Changing Local Account to MS 365 Account After Upgrading from Windows 11 Home to Business

Question

Changing Local Account to MS 365 Account After Upgrading from Windows 11 Home to Business

Ben Zavitz 20

Issue

Is it possible to connect my core account to my new Windows 11 Business PC to have a unified experience? I upgraded my Lenovo notebook from Windows 11 Home to Business, but now everything looks different, the desktop files did not transfer from OneDrive, and the settings are not updating. Although OneDrive for Business is connected, I cannot change my local account, and I need to rely on a single account to access my files on both machines. Can someone help me solve this issue?

Background

I purchased a Lenovo 14" Slim 7 Multi-touch notebook (x64-based OS and processor) with Windows 11 Home preinstalled (big mistake). To update the machine, I also purchased Windows 11 Pro.
When initially booting up the computer, it would not allow me to connect to my MS business account - so I put in my personal MS account.
Once logged in, I upgraded the system to Windows 11 Business (confirmed via About Your PC under Windows Specifications).
I created a local admin account to remove my MS personal account.
Under Settings > Accounts, I connected to my 365 account (I am a small business owner, no IT dept).
PC local Desktop

Everything is noticeably different. I thought that upgrading to MS Windows 11 Pro would make the OS match my other computer, which came with it pre-installed. Can someone assist me in figuring it out?

I really appreciate any help you can provide.

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Answer 1

Michael Taylor 60,331

The differences between Windows editions are around functionality, not look and feel. OneDrive and related tools have no bearing on the Windows edition. It is unclear to me what "unified experience" you're looking for and what is different.

If you add your MS account to a local account then you will have access to OneDrive and you can store documents there. However if you didn't set up your machine that way initially then it won't reset it just because you hook up one drive. By default Windows will want to save to OneDrive with your MS account and that is configured at startup. If you didn't associate an MS account then that isn't an option. Open the Settings for OneDrive (open from the tray icon and then go to Settings). From there you can go to Sync and Backup and configure what you want to backup to OneDrive. You can also control what folders are synced locally.

But what you may consider doing instead is formally switching your local account to your MS account. To do that you need to go into your account settings and there should be a link to sign in with MS account instead of a local account as discussed here. This only appears if you have a local account but it switches your local account over to an MS account. This is different than having your MS account linked to your local account but otherwise won't likely solve your "unified" problems.

Another option is to create a new account on the machine using your MS account. This will create a new profile and you'll need to copy your documents, desktop settings, etc over from your existing local account. Also ensure that you make this new account an admin. Then you can either stop using your local account (but save it for emergency purposes) or remove the account. This is probably the route I'd take unless I already have a lot of app's configured and various personal documents set up as they would all be lost with the new profile.

Ben Zavitz 20 Reputation points

2024-07-29T11:34:15.86+00:00
Hello Michael,

Thank you for your response.

By unified experience, I meant the same desktop programs, settings, etc. For example, saving a document to the desktop shows across both machines' desktops.

Comparing both machines with the same edition (Windows 11 Business) and Version (23H2), I thought it would have been a similar experience.

The first machine was originally purchased with Windows 11 Business. Initially setting up, it only asked for my MS work or school account.

The second machine, which came with Windows 11 Home, was upgraded to Windows 11 Business, version 23H2, matching the first machine.

Is there a way for the upgraded second machine to use the MS work or school account as the primary - versus asking for my personal MS account? If not I will proceed with your suggestion of removing the local account and linking it to the work and school.

Thank you!
Michael Taylor 60,331 Reputation points

2024-07-29T14:12:05.8866667+00:00

You can have any # of Windows machines tied to your MS account. All you need to do is associate your MS account with the account you are using on the second machine. I would recommend you follow the earlier steps of switching your existing local account to the MS account using the link mentioned. If that doesn't work for some reason (or isn't available) then create a new account using your MS account, mark as admin and use it instead.

As for the unified experience it sounds like you had enabled the backup options for OneDrive to save desktop, document files, etc which would then make them available on other machines. You likely also left the sync option enabled in Microsoft Edge so your favorites and whatnot came over. Once you've set up your MS account on the new machine then go to the account settings. There is an option in there to manage your sync settings and you can enable syncing your local MS account details. This should pull down all the shared data between your machines. Note that this may take a while to finish and it won't pull down everything (like program settings). You may also need to do this in MS Edge, I haven't verified.
Ben Zavitz 20 Reputation points

2024-07-29T15:08:58.5166667+00:00

Thank you for your quick response. I will connect my personal MS account as a User to the second machine. I would have thought I could have used an MS work account on the second machine, as that is what I did to the first machine at setup. Seems like an oversight at Microsoft.

I appreciate your assistance!
Michael Taylor 60,331 Reputation points

2024-07-29T18:37:16.8066667+00:00

You can use any MS account you want. However if you use a work account then work policies kick in. Some companies do not allow this. Furthermore you are then generally tied to the companies corporate policies. If this is a work computer then that is fine. But also be aware that in order to use a Windows product then your MS account has to be licensed for that product in order to associate your MS account with a user profile. Windows automatically pulls in your licenses when you create the account tied to your MS account. If you don't have a license for the Windows edition then it won't work.
Odeno 0 Reputation points

2025-04-18T10:14:05.0133333+00:00

Would not recommend giving a MS account admin status due to added security risk. Better IMHO to have a local account with admin status so if the MS account is compromised, the attacker doesn't have admin access.

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Changing Local Account to MS 365 Account After Upgrading from Windows 11 Home to Business

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