SOLVED

Microsoft Teams Freezes PC

Copper Contributor
I have observed that the Microsoft Teams desktop app freezes my HP laptop. This is the 3rd experience on this laptop and the laptop is newly purchased, running on Windows 10 Home edition, has a RAM of 4.00GB (3.42 usable) and an AMD Raedeon Graphics CPU 2.30GHz. I was wondering if the problem occurs because of the client file or the laptop specs. I tried solving the problem by deleting the Teams files from the AppData folder and the Temp files then reinstalling the client file to no avail. I’ve monitored the app’s performance on Task Manager while on Teams calls and it shows a CPU usage of 100% and freezes the PC completely, but the audio of the calls is unaffected.

Please urgently advise as this is affecting my schoolwork and class attendance. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
Michelle Duru
45 Replies
best response confirmed by ThereseSolimeno (Microsoft)
Solution

@MichelleDuru 

 

Sounds like laptop specs. Have you tried calls with camera off? Using background picture/blur or together more consumes more processor power and that Graphics combined with only 4GB of memory isn't a very powerful combination. It will result using your disk for more memory which usually adds up on freezing the system. 

 

You can also try Teams settings "Disable GPU hardware acceleration" to see if it helps. 

Thank you Vesa for the quick response. Also, do you have any idea if there would be an update to accommodate PC’s with such specs?

@MichelleDuru I know Microsoft is improving Teams performance all the time, but I don't think there is a silver bullet for this one - instead the improvements seem to happen with small steps.

 

Looking at Teams specs it seems that basically 8GB memory is needed for online meetings. 4GB is mentioned for 1:1 calls. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/hardware-requirements-for-the-teams-app

 

What you can try:

- close off all unnecessary apps to release memory

- Turn off incoming video in your laptop as well as keep your camera turned off. 

- make sure that this applies to all programs that are run during the startup. There might be some manufacturer's applications that are unnecessary. At the same time there are usually required apps as well. You can check these by opening Task manager and checking the Startup-tab (if you don't  see tabs click open more details at the Task manager's bottom)

- let the computer boot well in advance and make sure every update is applied

- If you can select: choose maximum performance mode instead of longer battery life

- keep your computer plugged in

 

If none of that helps: try attending the meeting via your mobile phone Teams - at least for the video parts while keeping the share visible on your laptop.

 

Vesku

@Vesa Nopanen  Thanks so much for your help!

@MichelleDuru 

 

I have Samsung PC, 8Gb ram, Core Duo 2.2 GHz, and I have the same problem, the PC freezs when Microsoft Teams or Zoom is working. The PC is working very efficient and fast, but only with Teams or Zoom it freezs.

 

I wonder if you found any solution.  

I have not found a solution yet. I was hoping to upgrade my laptop’s RAM from 4GB to 8GB to see if that would help, because conference calls on teams requires a minimum of 8GB RAM. Disabling hardware GPU acceleration worked for some time but was not a permanent solution for me.

@MichelleDuru 

 

I upgraded the RAM to 8Gb and changed the HDD to SSD which both improve the performance significantly, the only problem which is not solved was the PC freezing during the conference call of Microsoft Teams, but now I am using the PC after disabling the GPU option, and it is working fine so far since 3 days.

Adding my voice to this as it's becoming unusable. Teams is (for now) the preferred communication tool for our software dev. company (8000 employees, almost all working remotely because of Covid) and it's the #1 complain from people: computers are unusable when in a conference call with cameras open.

 

Cameras are a must since everyone has been remote for the past 8 months, and when I'm on a call and trying to find a document in background to share (for example), it takes 5-10 seconds for my computer to even register a mouse click or keyboard entries. I've disabled the hardware acceleration it changes nothing. Closing the cameras help but it defeat the whole point.

 

My computer is a Microsoft Surface Pro 5th Gen (2017), 2 i5-7300 cores, 8Gb RAM, SSD.

 

There's more and more internal voices asking for a replacement communication tool. This needs to be fixed.

@aalqaisi1974 

I just recently upgraded my laptop's RAM from 4GB to 12GB (which might have voided its warranty), and Teams works perfectly fine now (with GPU acceleration disabled). There is no lag, and the computer doesn't freeze anymore. The app works well even with my camera on and background blurred, so my best guess would be that a lot a background processes are occupying the RAM hence why it's freezing, especially if you are running multiple programs at once. When I run Teams with other apps, I use about 3GB-6GB of RAM, paired with my previous 4GB of RAM, probably explains the freezing.

@aalqaisi1974 

despite having 10 GB of ram and a 2080TI video card, a core i 7 processor .. and it still freezes. and not only in the desktop application, but also in the edge browser

hi

@MichelleDuru 

I have had 2 MS Surface Pros and they both experienced this problem.

I don't have the problem with the on-line version of Teams, i.e., I only have this problem with the desktop version.

@MichelleDuru 

upgrADING TO 8gb doesn't help. i ahve done that but problem is the same

I have the same laptop, the same problems. For a good amount of time it worked good, but now it freezes again. When I bought this laptop I said ''I think it will be perfect for online classes'', but apperently...@MichelleDuru 

@MichelleDuru : Enablethe option in teams setting Disable GPU hardware acceleration (requires restarting Teams) and then right click on the teams icon in the taskbar and select " X Quit"

@MichelleDuruI have the same problem with Dell laptop W10 pro, including the audio of the calls is unaffected. Just uninstall.

@I'm joining in too...  HP Z820, 96GB RAM, dual GeForce760 (6GB ea). 

 

50% of the time when I click on "end" on a Teams call, the computer freezes right after. The only remedy is a hard reboot with the power button. SO annoying. 

@StreetwiseMy W10 pro completely freezes during the call or even on chat, on average twice a month,

an option is to use web GUI.

I've got the same issue on a desktop with 16 gb of RAM...so it's not just a laptop issue.  I have the camera OFF by default.  I've just turned off hardware acceleration to see if that has any effect, but I'm very doubtful that it will.

 

My only solution is to bring up task manager and kill Teams with Fire - then at least I can use my other apps.

 

MS needs to FIX this...and I've noticed they haven't even chimed in.

1 best response

Accepted Solutions
best response confirmed by ThereseSolimeno (Microsoft)
Solution

@MichelleDuru 

 

Sounds like laptop specs. Have you tried calls with camera off? Using background picture/blur or together more consumes more processor power and that Graphics combined with only 4GB of memory isn't a very powerful combination. It will result using your disk for more memory which usually adds up on freezing the system. 

 

You can also try Teams settings "Disable GPU hardware acceleration" to see if it helps. 

View solution in original post