Device management could not be enabled

Hi @Alex Dawson,

Good day! Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A forum and sharing the detail.

Regarding the error you encountered when trying to add your account on a new computer:

Error code -2145833241: Device management could not be enabled

Could you also confirm how you attempted to add the account (for example, through Outlook, Office apps, or Windows Settings) and the type of account you were trying to add (work account, school account, or Microsoft personal account)?

This issue typically occurs when Windows attempts to register the device for management (Intune or Mobile Device Management), but the process does not complete successfully.

To resolve this error, please try the following steps in order:

1. First, confirm whether your organization actually requires device management. If it does not use Intune, you should not select the option to “Allow my organization to manage this device” when adding your account. Simply skip this option and complete the sign-in.
2. If your organization does use Intune, go to Settings > Accounts > Access work or school > Enroll only in device management and try again. You should also confirm with your IT admin that you have a valid Intune or Microsoft 365 license assigned. In addition, if your IT team has configured Windows Information Protection (WIP), they may need to set the WIP user scope in Intune to “None,” as this change has resolved the issue in many cases.
3. Finally, you can clear any cached credentials on your device. To do this, open Credential Manager in the Windows Control Panel, remove any Office 365-related entries from Windows Credentials, restart your computer, and then try adding the account again. Please follow these steps below:

• Press Windows + S, type Credential Manager, and open it.
• Go to Windows Credentials
• Look for any entries related to your old work or Microsoft 365 account (e.g., MicrosoftOffice16_Data:<your_email>)
• Click Remove on those entries

If the problem continues after trying these steps, please let us know whether your organization uses Intune/MDM, at which step the error appears, and if possible, share screenshots or logs. This will help us guide you further or advise your IT administrator to raise a support request with Microsoft.

In order to submit a Service Request: The Global Admin should create a service request with Microsoft support to get advanced technical assistance and diagnostics. For detailed instructions on how to get support, please refer to Get support - Microsoft 365 admin.

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I think I understand now. Since the laptop is my own personal laptop, I don't want my school admin to manage my device. So I think I can ignore the error message.

Hi @Alex Dawson,

Hope things are running smoothly on your end.

Following up on the support thread we've been working on. I hope the steps I shared in my previous answer resolve the issue you were facing. If you are still facing the same issue or need assistance with anything else, kindly respond to this email, and I will be happy to help.

We want to make sure everything is working as expected and that your experience remains uninterrupted.

Thank you for your patience and understanding throughout the troubleshooting process. 

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

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this was on the on the window settings: start>settings>accounts>email & accounts> add work account. This was after creating a local account to set the computer up.

@Alex Dawson, the fact that you are trying to add a work account is likely the issue here. For an overview of device management, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/intune/intune-service/fundamentals/what-is-device-management .