I cannot unassign license from users

Question

I get the following error whenever I try to unassign license from users:

"One or more licenses could not be unassigned. Please try again."

I have Global Administrator role and License Administrator role assigned to my account yet I'm unable to unassign license(s) from users.

I encountered the same error trying to unassign the following licenses from user(s):

• Microsoft Teams Domestic Calling Plan (120 min)
• Microsoft Teams Phone Standard

Anyone have an idea of what the issue could be?

Answer 1

The error message you're encountering when trying to unassign licenses could be due to several reasons. Here are some potential issues and resolutions:

1. Conflicting Service Plans: If the licenses you are trying to unassign are associated with service plans that conflict with other licenses assigned to the user, you may need to remove those conflicting plans first. Check if there are any service plans that cannot coexist and resolve those conflicts.
2. Missing Dependent Service Plans: If the licenses you are trying to unassign are dependent on other service plans that are still active, you may need to ensure that those dependent services are disabled or that the required plans are still assigned to the users.
3. Proxy Address Violation: If you are using Exchange Online, ensure that there are no duplicate proxy addresses among the users. This can prevent licenses from being unassigned.
4. Licensing Errors: Check if there are any licensing errors listed in the admin center under the users' licenses. You may need to resolve these errors before you can unassign licenses.

If none of these issues apply, consider trying to unassign the licenses at a different time or contacting Microsoft support for further assistance.

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References:

• Assign or unassign licenses for users in the Microsoft 365 admin center
• Manage group-based licensing errors

Answer 2

Can you share the full list of licenses the user has?

You only unassign one at a time, right?

Answer 3

Hello!

I'm Yasllame. I'm here to help and clarify.

This answer has been automatically translated. As a result, there may be grammatical errors or unusual words.

This error is not related to administrative permissions — you have already correctly confirmed that you have the necessary roles (Global Administrator and License Administrator).

The behavior you describe is expected when the license you are trying to remove is in active use by a dependent service, especially in the case of Microsoft Teams Telephony licenses.

Why the license cannot be removed

The following licenses:

Microsoft Teams Default Phone

Microsoft Teams National Calling Plan (120 min)

cannot be removed while associated with:

A phone number assigned to the user

An active voice policy

A calling plan still linked

An account enabled for Telephony in Teams

When any of these links exist, the admin center displays exactly the error:

“One or more licenses could not be removed. Please try again.”

How to resolve (mandatory order)

Before removing the license, you must unlink the user's voice services.

Access the Microsoft Teams admin center:

https://admin.teams.microsoft.com

Go to Users > Manage users

Select the affected user

Remove the links, in this order:

Assigned phone number

Calling plan

Voice policy

Routing policy (if any)

Save the changes and wait a few minutes (replication may take up to 30 minutes)

Return to the Microsoft 365 admin center:

https://admin.microsoft.com

Now try removing the license again

Important notes

This error is not a bug

It is not resolved with additional permissions

It is not possible to force removal while dependencies remain

PowerShell will display a similar error if the links are not removed beforehand

I hope this information was helpful! If you need anything else, I'm here.

Sincerely,