Request to enable Microsoft 365 Developer sandbox subscription

Question

Hello Microsoft team,

I joined the Microsoft 365 Developer Program with this account: [your-email@example.com] but I received the message:

“You don't currently qualify for a Microsoft 365 Developer Program sandbox subscription.”

I am a university student and need the sandbox (E5/A5 Dev) to learn and test Microsoft Graph and OneDrive integration for academic projects.

My profile information is completed and my phone number is verified. I also performed some development activities (app registration, Graph API calls, OneDrive usage).

Could you please review my account and enable the sandbox subscription?

I will use it strictly for development and educational purposes.

Thank you very much,

Answer 1

Hi Tân Nguyễn

Thank you for reaching out via the Microsoft Q&A forum regarding the absence of the "Set up E5 subscription" button in your dashboard.

Please note that, as forum moderators, we do not have access to the internal systems required to investigate individual account issues due to privacy and security constraints. However, we would like to offer the following guidance to assist you:

Kindly ensure that you meet all the eligibility requirements outlined by Microsoft for accessing the E5 developer sandbox. These requirements are detailed in the Microsoft 365 Developer Program FAQ. In particular, we recommend reviewing the following two key topics:

First, if you have a university/academic email, it may help to re‑register for the Developer Program using that account instead of a personal one. For a personal account, you can try option 1. If your account is already using an academic email, then you can try both options

Check Your Dev Program Dashboard First

Before anything else, please try refreshing the page, clear cache or switching to a different browser to ensure all features are properly displayed. After that, try again.

If it still doesn't work, please open your M365 Developer Program Dashboard. If you see “Set up E5 subscription” > click it. That’s your direct path to the renewable 90‑day sandbox tenant.

If you don't see this option, it simply means your profile isn’t currently in the eligible pool for auto‑provisioning so here are some recommended solutions you can try:

Option 1: Link Your Account to Visual Studio Dev Essentials (no university email required)

Sometimes the Developer Program grants sandbox eligibility once an account is also recognized as part of the Visual Studio developer ecosystem. Linking your account can provide that signal.

Join the Microsoft 365 Developer Program with a Visual Studio Professional or Enterprise subscription | Microsoft Learn

Go to Visual Studio Dev Essentials and sign up using the exact same Microsoft Account you used for the Microsoft 365 Developer Program. Then wait 5–10 minutes for the systems to sync and return to your M365 Developer Program Dashboard and check again for the option to set up an E5 developer subscription.

Option 2: Check If Your University Provides a Visual Studio Subscription

Many universities offer free Visual Studio Professional or Enterprise subscriptions to students through your IT department. Having this subscription almost guarantees access to the Developer Program sandbox.

You can visit your university’s IT services or student portal and look for Visual Studio Professional or Visual Studio Enterprise subscriptions. If available, activate the subscription using your university email address then go back to the M365 Dev Program Dashboard > sign in with the same account, and attempt the setup again.

(Note: Maybe you'll need to ask your university IT admin to grant you access and you cannot individually “buy/assign” the school’s Professional/Enterprise subscription to yourself.)

Additionally, if you are student, you can consider using Azure for Students if possible. If the sandbox option is still unavailable, Azure for Students is an excellent alternative. This creates your own tenant where you control users, apps, and services. After creating your own Azure Active Directory tenant and add test users, you can register apps in Azure AD and use Microsoft Graph + OneDrive APIs just like you would in a sandbox subscription.

In case that none of the above options are viable, the final solution I can recommend that contacting Microsoft Developer Support for further assistance. Please note that this is a paid support ticket, however the benefit is that you’ll get direct help from the product team that handles the developer platform. They’re the best people to assist with complex or account-specific issues and can help resolve them more effectively.

I hope this information proves helpful. Feel free to follow up here if you have any additional questions. 

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