What is the correct URL for Microsoft 365 Login? Why are Microsoft changing the URL?

Question

I have a Microsoft 365 Annual Subscription for my wife and I. I read that the Login URL was login.live.com but that now redirects to account.microsoft.com. I also read that it could be office.microsoft.com for some people. I also understand that there are different Microsoft login URLs for companies, schools and individuals. Why does Microsoft keep changing their Login URLs? Does Microsoft publish a clear policy on this subject and if so where can I access it?

Answer 1

Hi Marksey,

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

I’m not sure how much you know about computers or software development, so I’d like to explain things in as simple terms as possible:

To address your question, What is the correct URL for Microsoft 365 Login?

There isn’t a single fixed answer to this question. Different users have different URLs to make it easier to manage users with different identities. Each URL corresponds to an independent authentication service, which avoids mixing up the code logic and allows businesses to customize stricter security policies. So whatever URL the server assigns to you is the one you’ll be able to access.

Why does Microsoft keep changing their Login URLs?
As for your specific situation, the reason you’re redirected from login.live.com to account.microsoft.com is that the account.microsoft.com address you see in the end is actually a “static” front-end page. Its main purpose is to display data that has already been fetched from the server. On the other hand, login.live.com is specifically used to send login requests. Once the request is processed, the server sends the webpage containing your account information to your browser with the account.microsoft.com address, and the browser then redirects to the front-end webpage based on the server’s response.

You can think of it as if you’re holding a form called login.live.com, where you fill in your account information and send it to the server. The server reads it, confirms that you’re the account owner, and then gives you a poster called account.microsoft.com, which contains all the detailed information about your account. Different request/response will have different URLs, which in development are also known as APIs.

Does Microsoft publish a clear policy on this subject, and if so, where can I access it?
Unfortunately, Microsoft has not published any policy on this matter. This is usually related to project architecture, and most users don’t interact with these backend processes. The majority of users aren’t interested in how the front-end pages interact with the backend servers, so typically only developers pay attention to this information. Therefore, there’s no need to publish articles on these technical details that require computer knowledge.

Hope my explanation is clear enough. If you have any other questions or want to share more context, please let me know in your reply!

Best Regards,

Thomas C - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist