Microsoft Teams creating duplicate files

Question

Whenever I share or receive a file on Microsoft Teams Chat it seems to be creating a duplicate file in "Microsoft Teams Chat Files" folder. This is highly problematic. We use sharepoint to all work on the same file at one time. When a duplicate is created, team members are working on completely different files and work gets lost. How do I turn off this unproductive feature? I do not want duplicate files created. It shouldn't even be possible since they have the SAME NAME.

Answer 1

Hi @Warren, David ,

Microsoft Teams creates a copy of the file in the "Microsoft Teams Chat Files" folder when you share or receive a file in a chat. This is a default behavior and cannot be turned off. However, you can avoid working on the wrong file by ensuring that you and your team members are always working on the file stored in SharePoint.

To access the file stored in SharePoint, you can navigate to the associated site directly from Microsoft Teams. You can do this by clicking on the ellipses (...) on the top right corner under your profile picture while in the Posts tab of a channel, and selecting Open in SharePoint. Alternatively, you can access the file via SharePoint Online by going directly to the site using the common URL structure: https://<tenant-name>.sharepoint.com/sites/<Team-name>/Shared%20Documents/<channel-name>

And there is a blog for your reference:

https://efficiency365.com/2022/06/30/share-file-in-teams-chat/

Note: Microsoft is providing this information as a convenience to you. The sites are not controlled by Microsoft. Microsoft cannot make any representations regarding the quality, safety, or suitability of any software or information found there. Please make sure that you completely understand the risk before retrieving any suggestions from the above link.

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Answer 2

Microsoft Teams creating duplicate files can definitely disrupt team workflows, especially when collaboration depends on everyone editing the same document. A useful strategy for addressing this issue is implementing a file cleanup tool like the software DuplicateFilesDeleter. This software helps detect and remove unintended duplicate files, preventing confusion and version conflicts. While Microsoft Teams and SharePoint settings should also be configured properly, using DuplicateFilesDeleter adds a layer of control to maintain a clean, collaborative environment.