Windows activation is asking me to sign in with work or school account. But Windows is already activated with digital license.

Question

Hello Folks,

I have a number of systems in with this issue in our hybrid system.

Windows activation is continually asking me to sign in with work or school account, only to reappear when this window is refreshed. Windows is already activated with a digital license BTW.

What am I doing?

Thanks

Answer 1

Hello  Eben Sutton，

Thank you for your reply.

I apologize for any confusion. Microsoft does not require devices that are joined to a domain to get their Windows license from that domain. It is possible that your device is configured to require a work or school account for certain features or applications.

To resolve this issue, you can try signing in with a different work or school account, or contact your administrator for assistance. Your administrator may be able to adjust the Group Policy settings or disable Windows Information Protection (WIP) if it is enabled.

If the issue persists, you can try resetting your device's activation status by running the following command in an elevated Command Prompt:

slmgr.vbs /rearm

This will reset the activation status and may resolve the issue. However, please note that this should only be used as a last resort and may require reactivation of your Windows license.

Best Regards,

Haijian Shan

Answer 2

Hello  Neil Christie，

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community forum.

According to your description, your Windows has been activated with a digital license, but you keep reappearing when you are asked to log in with your work or school account and refresh the window. This could be because your device is joined to a domain, or your device is using Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise.

If your device is joined to a domain, your administrator may have configured a Group Policy that requires you to sign in with a work or school account. You can contact your administrator for more help.

If your device is using Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise, you may have Windows Information Protection (WIP) enabled. WIP requires you to sign in with a work or school account to protect protected data. You can try signing in with a different account, or contact your administrator for more help.

I hope the information above is helpful.

If you have any question or concern, please feel free to let us know.

Best Regards,

Haijian Shan

Answer 3

Sorry, those of us a bit less technical need more guidance as to how to resolve this. As this is a new error for my device (though screen shot is an exact replica of the error above, and same set of facts) that just began a few weeks ago, are you saying that Microsoft now requires devices that are joined to a domain to get their Windows license from that domain?

This does not seem to be an authentication problem, because all other account-related functionality works as expected. And, as noted above, simply logging in doesn't resolve the prompt as it immediately reappears. Thank you.

Answer 4

We are getting the same problem on many Hybrid Joined Entra machines.

The Issue started some weeks ago, never seen this problem before.

We can't understand why is that. Can someone from Microsoft please suggest a solution or an understanding of why this is happening?

Thanks

Answer 5

I am having the same problem....

I believe I was able to resolve this issue on my own device by following these steps:

1. go to settings>Accounts > Email & accounts

a) under "Accounts used by email, calendar, and contacts" click "Add account" button.

b) follow the pop up prompts to add your email account.

2. Then re-login under settings> system> Activation

And it should "stick" this time. Good luck!

Morgan