Microsoft Teams can be accessed from many popular browsers on your PC or Mac. Some browsers fully support Teams, while others support only certain features. There are some lesser-known browsers, however, that don’t support Teams at all.
Microsoft Teams allows you to collaborate with others in the cloud via chat, video, and file sharing. The service, launched in 2017, has really taken off, largely due to an increasing number of remote workers who need to connect virtually.
Accessing Teams with Microsoft’s Edge browser
If your browser is any version of Microsoft Edge Chromium, which was released in January 2020 and has gone through a few iterations, you’ll find Microsoft Teams is fully supported. There’s no aspect of Teams that doesn’t work with the Microsoft Edge Chromium browser.
Chromium is an open-source browser built by Google. It’s what Google Chrome is founded upon, but Google also made it available for any company to adapt. Microsoft took advantage and redesigned Edge so that it’s now based on Chromium.
If you’re using a legacy version of the Microsoft Edge browser, you’ll find that Teams is supported except for outgoing sharing on calls or in meetings.
To determine which version of Microsoft Edge you have, scroll to the Settings feature in Edge. Near or at the bottom of the Settings menu, click on “About Microsoft Edge.” The next screen will show you the version of Edge you’re running.
What about Internet Explorer?
Internet Explorer 11 was the last version of Explorer released by Microsoft.
Microsoft Teams stopped supporting Internet Explorer on November 30, 2020. Microsoft 365, which includes Teams as well as many of Microsoft’s other products, stopped supporting Explorer on August 17, 2021.
Internet Explorer is still a valid browser, however, since it’s a component of the Windows operating system, but Microsoft is encouraging Explorer users to move to “Microsoft Edge with Internet Explorer mode.” However, “Microsoft Edge with Internet Explorer mode” will still not work with Microsoft Teams.
If you’re using Internet Explorer 11, you can join a Teams meeting if the meeting host provides PSTN coordinates. PSTN (public switched telephone network) is a phone system integrated into Teams that allows you to dial-in to a meeting.
To attend a meeting that doesn’t have PSTN coordinates, Microsoft suggests you install the Microsoft Teams desktop client. You can install it yourself on a PC or Mac by accessing it here. Once it’s installed, you’ll log in with your username and password and can begin using Teams right away. You’ll have the free version of Microsoft Teams, which is described in more detail at the end of this post.
Google Chrome support for Microsoft Teams
Calls and meetings in Microsoft Teams are fully supported by Google’s latest version of Chrome, as well as the browser’s two previous versions.
To share in meetings, no plug-ins or extensions are needed if you’re using Google Chrome version 72 or later. (Version 72 was released on January 29, 2019.)
Safari and Teams
The Safari 14 browser (and any of its newer versions) fully supports Microsoft Teams, with the exception of 1:1 calls. They’re not supported by any version of Safari. Group calls, however, are fully supported. In addition, all components of Teams meetings are fully supported by Safari 14+.
Safari 13.1 supports group calls but not 1:1 calls. Audio is fully supported in group calls, but only incoming video is supported (not outgoing). Meetings get full audio support; however, only incoming video is supported (not outgoing). Sharing in both calls and meetings is fully supported.
Safari versions that are older than version 13 do not support the calling functions in Microsoft Teams. They do support the meeting functions, but only if the meeting host provides PSTN coordinates. PSTN (public switched telephone network) is a phone system integrated into Teams that allows you to dial-in to a meeting.
To attend a meeting that doesn’t have PSTN coordinates, Microsoft suggests you install the Microsoft Teams desktop client. You can install it yourself on a PC or Mac by accessing it here. Once it’s installed, you’ll log in with your username and password and can begin using Teams right away. You’ll have the free version of Microsoft Teams, which is described in more detail at the end of this post.
Firefox and Teams
If you’re using Firefox (either the latest version of the browser or the two previous versions), the calling features of Teams are not supported. The meeting features of Teams are supported only if the meeting includes PSTN coordinates. PSTN (public switched telephone network) is a phone system integrated into Teams that allows you to dial-in to a meeting.
To ensure a seamless meeting without disruptions, Microsoft suggests you install the OpenH264 plugin in Firefox.
To attend a meeting that doesn’t have PSTN coordinates, Microsoft suggests you install the Microsoft Teams desktop client. You can install it yourself on a PC or Mac by accessing it here. Once it’s installed, you’ll log in with your username and password and can begin using Teams right away. You’ll have the free version of Microsoft Teams, which is described in more detail below.
More about the Teams desktop client
As mentioned above, Microsoft suggests you install the Teams desktop client if your browser doesn’t support Teams. You can install it yourself on a PC or Mac by accessing it here. With the install, you’ll have immediate access to the free version of Microsoft Teams.
The free Teams app allows unlimited group meetings and unlimited 1:1 calls. Chat is supported without any limits too, while group calling is supported for up to 60 minutes and 100 participants. Your calls, chats, meetings, and files are all data encrypted.
The free Teams app provides 5 GB of cloud storage for your files.
Teams is also available in a subscription format called Microsoft Essentials, which is designed for business use. Microsoft Essentials provides everything the free app provides plus more cloud storage and greater capacity for group meetings. For example, the free Teams app supports group meetings lasting 60 minutes, while Microsoft Essentials supports meetings of up to 30 hours in length.
Finally, there’s Microsoft 365. This hugely popular service is becoming the gold standard for accessing all that Microsoft has to offer. Microsoft Teams is bundled into Microsoft 365, along with other Microsoft products, such as OneDrive (the company’s cloud-storage application), Word, and Excel. Microsoft 365 costs more than Microsoft Essentials, but offers a lot more too.
To help decide which plan is best for you, go here to compare Microsoft Essentials to the free version of the Teams app and to Microsoft 365. Scroll down on the page for a handy chart that describes the differences in the plans.