Guide · Teams, Outlook and Zoom

Teams, Outlook, OneDrive or Zoom not working on your Mac or Windows PC? How to get it going again

By the AI Repair team · Updated 25 October 2026

Teams won’t open, Zoom freezes, Outlook shows yesterday’s mail, or OneDrive stops syncing. These apps live on the internet, so most problems come from the connection, an app that needs a fresh start, or one that’s out of date. These steps check each one, gentlest first, with the steps for a Mac and for Windows, then the makers’ own fixes for each app.

1. Check your internet connection

Teams, Outlook, OneDrive and Zoom all need the internet. Open a website you don’t usually visit. If it doesn’t load either, the connection is the problem: our guide Wi-Fi connected but no internet? goes through it.

If websites load but the app still can’t connect, ask someone else who uses it, such as a colleague or the person you’re meeting. If it isn’t working for them either, the trouble is on Microsoft’s or Zoom’s side, and it usually comes back by itself. A work or school account may also need its VPN turned on before the app can connect.

2. Quit the app and open it again

Closing the window isn’t always enough: Teams, Zoom and OneDrive keep running in the background. Quit the app properly, then open it again. If you’re on a call in it, end the call first.

On a Mac (Apple’s guide):

1. Click the app’s window to bring it to the front.
2. Click the app’s name at the top left of the screen, next to the Apple menu, and choose the Quit item at the bottom of that menu.
3. For OneDrive, click its cloud at the top right of the screen, click Help & Settings (the gear), then Quit OneDrive.
4. Open the app again from your Applications folder or the Dock.

If the app won’t quit, choose Apple menu › Force Quit, or press Option ⌘ Esc. Click the app, then Force Quit. Anything not saved in it is lost.

On a Windows PC: click the X at the top right of the app’s window. Then look at the small icons at the right of the taskbar (click Show hidden icons to see them all). If the app’s icon is still there, it’s still running:

• Teams: right-click its icon and choose Quit (Microsoft’s guide).
• Zoom: right-click its icon and choose Exit.
• OneDrive: click the cloud, then Help & Settings (the gear), then Quit OneDrive.

Open the app again from the Start menu. If it won’t close, press Ctrl Shift Esc to open Task Manager, click the app, then End task. Like Force Quit on a Mac, that loses anything not saved.

3. Restart your computer

A restart closes everything, including the parts of an app you can’t see, and starts them fresh. Save your work and close your apps. On a Mac, choose Apple menu › Restart; on a Windows PC, choose Start › Power › Restart. When your computer is back, open the app before anything else.

4. Update the app

These apps change often, and an old copy may stop connecting, or ask you to update before it lets you in. Most update by themselves; here’s how to update now.

• Teams: when an update is ready, Teams shows it at the top of its window. Click it, then Update and restart Teams (Microsoft’s guide). To look yourself, click Settings and more (the three dots at the top), then Settings › About Teams.
• Zoom: click your profile picture at the top right of Zoom’s window, then Check for Updates (Zoom’s guide). If that button isn’t there, your work or school looks after Zoom’s updates: ask its IT people.
• Outlook on a Mac: click Help at the top of the screen, then Check for Updates, and click Update in the window that opens (Microsoft’s guide).
• Outlook on a Windows PC: in Outlook, click File › Office Account, then Update Options › Update Now (Microsoft’s guide). The new Outlook updates by itself.
• OneDrive updates by itself.

On a Mac, an app you got from the App Store, which can include Outlook and OneDrive, updates there: open the App Store, click Updates in the sidebar, then Update next to the app (Apple’s guide).

5. Check that your Mac or PC is still supported

Microsoft’s apps need a fairly recent system. On an older one they stop getting updates, and in time an out-of-date app may stop working.

On a Mac, choose Apple menu › About This Mac to see which macOS you have (Apple’s guide). Outlook and Microsoft’s other Office apps get updates only on macOS 14 Sonoma or later: on macOS 12 or 13 they keep working, but get no more updates, not even for security. The Teams app is made for the three newest versions of macOS. To move to a newer macOS, if your Mac can, see our guide to getting an update to finish.

