My personal computer is hooked to my work email and it is causing issues. Needs to be changed.

Question

My new microsoft surface pro is attached to my work email and i want to change that. I don't want to lose anything personal that I have put on the computer. How do I take that email off?

Answer 1

Perfect. That's super helpful. So you basically were using your old work email address as your personal Microsoft account's alias. This can be easily addressed.

Go to https://account.live.com

go to Your Info > Sign in preference, Add an alias.

You have two options here:

Create new: this will allow you to use the native domain outlook.com to create a new alias.

Add existing: this will allow you to add a 3rd party email address, such as yahoo, gmail, as long as they are not already associated with another Microsoft account.

Once added, make this new alias your primary alias, Don't delete the old email address yet.

Then go to Security > Manage how I sign in, here, make sure you update your contact information, add new one if needed, then delete the old work email address, only on this page.

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Then on your computer, Go to Settings > Accounts > Your info

Click on Sign in with local user instead. follow the steps and finish the rest.

(If you don't see the "sign in with a local account instead option, click on "Stop signing into Microsoft apps automatically" first, then relaunch this page. )

Restart the computer (Do Not skip)

Go to Settings > Accounts > Your info

Click on Sign in with Microsoft account instead. follow the steps and finish the rest. This time sign in using the new primary alias you used above.

Restart the computer (Do Not skip)

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Now you can go back to https://account.live.com > Your info > Sign in preference, you can delete the old work email from here.

This whole process will not affect your data, or your subscription. It is still concisdered the same Microsoft account, but we just swap out the alias/username used to sign into this Microsoft account.

Answer 2

Hello

I need to understand a bit further in what way your work account is attached to the computer.

When you start the computer, is it asking you to sign into your personal account or your work account?

If you go to Settings > Accounts > Your info, is it your work or personal account listed here?

As for Microsoft 365, you said you bought it, did you buy it by with your work account via some employee discount program?

Answer 3

To remove your work email from your Microsoft Surface Pro without losing your personal data, you can follow these general steps:

1. Backup Your Personal Data: Before making any changes, ensure that all your personal files and data are backed up to an external drive or cloud storage.
2. Remove the Work Email Account:
   • Go to Settings on your Surface Pro.
   • Click on Accounts.
   • Select Access work or school.
   • Find your work email account listed there and click on it.
   • Click on Disconnect or Remove to remove the account.
3. Check Your Personal Data: After removing the account, check to ensure that all your personal files and applications are still intact.
4. Restart Your Device: Restart your Surface Pro to ensure all changes take effect properly.

By following these steps, you should be able to remove your work email without losing any personal data on your device.

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References:

• Remove your Windows device from management