Teams chat have suddenly disappeared

Question

Teams chat have suddenly disappeared

Janet Kelsey 0

I transferred all my skype chat etc. into Teams as instructed, which worked well until yesterday, now my chats and contacts have disappeared and I'm getting information about signing me up and it appears Teams is connected to Microsoft 365 which I don't want. I have Office 2013 because I have older Office files which are essential to be able to open and only 2013 on Windows 10 will do that.

How can I get my Teams chats etc. back. They include conversations with my son who developed the website for our club. He has passed away and I need to refer to chats because there is information about the club website which I need to operate it.

Janet Kelsey

Janet Kelsey 0 Reputation points

2026-10-09T09:40:45.4133333+00:00

I have tried the quit Teams and restarting, but that didn't work. I can't find where I sign back in to Teams Free - I just keep getting back to the Microsoft 365 page and it shows I have an account and shows 2 of my original contacts, but says their details are hidden by Teams. I have tried the web version which didn't work. Everything I try seems to just want to refer to 365, so I am now at a loss. The loss of my original Teams with my chats and all my contacts seems to have happened after I got a message a couple of days ago that Microsoft Edge had updated itself. So I am now at a complete loss about what to do.

Janet Kelsey

2 answers

Your answer

Janet Kelsey 0 Reputation points

2026-10-09T09:40:45.4133333+00:00

I have tried the quit Teams and restarting, but that didn't work. I can't find where I sign back in to Teams Free - I just keep getting back to the Microsoft 365 page and it shows I have an account and shows 2 of my original contacts, but says their details are hidden by Teams. I have tried the web version which didn't work. Everything I try seems to just want to refer to 365, so I am now at a loss. The loss of my original Teams with my chats and all my contacts seems to have happened after I got a message a couple of days ago that Microsoft Edge had updated itself. So I am now at a complete loss about what to do.

Janet Kelsey

Answer 1

Ruwim.B 6,995 Volunteer Moderator

Teams Free does not require any Microsoft 365 subscription. You should be able to sign in to Teams with a personal Microsoft account or Skype Name. However, if your Skype Name starts with the "live:" prefix, then this ID cannot be used as Login ID for Teams.

Uninstall any currently installed Teams application.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/teams/troubleshooting/uninstall-microsoft-teams

Install the latest Teams app using this installation site.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/download-app

Sign in to Teams with exactly the same account as you have used with Skype.

Janet Kelsey 0 Reputation points

2026-10-09T21:52:33.2633333+00:00

I have done all you suggest, but get the same result as before. I now understand hat my version of Chat was the classic version, which is no longer available to download. I had no idea it was changing to the new version with no option to copy my chats from before. I suppose I must accept that they are gone for good, which is very sad for me.

Thank you for your replies.

Janet Kelsey

Answer 2

Ruwim.B 6,995 Volunteer Moderator

What exactly is the version of Windows 10 installation you are on now?

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/experience/find-information-about-your-windows-device

Janet Kelsey 0 Reputation points

2026-10-09T10:05:33.7966667+00:00

the version of windows 10 is:

Edition Windows 10 Home

Version 22H2

Installed on ‎24/‎04/‎2023

OS Build 19045.6466

I cannot upgrade to Windows 11 because it won't run Office 2013, so I wouldn't be able to open my older Office files, which are essential for me to have access to.