Clean uninstallation of Microsoft Teams

Question

Clean uninstallation of Microsoft Teams

jwang 1

Hi,

Can I please check if it is common for Microsoft Teams to automatically install on laptops without requiring user permission? I had an installation on 16/9 and it freaked me out because it just did it automatically and suddenly appeared on start up.

Would also Iike to check how come after I uninstalled Microsoft Teams from my laptop on 17/9/2020, there seems to be some residual files leftover and the Squirrel Telemetry log keeps logging these uninstall entries every single time I start up my computer - is there something wrong with the uninstallation?
Or could it be because this installer is still on my laptop?

On a side note, after uninstallation of Teams somehow when I click the update.exe file, the squirrel update still seems to run? Would anyone happen to know why is this update.exe still in my laptop when I’ve uninstalled the app (with logs being updated in SquirrelTelemetry and SquirrelSetUp) – does this mean Teams is still somehow on my laptop?

Many thanks in advance for any insight provided!

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Answer 1

asheroto 26

https://github.com/asheroto/UninstallTeams

Answer 2

gaej 1

Hi,

Just delete all folders Microsoft Teams in
%appdata%

Check folder Local and Roaming in AppData and go to local or roaming > Microsoft > Teams or Microsoft Teams

To go to Appdata, you need see hidden folders :
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4028316/windows-view-hidden-files-and-folders-in-windows-10

Then, you can perform a clean install of Microsoft Teams if needed

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jwang 1 Reputation point

2020-10-05T06:09:39.023+00:00

Thanks gaej,

However, my question was actually is WHY the squirrelupdater and update.exe is continuing to run and shows that the app is uninstalled every single time I startup my computer. This doesn't seem to be normal behaviour, thus would like to solicit the expertise of the Microsoft employees and contributors.
And also, if it is common for Teams to auto install on my computer on a random day without requiring my permission.

Also, how can I get rid of these completely?

Thanks for your time!
gaej 1 Reputation point

2020-10-05T07:49:53.967+00:00

Look if Microsoft Teams doesn't start with Windows
To clean Microsoft Teams you can try my previous answer and check whats happen after a reboot.

Keep me informed

Answer 3

Sharon Zhao-MSFT 25,761 Microsoft External Staff

@jwang ,

Make sure that you have uninstalled all the software which related to Teams, such as Teams Machine-Wide Installer.

After un-install Teams, you also need to delete all the folders for Teams as gaej said.

Regarding the automatically install of Teams, it recommends you contact the IT admin about whether he use Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager, or Group Policy, or any third-party distribution mechanisms for broad deployment.

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jwang 1 Reputation point

2020-10-06T01:26:55.927+00:00

Hi @Sharon Zhao-MSFT ,

Thanks for the reply. Previously I had already uninstalled both the Teams Machine-Wide Installer, as well as the Teams app itself, but these folders still remain on my laptop - does this mean that it was not a clean uninstallation?

Could I check specifically why, then the Squirrel Telemetry log keeps logging these uninstall entries every single time I start up my computer? If I delete all these folders like you advised, will they re-appear the next time I start-up? It is disturbing how there are logs every single time I start up my computer showing that Teams is uninstalled - is this a common occurrence?

My IT dept has advised that there was no deployment of Microsoft teams. Is it possible that the Microsoft Teams installation was deployed together with a recent update to Microsoft 365 apps?

Thanks in advance for the response, appreciate it!
Sharon Zhao-MSFT 25,761 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2020-10-06T09:45:23.007+00:00

@jwang ,
Your idea makes sense.
Starting with version 1902, Teams is included as part of new installations of Microsoft 365 Apps.
You can take to exclude Teams from new or existing installations of Microsoft 365 Apps by Group policy or Office Deployment Tool. For more details, please refer to this article: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/deployoffice/teams-install.

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jwang 1 Reputation point

2020-10-07T01:45:08.373+00:00

@Sharon Zhao-MSFT ,

Noted with thanks. Further- would like your input - I'm just curious about the technical aspect as to why there is this Squirrel Telemetry log left on my laptop that keeps logging these uninstall entries for Teams every single time I start up my computer as it does seem rather disturbing. Is this a Microsoft thing that is a common occurrence?
jwang 1 Reputation point

2020-10-08T08:53:04.597+00:00

Hi,

Bumping my question up -
I'm just curious about the technical aspect as to why there is this Squirrel Telemetry log left on my laptop that keeps logging these uninstall entries for Teams every single time I start up my computer as it does seem rather disturbing. Is this a Microsoft thing that is a common occurrence?

Thank you!
Sharon Zhao-MSFT 25,761 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2020-10-08T09:39:29.88+00:00

@@jwang ,
As we are mainly responsible for general issue of Microsoft Teams. This question is more related to the development level of Teams. We don’t support that.
I will ask the development team for the real cause. If there is any update, I will share with you.

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Clean uninstallation of Microsoft Teams

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