Forum Discussion
Force Teams desktop client update
I've recieved several questions about this and I'm also seeing too many topics about it here in the community.
We all know about the update process for Teams as described here
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/teams-client-update and here https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/update-microsoft-teams-535a8e4b-45f0-4f6c-8b3d-91bca7a51db1 for example.
But sometimes you're just stuck as nothing happens when trying to clear the cache, reset the app, update and/or reinstall.
This is an easy way to force an update of the desktop app (even though most updates happen backend).
1. Look for the latest version seen, one place to do it https://whatpulse.org/app/microsoft-teams
2. Copy the version number and paste it in the link below and hit enter.
In my example, and at the time of writing, I'm updating to version 1.3.00.33971.
https://statics.teams.cdn.office.net/production-windows-x64/1.3.00.33971/Teams_windows_x64.exe
I've been struggling with this myself some time ago knowing features being released backend but didn't show up in my desktop client. After this process the client was updated and the features appeared for me as well.
Hope this will prevent some of you going mad.
I would suggest you check out the recently shared blog that explains a little about the update process at Why do I not see a feature but my colleague does? - Release Processes Microsoft Teams.
As explained it's entirely normal to have different versions while deployments are happening slowly, things are a little complex at the moment due to some delays, an apparent rollback and new versions through TAP and Public Preview. So if your users are guests in other tenants that may be in TAP you could be getting versions from there, I'm a guest in the microsoft tenant so my versions vary wildly.
As PDSDavid correctly explained the Machine Wide installer is more like a stub to create the installation for each user. Also the regular msi will be a little behind the newest version you may see, it trails rollout and doesn't lead.
It is quite unlikely that any specific build would cause the issues you describe, and that would seem to be largely verified by it remaining after a reinstall. I would be looking into driver versions perhaps.
Teams update process is unorthodox in enterprise, more like a consumer app, but this is deliberate from Microsoft to manage the far faster pace of change in what is really a web application in a wrapper. In my experience across Teams at many organisation it is very robust, the only issues I've seen are in locations where network restrictions are preventing access to the download service. Microsoft were planning to provide some more admin control, allowing you to control the day of the week and so on, but I think this has been pushed down the list due to priority works to support Teams being used by schools during the pandemic.
I would like to know if the latest version listed on "https://whatpulse.org/app/microsoft-teams" refers to the stable or unstable version.
I have tried to download the latest version for macOS following the instructions by modifying the link to "https://statics.teams.cdn.office.net/production-osx/1.3.00.33971/Teams_osx.pkg", where I have changed the number "1.3.00.33971" to the number on "https://whatpulse.org/app/microsoft-teams". I got an error message.
Then I started looking for where to download the latest macOS version, and found that if I type "https://teams.microsoft.com/desktopclient/installer/windows/x64" into the browser and then press Enter, it prints the link to the latest Windows x64 version. But this version number does not match the latest version number listed on "https://whatpulse.org/app/microsoft-teams". Here is an older Teams version number. While you can follow the instructions to download the newer version.
Similarly, I tried typing the link "https://teams.microsoft.com/desktopclient/installer/osx" into the browser, and after pressing Enter, it printed the latest macOS version, which also does not match the version on "https://whatpulse.org/app/microsoft-teams". In addition, the version number on page "https://whatpulse.org/app/microsoft-teams" starts with "1.00...", and on page "https://teams.microsoft.com/desktopclient/installer/osx", the number in the link ("https://statics.teams.cdn.office.net/production-osx/1.5.00.33356/Teams_osx.pkg") starts with "1.5.00"
From the link, you can see that the latest macOS version is 1.5.00.3356, but I was able to download version 1.5.00.33364 by typing in this link "https://statics.teams.cdn.office.net/production-osx/1.5.00.33364/Teams_osx.pkg"
So I don't understand which is the latest version.
Is it possible to update the program without anyone logged in? Because I want to install/update the new versions on machines that are used by more people (teachers and students).
I have translated this text using the website "https://www.deepl.com/translator" as I don't know English that well. I speak Hungarian. I hope everything is understandable despite the translation.- Hi ZoltanDecsi1980. I now use this URL as it details the build type. https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ItzLevvie/MicrosoftTeams-msinternal/master/defconfig
ChristianBergstrom
Microsoft already has an option to retrieve the last version available, on the link
https://teams.microsoft.com/desktopclient/installer/windows/x64Actually, the last version available is.
https://statics.teams.cdn.office.net/production-windows-x64/1.5.00.21463/Teams_windows_x64.exe
You can use a bat script to get the package download link and from that, you can do whatever you want to.
