How to remove device from Microsoft Account

Question

I'm trying to delete an old device from my Microsoft Account.

I select Remove Device, select the check box, I'm ready to remove this device, and then select Remove.

Every time I try I get an error message:

I no longer have access to the old device.

Answer 1

That sounds like the right plan. The message you’re seeing usually means Microsoft’s device management servers haven’t finished syncing the device status. Since the old device is already offline, waiting a few days and trying again from the same Devices page is the correct approach. You can also make sure you’re signed out of all sessions under your account security settings before retrying.

Answer 2

I see the error you’re getting when trying to remove your old device. First, are you signed in with the same Microsoft account that owns the device?

I recommend going to account.microsoft.com > Devices to remove a device. If the device is offline, inactive, or hasn’t synced recently, removal can fail temporarily. You can try signing out of all Microsoft services on that device if possible, wait a few minutes, and remove it again. If it’s no longer accessible, you might need to wait 24 hours and try again.

Answer 3

Since you no longer have access to the old device, sign in to account.microsoft.com/devices, select the device, choose Show details, then Remove device, and confirm. If the device has been offline for a few days, it may take up to 24–48 hours before it can be fully removed.

Have you already tried removing it from that page, and did you get a specific error message?