Fix Teams Desktop App Uses the Wrong Tenant After Changing a Microsoft 365 Password

After you change your Microsoft 365 password, the Teams desktop app may keep signing you into the wrong tenant. This usually happens when cached credentials from a previous work or school account are still stored on your device. The app then silently uses those old credentials, so you see the wrong company name, wrong channels, or missing chats.

This article explains why Teams keeps the wrong tenant after a password change and gives you a step-by-step fix. You will learn how to clear the cached credentials, sign out of every account, and force Teams to re-authenticate with your new password. You will also see how to prevent this from happening again in the future.

Why Teams Keeps the Wrong Tenant After a Password Change

Teams stores authentication tokens and cached credentials on your local machine. When you change your Microsoft 365 password, the old tokens become invalid. However, Teams may not clear those tokens immediately. The app can still read the cached credentials and try to sign you in with them.

The problem gets worse if you have multiple accounts on the same device. For example, you might have a personal Microsoft account and a work account. If the cached credential belongs to the personal tenant, Teams will load that tenant instead of your work tenant. The app does not know which tenant you intended to use after the password change.

The Role of Windows Credential Manager

Windows Credential Manager stores passwords and tokens for many apps, including Teams and Office. When you change your password, the stored credential becomes outdated. Teams still reads that old credential because it is the first one it finds. This is why clearing the credential is essential.

Why Signing Out Alone Is Not Enough

Signing out of Teams only ends the current session. It does not delete the cached credential from Windows. The next time you sign in, Teams may reuse the same cached token and put you back into the wrong tenant. You must clear the credential manually.

Steps to Clear the Wrong Tenant and Sign In with Your New Password

Follow these steps in order. Do not skip any step, because each one removes a different layer of cached data.

1. Sign out of Teams completely
   Open Teams. Click your profile picture in the top-right corner. Select Sign out. Close the Teams window completely. Do not just minimize it.
2. Clear the Teams cache folder
   Press Ctrl + R to open the Run dialog. Type %appdata%\Microsoft\Teams and press Enter. Delete all the folders inside this directory. Keep the main Teams folder, but remove its contents. This clears local files that may hold tenant information.
3. Remove cached credentials from Windows Credential Manager
   Press Windows key, type Credential Manager, and open it. Click Windows Credentials. Scroll down to the Generic Credentials section. Look for entries that start with Teams, MicrosoftOffice16, or AzureAD. Select each one and click Remove. Do this for every entry that mentions Teams or Microsoft Office.
4. Clear the Office credential cache
   Press Ctrl + R, type regedit, and press Enter. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\Identity. Look for a value named DisableADALatopWAMOverride. If it exists, delete it. Then close the Registry Editor. This step is optional but helps when Office and Teams share the same cached identity.
5. Restart Teams and sign in with your new password
   Open Teams. You will see the sign-in screen. Enter your work or school email address. Type your new password. Choose the correct tenant if you see a picker. Wait for Teams to load your channels and chats.
6. Verify the tenant
   Click your profile picture. Check the email address and the tenant name shown at the top. If it shows the wrong tenant, repeat steps 2 and 3, then sign in again.

If Teams Still Shows the Wrong Tenant After the Main Fix

Teams signs me into a personal account instead of my work account

This happens when the cached credential belongs to your personal Microsoft account. In Windows Credential Manager, look for entries that contain your personal email address. Remove all of them. Then sign out of Teams and sign in again with your work email.

Teams shows a blank window after I clear the cache

Clearing the cache deletes local files that Teams needs to render the UI. Restart Teams completely. If the blank window persists, close Teams, delete the cache folder again, and restart your computer. Then open Teams and sign in.

The tenant is correct, but my chats and files are missing

This usually means you signed into the right tenant, but Teams is still loading from a stale local cache. Sign out, clear the cache folder again, and sign back in. Your chats and files are stored in the cloud, so they will return once the cache is rebuilt.

New Teams Desktop vs Teams on the Web: How Tenant Selection Differs

Item	New Teams Desktop	Teams on the Web
Credential storage	Uses Windows Credential Manager	Uses browser cookies and session storage
Tenant selection after password change	May reuse cached credentials incorrectly	Usually prompts for a fresh sign-in
Cache clearing method	Delete %appdata%\Microsoft\Teams	Clear browser cookies and site data
Best for	Heavy daily use with many apps	Quick access on a shared computer

Conclusion

After changing your Microsoft 365 password, you can now force Teams to use the correct tenant by clearing cached credentials and the local cache. Sign out, delete the Teams folder, and remove the Windows Credential Manager entries. Then sign back in with your new password. To avoid this issue in the future, always sign out of Teams before changing your password. You can also use the Ctrl + Shift + M shortcut to mute your microphone during a meeting, but that is unrelated to tenant selection. If the problem returns, check the Teams admin center to confirm your user is assigned to the correct tenant.