Re-enable a device

Thanks for the follow-up. Don’t click Disable that action will lock the device out of any organization’s resources and cannot be undone. If this was ever tied to a work/school account, it will need IT admin intervention to restore.

If there’s any account listed that isn’t yours, like a Geek Squad email or a generic IT domain, you can disconnect it. Before we do that, I'd like to confirm some questions from you. Just making sure that any steps I provide won't affect anything.

1. Under Settings > Accounts > Access work or school, do you see any listed accounts that aren’t your personal Microsoft account, like something ending in @company.com or @school.edu?
2. When you go to Settings > System > About, what does it say under “Domain or Workgroup”? Is it joined to a domain, Azure AD, or listed as a workgroup?
3. In Settings > Accounts > Your info, does it now show “Sign in with a Microsoft account,” or are you already signed in with your email?
4. When you visit https://account.microsoft.com/devices, do you now see your device listed correctly, or is the only option still to disable it?
5. Has your desktop ever been connected to a work or school IT environment, even temporarily or possibly during setup by Geek Squad or from a previous job/school account?

We need to confirm if there are still leftovers from an organizational profile that we need to clean up. Let me know the answers, and I’ll guide you the rest of the way.

Okay I verified the account. The only option under the device tab is to disable it.

Disable 'DESKTOP-GL8GOP5'? Disabling turns off device access to all your organization’s accounts. Once you disable your device, you can’t undo it. To access your organization's resources on this device again, you will need to contact your IT helpdesk.

Thanks for the update, Shane.

Here's what you can do.

Step 1) You do not need to uninstall the Office apps. Since they’re already working and tied to your subscription, you’re fine there. No reinstall needed unless they stop activating properly later.

Step 2) At account.microsoft.com/devices, removing the old entry does not affect your actual PC or files, it just clears outdated records. If the “disabled” device is a leftover from before the reset, you can remove it.

Step 3) And then you can sign in your device to your Microsoft account

This is the key step to fix the “Owner” tag and fully re-enable your device

Go to Settings > Accounts > Your info

If it says “Sign in with a Microsoft account instead,” click it

Enter your Microsoft 365 email and password

This will switch your local account “Owner” into a Microsoft account-based login

If you're already signed in and it says “Verify,” follow the prompts to verify and sync

Once you do this, your device will be correctly linked to your Microsoft account, and it will show up properly under the devices list.

Thank you for the quick reply.

1- personal 365

2- myaccount.microsoft.com/device-list

3- I can open and use the apps, no separate message

4- I believe this was setup under my 365 subscription

5-yes I have the original email access

under step 1 my account is active. before I reinstall apps from the drop menu, do I need to uninstall them?

step 2, if I remove the old device which is what I'm working from will I have to start over?

Puzzling to me that I can access the apps, I'm signed in on the web portal but not signed in on the device. Normally when I start the computer I need to log in and it shows I'm logging in to my 365 account. Currently when I start up it shows "Owner".

Thanks for sharing this. I am here to help you fix this.

First, a few questions to clarify your setup.

1. Are you using a personal Microsoft account, or is this part of a work/school Microsoft 365 subscription?
2. When you say the device appears disabled, is that on https://account.microsoft.com/devices, or in Microsoft Entra / Azure portal?
3. Can you open any Office apps like Word or Excel and if so, does it say Unlicensed or ask for activation?
4. Did Geek Squad set up Office using a product key or as part of a Microsoft 365 subscription?
5. Do you still have access to the account used to originally activate Office email + password?

> If it's a personal Microsoft 365 subscription
Step 1) Go to https://account.microsoft.com/services
Make sure your subscription is listed as active
Click Install apps from there to reinstall Office

Step 2) Go to https://account.microsoft.com/devices
Remove any old or duplicate entries of your PC
Restart and sign into Office again

> If it’s a work or school account like Microsoft Entra ID / Azure AD
That message “contact your admin” usually means the device was disabled or deleted from the Azure portal by your IT admin. So you may need to reach out to them to re-enable the device or remove it completely from Azure so you can rejoin it.

Let me know if this is a personal or organizational account, and where the device is showing disabled. I’ll help with the next steps from there.