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Why does a Microsoft Teams app fail to authenticate users in the desktop client but work in the browser?8

Alexander Smith 40 Reputation points
2026-02-02T10:09:48.24+00:00

My Microsoft Teams app that calls Microsoft Graph to access user and team data. The app works in Teams on the web, but Graph requests from the Teams desktop client fail with authorization or consent errors.

Microsoft Teams | Development
Microsoft Teams | Development
Building, integrating, or customizing apps and workflows within Microsoft Teams using developer tools and APIs
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  1. Steven-N 19,460 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-02-02T10:56:17.66+00:00

    Hi Alexander Smith

    Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A forum

    This behavior occurs because Microsoft Teams web and desktop clients acquire Microsoft Graph access tokens differently.

    Therefore, in this context, you can follow these approaches below:

    1. Review the app registration in Microsoft Entra ID and ensure all required Microsoft Graph delegated permissions are added and admin consent is granted at the tenant level.
    2. Compare and decode the access tokens via https://jwt.ms/ obtained in Teams web and Teams desktop to confirm that the desktop token includes the same Graph scopes and is a delegated user token.
    3. Verify that the authentication flow is compatible with Teams SSO and does not rely on interactive browser-based consent, which is not available in the desktop client.

    Disclaimer: This link may reference Microsoft-related content but is not hosted on an official Microsoft domain (such as .microsoft.com). Please note that Microsoft is not responsible for the accuracy, security, or advertising on this site.

    Link references:

    Resolve Microsoft Graph authorization errors: https://learn.microsoft.com/graph/resolve-auth-errors

    Best regards

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    1 person found this answer helpful.

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  1. Q&A Assist
    2026-02-02T10:09:56.38+00:00
    AI generated content. This question contains an answer created with AI from Q&A Assist. Learn more

    The issue you're experiencing with your Microsoft Teams app failing to authenticate users in the desktop client, while it works in the browser, could be related to how authentication sessions are handled in each environment. In the Teams web client, there is an active Microsoft Entra session in the browser that is used for authentication and token acquisition. However, in the Teams desktop client, this session is not available, which can lead to a password prompt and potential authorization errors.

    Additionally, if there are any unmet dependencies such as user consent, the SSO flow may fall back to the normal OAuth card flow, which could also result in errors if the required permissions have not been granted. It's important to ensure that the app has the necessary permissions and that the user has consented to them.

    To troubleshoot this issue, you may want to check the app manifest for any missing configurations related to valid domains and ensure that the required permissions are granted for both user and admin consent.

    References:

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