. Stefan Ayto 90 Reputation points
    2025-08-22T03:44:57.5166667+00:00

    Hi Jesse,

    I have had multiple users with this issue today too.

    Closing out of teams completely and restarting it made the channels appear again briefly, and the options to appear in Settings. Not long, but long enough for me to rush into settings, and separate Chat and Channels. This seems to have stopped it for now.

    3 people found this answer helpful.

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  1. Technonath 5 Reputation points
    2025-08-22T12:24:27.5633333+00:00

    this issue is acknowledged in the message centre:User's image

    1 person found this answer helpful.
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  2. Kristen-L 12,580 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2025-08-21T21:45:04.65+00:00

    Hi @Jesse Allen,

    Good day! Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Q&A forum and sharing the details of your issue.

    I’m really sorry for the disadvantages this change has caused. To proceed effectively, we’d like to gather a bit more information regarding your case:

    • Have you tried Microsoft Teams on Web or Mobile app? 
    • Are you using the new Teams interface (the one that recently merged classic Teams and channels)?
    • Have you attempted to sign out and then sign back in?

    This behavior is likely due to:

    • UI Layout Changes in the New Teams Client: Microsoft has been rolling out a new Teams experience with a redesigned layout. In some builds, Teams and Channels are merged into the Chat view unless explicitly separated.
    • Missing Feature Toggle: The option to separate chats and channels may not be available in your tenant or version yet.
    • Caching or Sync Issues: Sometimes, UI elements fail to load due to local cache corruption or sync delays.

    In the meantime, here are steps you can try to fix it:

    1. Check for the Layout Toggle

    • Go to Settings > General and look for an option like: Turn on the new layout for Teams and Channels
    • If it’s missing, your tenant may not support it yet.

    2. Clear Teams Cache

    • Quit Teams completely.
    • Navigate to %appdata%\Microsoft\Teams and delete the contents.
    • Restart Teams.

    3. Switch to the Classic Teams Client

    • If you're using the new Teams, try switching back to Classic Teams (if available) from the profile menu.

    5. Contact IT Admin

    • Ask your Teams administrator to check if the layout toggle is available in the Teams Admin Center under Teams Update Policies.

    If you have tried all the above steps without success, we recommend reporting this issue directly to the Teams product team by navigating to: Settings > Feedback > Report a problem. 

    As a moderator of Q&A forum, my ability to assist is with the existing product functionality, and the power to influence its design rests entirely with our product development team. 

    Engaging with Microsoft Support will allow you to work with agents who can provide live assistance and escalate the issue to specialized teams if needed. They also have the ability to perform deeper backend analysis and offer targeted solutions that go beyond what we can provide here in the forum. 

    We appreciate your patience and understanding while the Teams team works to resolve this issue. Please feel free to reach out if you need further assistance. 

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

    Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

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