Share via

I cannot log into Microsoft Teams (Work/School account), despite trying almost everything on the internet.

Anonymous
2023-10-16T05:28:31+00:00

I'm holding tufts of my hair in my hands, but I'm sure I've not tried everything hence another message here.

Situation

  • I used to be able to log into Classic Teams for Work/School using my work email address (work account), and from there I'm a member of 4 other customer organizations (I'm in the consulting line and support customers who have invited me via my work account to join their organizations using Teams).
  • Recently I started having problems with logins (I don't know what triggered this), and it forced me to login into Teams, but I cannot seem to get past a screen that says "We're sorry - we've run into an issue", with a button "Try Again". (I can't seem to attach a screenshot, but I will try again once I post this question)
  • There is also a link saying "If that doesn't work, try signing out and back in", and no matter how many times I Try Again or Sign Out, it keeps coming back to this screen.
  • Because of this issue, I cannot log into my Teams Desktop app anymore and get notifications on chats or groups.
  • I also cannot log into the web version of Teams.

Basic Info:

  • I'm using my work account, not personal account, and I made sure I'm using the Work/School version of Teams.
  • I'm using a freshly reinstalled Windows (done a couple of months ago, so fairly recently) on my work laptop, where I was able to install Classic Teams and use it without problems despite switching between organizations.

I have tried:

  • Uninstalled classic Teams, downloaded the New Teams, uninstalled it and reinstalled it several times.
    • This gave me an error much faster, but it's still an error.
    • I get a screen that says "You're offline - Make sure you're connected to the internet and try signing in again." And I can 100% confirm that I am online when I got this message. And troubleshooting this message was another rabbit hole I'd rather not rehash here, and anyway the problem remains.
  • Reinstalled the Classic Teams, uninstalled it and reinstalled it several times.
  • Removed credentials from Windows > Accounts > Work or School Account. At various stages when I did the above steps too.
  • Removed credentials from Windows Credentials. At various stages when I did the above steps too.
  • Removed Teams cache.
  • I tried to log a ticket with Microsoft for this problem, but apparently because this is a work account, I have to get the contact from my organization to raise this specific issue to Microsoft. Wow.

Wild speculation:

  • After the hours I spent, and the articles I've read elsewhere on this problem, I'm beginning to think this issue has nothing to do with the Teams application, but something related to my work account itself as it is stored/saved in Microsoft itself. I hope the answer isn't 'get your organization to remove your account and add it in again to see if the problem disappears' because that would involve me asking someone in my company I'd rather not disturb (he's a nice guy, just VERY BUSY).

Edit: I should mention that I can still use my account on my Teams app on my Android phone - I'm getting chats there still. I never did log out of that session, and now I'm afraid to.

Edit 2: I have tried to install the new Teams app on a brand new (and completely separate) desktop, with a fresh Windows 11 install, and still it doesn't work. I uninstalled that version of Teams and installed the Classic version, and it also didn't work. This implies the problem isn't on the app installed on my work laptop, but a problem with the account in Microsoft (therefore, my wild speculation is confirmed!). I also want to note that my company doesn't subscribe to or use Teams internally, so we're using the free organization account. But a lot of our clients use Teams and have invited me to join their Teams organizations as guests, which I did, and I was using Teams just fine up until this point.

Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Teams for business | Sign up and Sign in | Sign in

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

10 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2023-10-28T16:37:05+00:00

    I am a consultant like you and was experiencing exactly the same issues logging into Teams so that I could correspond as a guest to chat and interact with my customers in their organizations.

    Here is what I did to fix the issue (and also a description of why it "broke" in the first place):

    SPOILER ALERT - YOU’LL NEED TO PURCHASE A PAID TEAMS LICENSE/SUBSCRIPTION (but mine was only $4/mo)

    • In April 2023, Microsoft stopped offering a free version of Teams for Business.
    • The app itself is free - but the license that gets “associated” to the app is not. This is why you can download and install the app on multiple devices, or try logging in on multiple browsers, yet will have the same login problems on all of them.
    • On my phone, iPad, and PC, I have been logged in for months. They must somehow cache the login credentials and you will perpetually maintain a connection - even when rebooting - because you technically did not sign out. I only became aware of the issue earlier this week (a full 7 months after signing in on my phone in March 2023) when I tried to switch from a business account to a personal account. It required me to sign out. Once I did that, I could not log back in again to my business account — and spent a very frustrating 24 hours trying to figure out why. I could log in with my personal email - just not my business email. And it was my business email associated with my guest access - so I was dead in the water work-wise.
    • A personal account is an email address that has never been used to establish a Teams guest account with your customers’ organizations. In contrast, a business account is one that HAS been used for guest access to another organization. I had Microsoft accounts under both my business and personal email addresses and it was confusing that while I could log in with my personal account just fine, I could not log in with my business account - and logging in with one could only be done in the "free" (personal) edition of Teams - not the business edition of Teams for work/school.
    • Log in to https://admin.microsoft.com using your business* account. Purchase a “Teams Essentials” subscription. It is $48/yr but you have a one-month trial. So you can test my suggested solution before pulling the trigger on the purchase.
    • You must then associate the subscription you just purchased (even if a trial subscription) with your business email user account.

    NOTE: I will try to post redacted screen captures later showing how this is done, but it was reasonably intuitive - unlike many other things Microsoft does. 

    When you try to log in without a valid subscription to Teams, it does not matter if you are using an old version of the Teams application or a new version. When trying to log in with your business email, it will reject it unless you have a valid subscription to Teams active. 

    Hope this helps. Worked like a charm for me.

    * If you have not purchased anything from Microsoft using that business account, you will be asked to provide an address and a credit card - allowing a trial to transition to a paid subscription without interruption if you wish.

    Was this answer helpful?

    4 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2023-10-28T17:18:20+00:00

    Here are some screen captures:

    1. Log in to admin.microsoft.com using the same email address that is giving you login problems in Work/School Teams.
    2. Click on "users" and make sure you are listed as an active user.
    3. You should see a page with this menu on the left side: (the "billing" section might not be visible so be sure to click "show all")![Image](https://learn-attachment.microsoft.com/api/attachments/4488d82e-e31a-47e8-a8a6-7612b337d605?platform=QnA

    Was this answer helpful?

    3 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2023-10-17T22:20:26+00:00

    Same issue using NEW version of Teams with a guest account using OSX Sonoma!

    Pretty BAD!!

    Was this answer helpful?

    3 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2023-10-16T05:29:36+00:00

    Was this answer helpful?

    3 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2023-11-21T03:22:48+00:00

    Dear Don YQ,

    Thank you for posting on the Microsoft Community. We will be happy to assist you.

    Have you tried quitting Teams, then navigate to C:\Users\user.name\AppData\Local\Packages\MSTeams_8wekyb3d8bbwe. Delete the entire contents of the folder, then restart Teams and try to sign in again. Also, double-check that the email address and password you entered for your ******@futongsmart.com account are correct. You can also try resetting your password and see if that fixes the problem.

    If the problem persists, you can contact Microsoft Support for further assistance. They may be able to provide additional troubleshooting steps or escalate the issue to the engineering team for further investigation.

    I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.

    Was this answer helpful?

    2 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments