If you’re a developer or power user, there may be times when you need access to developer tools in Microsoft Teams. These tools are useful for inspecting elements, debugging custom apps, or troubleshooting layout issues. In the new Microsoft Teams desktop client, however, developer tools are hidden by default. Fortunately, there is a simple workaround to enable them.
Why Developer Tools Are Useful
In the web version of Microsoft Teams, opening developer tools is easy using F12 on Windows or Command + Option + I on macOS. These tools allow you to inspect HTML and CSS, view console logs, and debug issues. In the new desktop client, this functionality is not exposed in the interface, which can be frustrating for developers.
Below is a step-by-step guide to enabling developer tools in the new Teams client.
Step 1 – Create the Configuration File
Start by opening a plain text editor such as Notepad or Visual Studio Code. Create a new file and name it configuration.json. Inside the file, add the following content:
{
"core/devMenuEnabled": true
}
Save the file to the following location on your Windows machine:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\MSTeams_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache\Microsoft\MSTeams
This folder is part of the local cache used by the new Microsoft Teams client.
Step – Fully Close Microsoft Teams
Make sure Microsoft Teams is completely closed. Simply closing the window is not enough. Look for the Teams icon in the system tray, right-click it, and select “Quit”. Once the application is fully closed, reopen Microsoft Teams.
Step – Open Developer Tools
After restarting Teams, right-click the Teams icon in the system tray again. You should now see a new option called “Engineering Tools”. From there, select “Open Dev Tools”.
A separate Developer Tools window will open, allowing you to inspect elements, view logs, and debug just like you would in a web browser.
Additional Notes
You may be asked to sign out and sign back in after enabling developer tools. This behavior is normal. Keep in mind that this feature is not officially documented by Microsoft and may change in future updates, but it is very useful for debugging custom Teams applications and extensions.
Even though the new Microsoft Teams client hides developer tools by default, enabling them is quick and easy with this configuration file trick. Once activated, you gain powerful debugging capabilities that can greatly improve your development and troubleshooting workflow.