On a Windows PC, choose Start › Settings › System › About to see your version. Teams needs Windows 11, or Windows 10 version 2004 or later. Microsoft stopped supporting Windows 10 on 14 October 2025: its Office apps keep working there and get security updates until 10 October 2028, but Microsoft recommends moving to Windows 11 (Microsoft’s note).

Still using the old “classic” Teams? It stopped working on 1 July 2025, and nothing on your computer can bring it back. Download the new Teams from Microsoft’s website, microsoft.com/microsoft-teams/download-app, and sign in with the same email address as before.

Until your computer can run the app, Teams and Outlook also work in an up-to-date web browser, like Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge: Teams at teams.microsoft.com, and Outlook at outlook.com, or for a work or school account at microsoft365.com (Microsoft’s guide).

6. Teams keeps asking you to sign in

Sign out and sign in again (Microsoft’s guide). It’s the same on a Mac and a Windows PC:

1. In Teams, click your profile picture at the top right and choose Sign out.
2. Quit Teams and open it again, as in step 2.
3. Sign in with the same email address and password as before.

Signing out here keeps you signed in on your other devices. If Teams still won’t let you in with a work or school account, your organization set that account up, and its IT help desk can see why.

7. Outlook shows old mail, or none arrives

First make sure Outlook isn’t set to work offline. On a Mac: click Outlook at the top of the screen; if Work Offline has a tick, click it to remove the tick (Microsoft’s guide). On a Windows PC, in Outlook, click the Send / Receive tab: if Work Offline is highlighted, click it to go back online (Microsoft’s guide).

On a Mac, if the mail is still old or missing, Outlook can download that account again (Microsoft’s guide). Microsoft warns that this deletes anything in that account that isn’t on the mail server yet:

1. Make sure your Mac is connected to the internet.
2. In Outlook, click Tools at the top of the screen, then Accounts.
3. Click the account that shows old or missing mail.
4. At the bottom, click Manage, then choose Reset Account.

Outlook then downloads that account’s mail again. A big mailbox can take a while.

On a Windows PC, if Outlook still won’t show new mail, or won’t open, Windows can repair it: see step 10.

8. OneDrive won’t sync

Find the OneDrive cloud: at the top right of the screen on a Mac, at the right of the taskbar on a Windows PC. Click it: it says what’s wrong, such as paused, signed out or full (Microsoft’s guide).

• No cloud at all? OneDrive isn’t running. Open it: on a Mac, from your Applications folder; on a PC, click Start, type OneDrive and open it.
• Paused? Click the cloud, then Help & Settings (the gear), then Resume syncing (Microsoft’s guide).
• Asks you to sign in? Click Sign in and use the same email address as before.
• Full? When your OneDrive storage is full, it stops syncing new files. A free Microsoft account has 5 GB, shared with Outlook.com’s attachments. Delete files you don’t need from OneDrive, empty its recycle bin, or buy more storage (Microsoft’s guide).

Still not syncing? Reset OneDrive. Microsoft says you won’t lose files: it disconnects OneDrive and syncs everything again, which can take a while (Microsoft’s guide).

On a Mac:

1. Quit OneDrive, as in step 2.
2. Open your Applications folder, hold Control and click OneDrive, then choose Show Package Contents.
3. Open Contents, then Resources, and double-click ResetOneDriveAppStandalone.command (ResetOneDriveApp.command if you got OneDrive from the App Store).
4. Open OneDrive and sign in. When it asks where to keep your files, choose the same folder as before, so files that haven’t changed aren’t downloaded again.

On a Windows PC:

1. Press the Windows logo key and R together to open the Run box.
2. Type %localappdata%\Microsoft\OneDrive\onedrive.exe /reset and click OK.
3. If Windows says it can’t find it, type C:\Program Files\Microsoft OneDrive\onedrive.exe /reset instead.
4. If the OneDrive cloud doesn’t come back after a few minutes, click Start, type OneDrive and open it.

