How to fix Microsoft Teams chat messages appearing out of order or with wrong timestamps

Summary

This guide helps you troubleshoot and resolve: How to fix Microsoft Teams chat messages appearing out of order or with wrong timestamps. Follow the steps below to fix the issue.

Common Causes

Microsoft Teams relies on synchronised time settings and a healthy local cache to display chat messages in the correct order. When the clock on your device drifts, or when the Teams app holds onto stale data, messages can appear jumbled or show timestamps that don't match when they were actually sent. The good news is that most of these issues can be resolved without contacting Microsoft directly. This guide walks you through the common causes and the steps to put things right, whether you're using the desktop app, the web version, or the mobile app.

Quick Fix Steps

If you're short on time, work through these steps in order. Most users find their messages return to the correct order after the first two or three.

1. Check that your device's date and time are set to automatic.
2. Sign out of Teams completely and sign back in.
3. Clear the Teams desktop app cache.
4. Update Teams to the latest version.
5. Verify your timezone inside Teams matches your actual location.
6. Test in the Teams web app to rule out a local app issue.

Detailed Instructions

1. Confirm Your Device Clock Is Correct

Teams uses your device's system clock to stamp messages. If the clock is wrong by even a few minutes, timestamps will be off, and messages sent close together can appear in the wrong order.

On Windows 11:

1. Open Settings > Time & language > Date & time.
2. Toggle Set time automatically to On.
3. Toggle Set time zone automatically to On.
4. Click Sync now under Additional settings.

On macOS:

1. Open System Settings > General > Date & Time.
2. Turn on Set date and time automatically.
3. Set Time zone to Set automatically using current location.

On iPhone or iPad:

1. Go to Settings > General > Date & Time.
2. Enable Set Automatically.

On Android:

1. Go to Settings > General management > Date and time.
2. Enable both Automatic date and time and Automatic time zone.

2. Sign Out and Back Into Teams

A stale sign-in token can cause Teams to misread the order of recent messages. Signing out forces the app to pull a fresh copy from the server.

1. Click your profile picture in the top-right corner of Teams.
2. Select Sign out.
3. Close the Teams app completely, including from the system tray on Windows or the menu bar on macOS.
4. Reopen Teams and sign in with your usual account.

3. Clear the Teams Desktop Cache

The desktop app stores a local copy of your chats. When that copy becomes corrupted, message order and timestamps can drift out of sync. Clearing the cache forces Teams to rebuild it.

On Windows:

1. Fully quit Teams. Right-click the Teams icon in the system tray and choose Quit.
2. Press Win + R, type %appdata%\Microsoft\Teams, and press Enter.
3. Select the following folders and delete them:
   • Cache
   • blob_storage
   • databases
   • GPUCache
   • IndexedDB
   • Local Storage
   • tmp
4. Restart Teams. The folders will be recreated automatically.

On macOS:

1. Quit Teams completely. Use Cmd + Q and confirm the dock icon has disappeared.
2. Open Finder, press Cmd + Shift + G, and enter ~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Teams.
3. Delete the same folders listed above.
4. Empty the Trash and reopen Teams.

4. Update Microsoft Teams

Microsoft ships frequent fixes for sync and timezone behaviour. Running an older build can leave you on a known bug.

Desktop app:

1. Click the three dots next to your profile picture.
2. Select Check for updates.
3. Wait for the update to download, then click Update and restart.

Mobile app:

1. Open the App Store (iOS) or Google Play Store (Android).
2. Search for Microsoft Teams and tap Update if available.

5. Verify the Timezone Inside Teams

Teams has its own timezone setting that overrides your system clock for scheduling and message display. If you've travelled or changed regions, this setting may no longer match reality.

1. Click the three dots next to your profile picture.
2. Choose Settings > General.
3. Scroll to Time zone.
4. Confirm the timezone matches your current location and that Automatically detect time zone is on where available.

6. Test the Web App

If messages still appear out of order, open teams.microsoft.com in a fresh browser window and sign in. The web app bypasses your local cache entirely. If messages display correctly there, the issue is isolated to your desktop or mobile app and a clean reinstall may be needed.

Troubleshooting

Messages Are Correct on One Device but Wrong on Another

This almost always points to a clock or timezone mismatch on the affected device. Revisit step one for that specific machine. Mobile devices that travel between states or switch networks frequently are the most common culprits.

Timestamps Are Off by Exactly One Hour

Daylight saving transitions catch a lot of people out. Confirm that your device's automatic timezone setting is enabled and that you've restarted Teams since the clock changed. If the device refuses to update, manually selecting the correct timezone resolves it immediately.

Only One Chat or Channel Is Affected

A single thread showing wrong timestamps while everything else looks fine usually means the other participants are sending from devices with mismatched clocks. The message is timestamped on the sender's device, so there is little you can do locally. A polite nudge to the other person to check their device clock is usually enough.

Nothing Has Worked

If the problem persists across the web app, multiple devices, and after a full cache clear, the issue may sit with your Microsoft 365 tenant. At that point it's worth raising the matter with us so we can check the service health dashboard and escalate to Microsoft if needed.

Still Having Issues?