Can't access Chat tab anymore - "This app cannot be found."

Anonymous
2024-06-06T12:59:53+00:00

While in the Teams 'Chat' tab on my Mac, I tapped on some "Copilot" button that was showing at the top of the window that I hadn't seen before. I was immediately taken to the 'Apps' tab, and a modal overlay displays saying "This app cannot be found." I'm fairly certain our company doesn't provide us access to Copilot, and that's why it doesn't show up in available apps anywhere, so I don't know why the button was showing in the 'Chat' tab in the first place if that is the case. But now, any time I try to return to the 'Chat' tab, I get redirected to the Apps tab with the "This app cannot be found" error.

I've tried simply exiting and reopening the app. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling. I've tried uninstalling, then deleting all the Teams-related folders I could find in "/Library/Microsoft/" and "/Library/Caches", then rebooting my computer and then reinstalling, and still every time I try to access the Chat tab on this device, I get the same modal overlay displaying "This app cannot be found."

I can still access 'Chat' fine on other devices, and haven't seen that Copilot button that started this mess anywhere else on my other devices.

Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Teams for business | Chats | Other

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Anonymous
2024-06-10T16:31:36+00:00

Right clicking on the "Chat" tab in the left menu and selecting "New Chat" fixed it for me.

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-10-10T18:07:09+00:00

    Hey, so this is bugged because the Copilot is not installed on Teams and takes you to download it, which is broken because it can't be downloaded either. So when you go back to Chat, it tries to reopen your last selected chat, which was with Copilot, therefore repeating the cycle.

    Go to the search bar at the top and find someone you already have an existing chat with and this will get your Teams off the Copilot chat and into a functioning one. Then you should be able to hide the garbage that is Copilot. Microsoft is aware of the problem, they're just too incompetent to do anything about it.

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-08-27T15:51:48+00:00

    I have a user that has this exact same issue but this happened in windows. I have tried the right click the chat and "New Chat" that opens the chat for outbound but doesn't show who has sent an inbound chat. Any instructions how to resolve on windows?

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-09-12T09:35:33+00:00

    This happened for me. The right click and "new chat" does work but make sure that in your settings you have Starting Chats selected as Main window.

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  4. Anonymous
    2024-09-06T20:34:13+00:00

    This happened to me today (Sept. 6, 2024). I accidentally clicked on "Copilot" under Chat and I started getting this message each time I clicked on Chat.

    Not sure why after 3 months this still a problem in Teams for many users. Is Microsoft working to fix this problem in Teams? If users are unable to get teams working in Windows or on a Mac after a simple re-install, I would say that's scary and disruptive.

    I am using the latest version of Windows 10. I was able to resolve this issue soon after it occurred. I would be interested to know whether this problem occurs on computers that have both the new and classic versions of Teams installed, because this was my situation.

    Here's how to fix this problem:

    Method 1 - this solution fixed my problem

    1. Uninstall all versions of Teams from your computer. For example, if you have both classic and the new Teams, uninstall both. If you have either the classic or the new Teams, uninstall them. Use the Apps section under Settings in Windows 10 (or the equivalent in Windows 11) and uninstall the software. If you are a macOS user, use the normal procedure for uninstalling software from that platform.
    2. Restart the computer and sign back in again.
    3. Go to Microsoft's website and download a fresh new copy of the new Teams app for Windows or macOS (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/download-app.
    4. Install Teams and sign in when prompted.
    5. Test the software. Click on Chat and see if the problem persists. If it persists (ouch), seek technical support.

    Method 2 - Richard Whitner's solution, posted June 10, 2024, which seems to have helped many users

    Right-click on the "Chat" tab in the left menu and select "New Chat".

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