How to fix Microsoft Teams Images Not Loading (Full Guide)
Microsoft Teams lets you share files over chat channels whether they’re with an individual or if they’re a team channel. Files like Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, and Excel spreadsheets appear with their name, and a thumbnail that represents the file type. Images on the other hand, show up with a thumbnail preview.
Can’t load images in Microsoft Teams chat
Previews for images show up if they are are PNGs, JPGs, or JPEGs. Microsoft Teams also supports GIFs so if one is shared to a channel, its preview will be animated. The previews are enabled by default and there isn’t a setting to turn them off. If you can’t load images in Microsoft Teams chat, there may be a problem with a file, or your internet connection, or even the Teams client itself.
The problem may manifest in one of three ways;
- You see a placeholder appear for the image and an icon of an image crossed out appears on it.
- You see a placeholder appear for the image with an image icon that isn’t crossed out appear on it.
- You see a placeholder for the image and there is no icon on it. Clicking the image shows the no image loaded icon.
Regardless of this error manifests, there are a few simple ways you can fix the problem.
1. Switch to web client
The Microsoft Teams desktop client can preview common image types but not all of them. Try accessing Microsoft Teams in your browser. Your browser may be able to generate a preview.
- Visit the Microsoft Teams web interface.
- Sign in with your Teams account.
- Select the chat thread with the image, and check if the image loads.
2. Clear app and/or browser cache
The Can’t load images in Microsoft Teams chat problem can occur in the browser i.e., when you’re using the Microsoft Teams web interface, and on the desktop. Clearing the cache for your browser and for the desktop client can get the image to load.
Clear browser cache
Try clearing the cache for the Microsoft Teams web interface. Here’s how you can do it in Chrome.
- Visit the Microsoft Teams web interface.
- Click the padlock icon in the URL bar.
- From the menu, select ‘Site settings’.
- Click the Clear Data button at the top.
Note: Not all browsers may let you clear data on a per-website basis. You will have to clear all browser data in that case.
Clear Microsoft Teams cache
- Open File Explorer.
- Paste the following in the location bar and tap Enter.
%appdata%\Microsoft\teams
- You will find several folders in this location. Open the following folders, one-by-one.
- Cache
- blob_storage
- databases
- GPUCache
- IndexedDB
- Local Storage
- tmp
- Delete the files in these folders.
- Quit Microsoft Teams and restart it.
3. Check image format
If the image format and its extension are inconsistent i.e., an image has the wrong extension and it was uploaded, the preview may not appear.
- Click the more options button next to the image.
- Select ‘Download’.
- Open the image on your desktop in IrfanView.
- The app will tell you if the extension is incorrect and will offer to fix it.
- Upload the image again and a preview will appear.
4. Update Microsoft Teams
It is possible that the problem with images not loading is on Microsoft’s end. Updating Microsoft Teams can fix the problem.
- Open Microsoft Teams.
- Click the profile icon at the top right.
- Select Check for updates.
- Restart Microsoft Teams.
5. Upload images from desktop
This error may be a result of the device that the image has been uploaded from. Try to share the same image from the Microsoft Teams desktop client and check if it loads a preview.
6. Disable hardware acceleration
Disabling hardware acceleration has fixed the problem for some users so it’s worth a try.
- Open Microsoft Teams.
- Click the profile icon at the top right, and select Settings.
- Go to the General tab.
- Uncheck the ‘Disable GPU hardware acceleration’ option.
- Restart Microsoft Teams.
Conclusion
In very rare cases, it’s possible that these fixes don’t work but that likely means the fault lies with Microsoft Teams, Sharepoint, or Azure. Check if these services are experiencing an outage and wait for it to be resolved.
