Accessing Azure Storage Explorer as a guest Entra user

Question

Accessing Azure Storage Explorer as a guest Entra user

Luke Rosser 165

I have set up a guest Entra user and granted them access to a storage account. They have Reader and Storage Blob Data Reader access. They can login to the Azure portal and see the storage account as expected.

However, when logging in through Azure Storage Explorer they see these errors:

I can't see any way to select which organization to use when logging in through storage explorer to ensure they're connecting to the org they are a guest user of.

Thanmayi Godithi 9,440 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-01-14T19:47:05.9566667+00:00
Hi @Luke Rosser,

Thank you for reaching out on Microsoft Q&A forum.

Azure Storage Explorer does not provide an explicit “organization” or “tenant selection” prompt during sign-in like the Azure portal does. Storage Explorer authenticates the user and then only displays subscriptions and resources that are associated with the tenant context used during authentication. For guest (B2B) users, this means that if the sign-in occurs against the user’s home tenant or a personal Microsoft account, Storage Explorer may not show resources from the resource tenant, even though the same account works in the Azure portal.

Recommended next steps (per documentation):

Ensure the user signs in using a work or school Entra ID account

Confirm the account has been invited as a B2B guest into the tenant that owns the storage account

Verify the user has appropriate management and data plane roles assigned

Ensure Storage Explorer is authenticated against the correct tenant associated with the storage account

Once these conditions are met, the storage account should be accessible in Azure Storage Explorer.

References:

Sign in to Azure Storage Explorer
https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/storage/common/storage-explorer-sign-in

Storage Explorer troubleshooting – missing subscriptions
https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/storage/common/storage-explorer-troubleshooting#cant-see-your-subscriptions

Kindly let us know if the above helps or you need further assistance on this issue.

If the answer is helpful, kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".
Luke Rosser 165 Reputation points

2026-01-15T09:24:05.6633333+00:00
Hi @Thanmayi Godithi

Thanks for getting back to me. I'm a bit confused about some of the recommendations.

Ensure the user signs in using a work or school Entra ID account

Is this possible if the user is accepting the guest invitation with a personal email like they are in this case?

Ensure Storage Explorer is authenticated against the correct tenant associated with the storage account

As Storage Explorer doesn't provide any way to select the org or tenant how can I do this?

The other two, ensuring the user has been invited and has the appropriate permissions should be correct as they can sign in through the Portal and access the storage account.

Can personal accounts not access through Storage Explorer even if invited to another org?

Answer accepted by question author

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Your answer

Thanmayi Godithi 9,440 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-01-14T19:47:05.9566667+00:00

Hi @Luke Rosser,

Thank you for reaching out on Microsoft Q&A forum.

Azure Storage Explorer does not provide an explicit “organization” or “tenant selection” prompt during sign-in like the Azure portal does. Storage Explorer authenticates the user and then only displays subscriptions and resources that are associated with the tenant context used during authentication. For guest (B2B) users, this means that if the sign-in occurs against the user’s home tenant or a personal Microsoft account, Storage Explorer may not show resources from the resource tenant, even though the same account works in the Azure portal.

Recommended next steps (per documentation):

Ensure the user signs in using a work or school Entra ID account

Confirm the account has been invited as a B2B guest into the tenant that owns the storage account

Verify the user has appropriate management and data plane roles assigned

Ensure Storage Explorer is authenticated against the correct tenant associated with the storage account

Once these conditions are met, the storage account should be accessible in Azure Storage Explorer.

References:

Sign in to Azure Storage Explorer
https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/storage/common/storage-explorer-sign-in

Storage Explorer troubleshooting – missing subscriptions
https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/storage/common/storage-explorer-troubleshooting#cant-see-your-subscriptions

Kindly let us know if the above helps or you need further assistance on this issue.

If the answer is helpful, kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".
Luke Rosser 165 Reputation points

2026-01-15T09:24:05.6633333+00:00

Hi @Thanmayi Godithi

Thanks for getting back to me. I'm a bit confused about some of the recommendations.

Ensure the user signs in using a work or school Entra ID account

Is this possible if the user is accepting the guest invitation with a personal email like they are in this case?

Ensure Storage Explorer is authenticated against the correct tenant associated with the storage account

As Storage Explorer doesn't provide any way to select the org or tenant how can I do this?

The other two, ensuring the user has been invited and has the appropriate permissions should be correct as they can sign in through the Portal and access the storage account.

Can personal accounts not access through Storage Explorer even if invited to another org?

Answer 1

Thanmayi Godithi 9,440 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi @Luke Rosser,

Thank you for your patience.

This is a known ongoing issue affecting Microsoft Azure Storage Explorer sign-in. We have received similar cases from other users, and Microsoft engineers are actively working on a fix.

You can track the progress and official updates using the following references:

GitHub issue (actively monitored by the product team): https://github.com/microsoft/azurestorageexplorer/issues/8868

Microsoft Q&A reference thread: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5651858/i-cannot-sign-into-microsoft-storage-explorer

At this time, there is no confirmed ETA, but updates will be shared on the above GitHub thread as soon as they are available. We recommend monitoring that link for the latest status and resolution details.

Please let us know if this information helps or if you need further assistance.

Thanmayi Godithi 9,440 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-01-20T01:46:54.4466667+00:00

Hi @Luke Rosser,

Could you please 'Accept the answer' if the information helped you as this would help others in the comminity as well.

Answer 2

Marcin Policht 87,730 MVP Volunteer Moderator

Try first the solution described in https://github.com/microsoft/AzureStorageExplorer/issues/8868 - if this doesn't work out, follow https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/2237260/external-users-not-able-to-sign-in

If the above response helps answer your question, remember to "Accept Answer" so that others in the community facing similar issues can easily find the solution. Your contribution is highly appreciated.

hth

Marcin

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Accessing Azure Storage Explorer as a guest Entra user

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