Remotely Collect MS Teams Client Diagnostic Logs via Teams Admin Center

Troubleshooting Microsoft Teams client issues often requires collecting diagnostic logs from end-user devices. Traditionally, this process has been time-consuming, disruptive, and dependent on user cooperation. To simplify this, Microsoft started rolling out a new capability to remotely collect diagnostic logs from Teams clients on Windows and Mac, directly through the Teams admin center.

Previously, collecting Teams client logs was a manual, time-consuming process. Users had to locate and send logs to admins, or admins had to access end-user devices to extract and analyze logs directly. This often requires guiding users with step by step and following up multiple times, which delayed troubleshooting.

Now, to eliminate these disruptions, admins can remotely collect the Teams client diagnostic logs via the Teams admin center. All collected logs are stored securely in a Microsoft-compliant location. The following logs can be collected:

• Web logs: Diagnostic logs, calling logs, web media logs, central data layer logs
• Desktop logs: Shell Diagnostics logs, Slimcore logs (including media stack)

🚫 Not collected: Procmon traces and OS Event Logs are not collected as these require elevated privileges.

The rollout for general availability already began in mid-July 2025 and is expected to be completed by late October 2025 (previously planned for late July).

Only the following authorized roles will have access to remotely collect Teams client logs using the Teams admin center.

• Teams Administrator
• Teams Communications Administrator
• Teams Communications Support Engineer

Admins can remotely collect log files for monitoring and troubleshooting through the Teams admin center by following these steps.

1. Log in to the Teams admin center and navigate to Users → Manage users.
2. Select the user whose logs you want to collect.
3. On the user’s page, open the Client health tab.
4. You can select one or more devices and click Request client logs.
5. The Client log status column will show Pending until the collection is complete.
6. Once available, you can view, download, and share the logs with your team or Microsoft.

For efficient management and diagnostics, admins can view all in-progress and completed diagnostic log requests across the tenant in one place.

1. In the Teams admin center, navigate to Teams client health → View client logs.
2. Log requests are organized into two tabs, namely In-progress and Downloaded.
3. Each entry shows details such as username, device name, request initiation date, who initiated it, and log deletion date.
4. Use the available options to download or delete logs as needed.

⚠️ Note: These logs are stored only for a period of 30 days from the date of collection.

Points to Remember

• To collect Teams client logs remotely, user consent is not required, and no notifications are sent to users to indicate them during collection. This method of log collection introduces storing user’s data and may involve accessing existing information.
• Only client logs and shell logs (media logs) are collected. No screenshots or heap dumps are collected.
• These logs may include details relevant to Purview (DLP, audit) and may fall under GDPR Data Subject Rights requests.
• Currently, remote log collection is supported only on Windows (non-VDI) and Mac devices that have the Teams app installed.
• Logs may take up to 8 hours to appear in the Teams admin center after the client starts running. Microsoft plans to reduce this time in future enhancements.
• Remote log collection isn’t supported on devices where both commercial and government cloud accounts are simultaneously signed in to the Teams client.

Wrapping Up

The new remote log collection feature in the Microsoft Teams admin center is a major step toward streamlined support and faster troubleshooting. It eliminates the need for admins to manually gather logs, reducing disruption and saving time for IT teams.

However, since diagnostic logs may contain user-specific data, organizations should be more cautious about silent collection without explicit user consent. What do you think? Is this a boon or a bane? Share your thoughts in the comments below.