How to whitelist Teams in Windows Firewall?

Question

I have set Windows Firewall to block any inbound and outbound connections if it does not match a rule that I have specified. I have successfully allowed all applications that I want to have internet access, except Teams.

I added rules for the following executable files to Windows Firewall. Firewall rules: Inbound & outbound, allow any condition.

C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Teams\Update.exe
C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Teams\previous\Teams.exe
C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Teams\previous\Squirrel.exe
C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Teams\current\Teams.exe
C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Teams\current\Squirrel.exe

At first it seems like Teams can connect because I do not get the "You're offline." banner, but after a few seconds it says "We ran into a problem. Reconnecting...".

If I disable Firewall it works.

Please see attached screenshots of my Firewall rules. Using the following rules, Firefox, Telegram, qbittorrent can use the internet with no problem--but not Teams.

Thanks for any help.

Answer 1

I disabled Firewall, checked & installed new updates for Teams (v1.5.00.28361), restored my previous Firewall rules from the screenshot without changing anything, and magically Teams started working! very strange!

Thanks anayways!

Answer 2

Hi TomatoSanta,

Thank you for the update.

I am happy that your issue has successfully been resolved. I will mark this question as resolved. Please reach out to us if you have any more questions.

Thank you.

Answer 3

Unfortunately the issue is not fixed. This must be a bug.

If I disable Firewall and open Teams, it works. and if I enable my Firewall rules, Teams continue to work.

BUT, if I open Teams for the first time with my Firewall rules, and without disabling Firewall once, Teams will not connect!