SET "TeamsURL= curl.exe "https://teams.microsoft.com/desktopclient/installer/windows/x64"-s"
FOR /F %%R IN ('%TeamsURL%') DO ( SET LINK=%%R )
ECHO %LINK%
pauseJackson_F_Silva Yes but lacks Electron 16 builds which is quite useful on Windows as Electron 16 has a performance boost
Currently https://teams.microsoft.com/desktopclient/installer/windows/x64 points to Electron 10 builds and https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ItzLevvie/MicrosoftTeams-msinternal/master/defconfig already has Electron 16 builds under the exploration section.Jackson_F_Silva Fair enough. But the above reply was simply an alternative option for installing different versions in troubleshooting purpose, and not necessarily having the latest production build. There are differences when it comes to the update rings and the update process is quite complex, at least I think so.
Jackson_F_Silva this is excellent, thanks.
Powershell equivalent is:
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://teams.microsoft.com/desktopclient/installer/windows/x64" | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Content
Hi Christian
I have the update loop problem and was reading your post - it mentions to copy the latest version in the link below and hit enter - cant see the link to paste it in?
Thanks
Howard
brendan1000 Hey, the conversation is quite old so some links have been terminated. But you can simply go via this for example https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ItzLevvie/MicrosoftTeams-msinternal/master/defconfig and copy one of them to your browser.
Bear in mind this isn't an official way of updating the Teams client but rather to force an installation of another version. From my experience you'll return to your standard update ring after the automatic update interval has been triggered as explained here Teams updates - Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Docs
But for now and for testing purpose go for it.
pleemanIanMurphy48: There seems to be an alternative: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ItzLevvie/MicrosoftTeams-msinternal/master/defconfig
Here's what these channels mean: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-teams-blog/launch-of-microsoft-teams-preview-experience-and-alignment-with/bc-p/2335512/highlight/true#M8541
- This is awesome. In one link you've supplied more information than every other MS or Forum posting I've found on the subject.
Why on earth couldn't MS just have posted this list and let people decide which version to install. Most will just go for the Production build in any case.
Thank you very much.
ChristianBergstrom WhatPulse appears to be switching to a subscription model. Microsoft Teams - Wikipedia lists a recent version, although I'm not sure that it is as up-to-date as WhatPulse. Do you know of another way of listing the latest version in circulation?
Regards,
Pete.
- Hey, I suppose you can just google it 🙂 Bear in mind though that this procedure isn't something that you usually have to even think about doing. It's more of a last stop when troubleshooting. I've used it only once on my own account when I knew features had been released for my tenant but no matter what I did to update (sign out, check for updates, clear cache etc. etc.) the new options didn't appear until I forced the update.
ChristianJBergstrom Thanks for the response. Yes Google, not quite the usual fountain of knowledge where Teams version information is concerned 🙂 I've found the update process to be pretty flaky from a 'will it, won't it upgrade' point-of-view. Although if it decides to it seems to be ok. Ah well, hopefully Wikipedia will keep updating the stable version info.
Thanks again.
Regards,
Pete.
ChristianBergstrom I don't think this is a very good idea, it's quite possible you could get a version that isn't going to be deployed to your deployment ring and therefore wouldn't be supported.
It's pretty unlikely that anyone is stuck, I've only seen it where there are firewall blocks preventing download. I would suggest the following to check if updates are fine
1. Click on the Me menu and Check for Updates
2. Go to the Teams icon in the status area, right click and choose Get Logs
3. Look for a message that says "App up to Date"
As long as that's there then there are no updates being offered to your client at the moment, so you are fine as you are. Teams versions are an increasing number, but only certain version make it to the widespread deployment ring which is supported. For example if you opt in to Public Preview or TAP programmes then you get more frequent and less tested client versions.
There has been a long gap in updates, it's entirely correct, don't mess with it. There would be an article on Docs if this was a supported proceedure.
StevenC365 Your faith in MS to just get everyone onto the best version for them is .. interesting. Given MSs history of just abandoning clients with major issues due to bugs, it seems unlikely that they are going to do any differently with Teams.
Indeed, I manage around 450 desktops and I see a wide range of versions installed going from 1.2 through to 1.4. I reinstalled my own desktop yesterday with the latest version on the MS page and I've ended up with 1.4.0.2879, while I have desktops which are running 1.4.0.3484 - which I can't find anywhere. My machine also says I have the latest version, which is obviously wrong as I had a more recent version before the wipe and reinstall.