On both, if you chose only some folders to sync before, choose them again once OneDrive has finished.

9. Zoom still won’t work: install a fresh copy

If Zoom still won’t open, crashes or freezes after an update and a restart, remove it and install it again (Zoom’s guide).

On a Mac: open Zoom, click Zoom Workplace at the top of the screen, choose Uninstall Zoom Workplace, then click OK. If Zoom won’t open at all, drag it from your Applications folder to the Trash instead.

On a Windows PC: choose Start › Settings › Apps › Installed apps, click the three dots next to Zoom Workplace, then Uninstall. On Windows 10, it’s Start › Settings › Apps › Apps & features: click Zoom, then Uninstall.

Then, in your web browser, go to zoom.us/download, download Zoom Workplace, open the file you downloaded and follow the steps. Open Zoom and sign in again.

10. On a Windows PC: let Windows repair the app

When Outlook or Teams still won’t open or keeps closing, Windows can repair it (Microsoft’s guide).

Outlook from Microsoft 365 or Office is repaired with the rest of Office (Microsoft’s guide):

1. Right-click the Start button and choose Installed apps (Apps and Features on Windows 10).
2. Find Microsoft 365 or Office, click the three dots next to it (on Windows 10, click it), then Modify.
3. Choose Quick Repair, then Repair. If that doesn’t help, do it again with Online Repair, which takes longer.

The new Teams and the new Outlook:

1. Choose Start › Settings › Apps › Installed apps.
2. Find Microsoft Teams, or Outlook (new), and click the three dots next to it, then Advanced options.
3. Click Repair. The app’s data stays as it is.
4. If that doesn’t help, click Reset. It deletes the app’s data on this PC, so you sign in again; your chats, and mail kept on your mail server, come back once you do.

On Windows 10, it’s Start › Settings › Apps › Apps & features: click the app, then Advanced options.

Camera, microphone or screen sharing in a call

If the call works but your camera or microphone doesn’t, our guides Camera not working? and No sound? go through them step by step.

On a Mac, Zoom or Teams can share your screen only once you’ve allowed it (Apple’s guide):

1. Choose Apple menu › System Settings, then click Privacy & Security in the sidebar. You may need to scroll.
2. Click Screen & System Audio Recording (Screen Recording on some versions).
3. Turn on the switch next to your app. If it isn’t listed, click the Add button (+) below the list and choose the app.
4. If a message says the app must quit first, click Quit & Reopen.

On macOS 12 Monterey: choose Apple menu › System Preferences, click Security & Privacy, then Privacy at the top, then Screen Recording on the left. If the boxes are grey, click the lock at the bottom left and type your Mac’s password. Tick the box next to your app.

When to ask for help

If the app still won’t work, and it’s a work or school account, your organization’s IT help desk set it up: it can see your account, sign-in and syncing, which your computer can’t. For a personal account, Microsoft’s support or Zoom’s can help.

Advice you can skip

• Calling a phone number from a pop-up, an email or an advert that says it’s Microsoft support. Microsoft says its error and warning messages never include a phone number, and it won’t call you unless you asked it to (Microsoft’s warning). Our guide to fake virus warnings explains these.
• Downloading the apps from anywhere but their makers: Teams, Outlook and OneDrive from Microsoft, the App Store or Microsoft Store, and Zoom from zoom.us. Copies from other websites may be old, or not what they claim.
• Uninstalling all of Microsoft 365 or Office before you’ve tried a restart, an update and a repair. It takes a long time, and you’d need your account to install it again.
• A cleaner or “speed-up” app. The makers’ own fixes above reach the same places safely. Our guide on cleaner apps says when one helps.

Common questions

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• Mac or PC on Wi-Fi but no internet? 9 fixes
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• No sound on Mac or PC? 9 ways to get it back
• macOS or Windows update stuck? 10 things to try
• All help guides