Draft icon remains after deleting all typed text on Teams for Mac

Hi @Hans,   

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A forum.     

Thank you very much for reaching out regarding the draft (paper‑and‑pencil) icon in Microsoft Teams for Mac that persists even after you manually clear the compose box. I appreciate your patience and the details you provided. 
On macOS, the “Draft” indicator sometimes remains even when the message area appears empty. This behavior seems to have changed recently for some users and can occur if a hidden character (e.g., a space or newline) is left behind, the UI hasn’t refreshed, or local draft cache hasn’t cleared properly. 

I'd like to provide the following information:

A - Quick workarounds  

1. Press Esc in the compose box to discard the draft state. 
2. Switch to another chat/channel and come back to refresh the UI. 
3. Clear hidden characters: Click the compose box, press Cmd+A (Select All) then Delete once more. 

B - Recommended steps to remediate 

Please try the steps below in order: 

1/ Update Teams to the latest build 

• Teams (top menu) > Check for updates. 
• If an update installs, restart Teams and re‑test. 

2/ Sign out and sign back in 

• Profile picture > Sign out, then sign in again and re‑check. 

3/ Clear local Teams cache (macOS) 

This removes temporary files only. You may need to sign in again afterward. 

a. Fully quit Teams 

• Right-click the Teams icon in the dock > Quit Microsoft Teams (or Cmd+Q). 
• If needed, open Activity Monitor and ensure no Teams processes remain. 

b. Remove cache folders: 

• In the Finder, open the /Applications/Utilities folder, and then double-click Terminal. 
• Enter the following commands, and press Return after each command: 

rm -rf ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.com.microsoft.teams 

rm -rf ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.teams2  

c. Empty Trash, then restart your Mac. 
d. Relaunch Teams and sign in, then test the draft icon behavior again. 

For additional information, you can refer to these articles: 

• Clear the Teams client cache - Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn 
• Top 11 Ways to Fix Microsoft Teams Not Working on Mac in 2026 

Please note that this information is being provided by the moderator solely for your convenience. The referenced sites are not managed or overseen by the moderator, and therefore we cannot guarantee the accuracy, security, or suitability of any software or content available there. We recommend reviewing all information carefully and ensuring you understand any associated risks before following suggestions from the provided link.  

C - Contact Support 

If the issue persists, please reach out to your IT department so they can help review your local device configuration, permissions, and any organizational settings that may be affecting Microsoft Teams. 

In case your IT department cannot access the necessary information or make the required changes, I recommend asking them to open a request with Microsoft Support team through the Microsoft Admin Center. They have access to backend configurations and can perform a more in-depth investigation. At the very least, they can provide the most effective workaround to ensure your experience remains smooth and secure.     

We kindly ask for your understanding that, as moderators, we do not have access to the administrative tools or permissions required to investigate or modify these configurations. We also do not have the capability to initiate remote sessions for direct assistance. Our role is to guide users to the appropriate resources and support channels.   

I hope this information is helpful. Should you have any further questions or need additional assistance, feel free to reach out.    

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this.  

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have any extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".   

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This behavior is consistent with how Teams uses local and service-side caching and recent client changes. There is no documented user-level setting to change how the draft indicator behaves.

The only supported workaround in documentation for stale or incorrect state (including stuck indicators, presence, or user info) is to force Teams to refresh by signing out and/or clearing the local cache, then signing back in.

On Mac, use these steps to clear the Teams cache, depending on whether classic or new Teams is installed:

Classic Teams for macOS

1. Quit Teams (right-click the Teams icon in the dock and select Quit, or press Command (⌘)-Q).
2. Open Finder → Applications → Utilities → Terminal.
3. Run:

      rm -r ~/Library/Application\ Support/Microsoft/Teams
   

4. Restart Teams and sign in again.

New Teams for macOS

1. Quit Teams (right-click the Teams icon in the dock and select Quit, or press Command (⌘)-Q).
2. Open Finder → Applications → Utilities → Terminal.
3. Run each command:

      rm -rf ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.com.microsoft.teams
      rm -rf ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.teams2
   

4. Restart Teams and sign in again.

If the draft icon still does not clear after this and after signing out/in, it is likely a client design or regression rather than a configurable option. In that case, the next step is to report it via Help → Give feedback in Teams so it can be addressed in a future update.

References:

• Clear the Teams client cache
• I can't reconnect to Microsoft Teams
• User information isn't updated in Teams