How can I switch my windows local account to use my work account, I'm getting an error "That Microsoft account doesn't exist. Enter a different account or get a new one. "

Question

I got a new Windows 11 laptop a couple months ago. When setting it up I signed in by creating a local account. I now have a work account with a work domain which I use for signing into outlook and other Microsoft products on the same laptop. I now want to switch from signing into windows with my local account to using my work account instead. When I go to Settings>Account>Your info> Account settings>Sign in with a Microsoft account instead, and enter in my work email, it says "That Microsoft account doesn't exist. Enter a different account or get a new one." I have looked at other articles that say it could be because you are using an alias but I am not. I wanted to test to see if signing in with my work account on another device with a fresh install of windows worked, and it did. I had a spare laptop that I put a fresh install of Windows 11 and during setup, instead of creating a local account, I signed in with my work account and it worked. Even though that worked, I still cant get it to work on my existing laptop with the local account. Can someone tell me why its not working please?

Answer 1

Hello Thank you for posting in our Q&A forum. A work or school account and a Microsoft account are two different accounts. A work or school account is an account created by an administrator of an organization that enables members of the organization to access Microsoft cloud services such as Microsoft Azure, Windows Intune, and Office 365. A work or school account can take the form of the user's organizational email address, such as username@orgname.com. And your work or school account is different from your Microsoft account. Your Microsoft account is the account you use for personal services like Xbox Live, Outlook.com, Windows Phone, and more. So when you log in to your work account in "Account Settings > Sign in with a Microsoft account instead", it is invalid because this is not a Microsoft account.

Answer 2

Hi, thanks for coming into the forums. I'm also a user like you and I'll be more than happy to help you to the best of my knowledge. Instead of going to Account > Your info, go to Windows settings > Accounts > Access Work or School > add your work account from there by clicking the Connect button. If the reply is helpful, please Upvote and Accept it as an answer.