I was forced to wipe Teams from my own machine because it was crashing every few hours. Nothing was displayed when it crashed. The window just closed. Wipe and reinstall has made no difference. It still crashes. So do colleagues.
I would like to get everyone up to the same version and to not use the profile installed version... but no, this is almost impossible. In theory when you install the machine-wide version then the profile version should be removed. Never happens. Updating the machine wide will sometimes result in the profile version also updating, sometimes not.
The idea that MS will just manage from the cloud this is laughable.
What was wrong with just having an MSI installable product, like every other product?
I would suggest you check out the recently shared blog that explains a little about the update process at Why do I not see a feature but my colleague does? - Release Processes Microsoft Teams.
As explained it's entirely normal to have different versions while deployments are happening slowly, things are a little complex at the moment due to some delays, an apparent rollback and new versions through TAP and Public Preview. So if your users are guests in other tenants that may be in TAP you could be getting versions from there, I'm a guest in the microsoft tenant so my versions vary wildly.
As PDSDavid correctly explained the Machine Wide installer is more like a stub to create the installation for each user. Also the regular msi will be a little behind the newest version you may see, it trails rollout and doesn't lead.
It is quite unlikely that any specific build would cause the issues you describe, and that would seem to be largely verified by it remaining after a reinstall. I would be looking into driver versions perhaps.
Teams update process is unorthodox in enterprise, more like a consumer app, but this is deliberate from Microsoft to manage the far faster pace of change in what is really a web application in a wrapper. In my experience across Teams at many organisation it is very robust, the only issues I've seen are in locations where network restrictions are preventing access to the download service. Microsoft were planning to provide some more admin control, allowing you to control the day of the week and so on, but I think this has been pushed down the list due to priority works to support Teams being used by schools during the pandemic.
- Steven Collier
Let’s say people use this not recommended way and get a not supported version as it’s out of the ring. Shouldn’t that be corrected with the next automatic update? As I mentioned, I’ve used it myself and my Teams desktop app is updating accordingly.ChristianBergstrom, I have also updated my Windows desktop Teams client using this 'forced' method and ongoing updates are indeed working. In my case, I did so to take advantage of a new Teams feature (7x7 grid) a few months ago when selecting 'Check for updates' in-app wasn't updating to a newer version while my colleagues already were using a newer app version (and downloading a new installer directly from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/download-app wasn't making any difference either).
For completeness, as this post doesn't yet mention it, I thought it might be helpful to reference https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/troubleshoot-installation#troubleshoot-update-issues, which explains some troubleshooting steps related to Teams app updates that you might want to try before 'forcing' an update.
If the above troubleshooting steps don't help resolve the issue, I would suggest it's best to raise a case with Microsoft Support 👍
StevenC365 we have 500 users with the error "Looks like you'r on an old version of Teams. Update in X days to continue using the app"
I'm sure the issue is environmental, but Premier support has been running in circles for the last 2 weeks. and I'm down to the wire on the error message.
as for not in our ring.. I'm pulling the version number from an updated machine in our tenant, so hopefully that version is good for us.
the documented locations of logs.txt comes up empty for most of us. we will look if the method you show works. as if we can track down the error we can fix the root cause.
right now I'm just trying to get us past this error, so a manual install via login script is my backup plan if premier cant get a better solutions in the next 24 hours.
Thank you, ChristianBergstrom
Just to emphasize two limitations posted at the links you shared:- "Linux users aren't able to update manually within Teams at this time." (see https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/update-microsoft-teams-535a8e4b-45f0-4f6c-8b3d-91bca7a51db1#ID0EAABAAA=Desktop)
- "Teams clients on Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) aren't automatically updated the way that non-VDI Teams clients are. You have to update the VM image by installing a new MSI as described in the instructions to Install Teams on VDI. You must uninstall the current version to update to a newer version." (see https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/teams-client-update)
The Teams desktop client may be working in VDI mode if you see the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Citrix (this key may have been added by another app)
- "Linux users aren't able to update manually within Teams at this time." (see https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/update-microsoft-teams-535a8e4b-45f0-4f6c-8b3d-91bca7a51db1#ID0EAABAAA=Desktop)
- ThereseSolimeno
Microsoft
This is great, ChristianBergstrom Thanks for posting!
- Hello, and thanks! Don’t know how widespread the workaround is tbh, but I’ve stumbled across the issue so many times I just had to share how to force a version upgrade.
Rephrased the subject to be more specific.ChristianBergstrom Given the client is in user land is there any good way to detect the existing version and then install silently via login script? I have the stuck update on about 500 users.
