Unable to access my Microsoft account or Outlook email account

Question

Today, I went to access my email account but my email required me to sign-in. When I tried signing-in I received a message "Selected user account does not exist in tenant 'Microsoft Services' and cannot access the application 'xxxx' in that tenant. The account needs to be added as an external user in the tenant first. Please use a different account."

I am also unable to sign-in to my Microsoft account.

Answer 1

Hi @Tan Lo

Thank you for posting your question in the Q&A Forum. 

We understand how frustrating it can be when you are unable to access your email as expected.

I noticed that an automated assistant has already shared some technical information with you. To help simplify things and move forward, I would like to check a couple of details with you first, as this will help us determine the best way to assist:

• Could you please confirm if this is a personal Microsoft account (e.g., @outlook.com, @hotmail.com) or a work/school account provided by an organization? This is important because the troubleshooting steps and support paths differ significantly between the two.
• Additionally, if you haven't already, could you try signing in via a Private/Incognito browser window? This simple test helps us determine if the issue is related to a temporary conflict with saved browser data or if it's something more specific to the account itself.

The next steps often depend on these specific details, so please let us know what you find when you have a moment. We are happy to look into this further with you once we have a bit more information.

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Answer 2

The error indicates that the account being used is a personal Microsoft account (Outlook/Hotmail/Live) that does not exist as a user in the Microsoft Entra (Azure AD) tenant that the application belongs to. Personal Microsoft accounts cannot administer or access resources in a tenant unless they are explicitly invited as guest users.

To resolve this:

1. If the goal is to access a work/school resource or the Microsoft Entra admin center:
   • Sign out completely from all Microsoft accounts in the browser.
   • Sign in again using the correct work or school account that belongs to the tenant (for example, the account issued by the organization), not a personal Outlook/Hotmail account.
   • If access is still required with the personal account, ask the tenant administrator to add that personal account as an external (guest) user in the tenant and grant it access to the application.
2. If the goal is to have a tenant to manage with a personal Microsoft account:
   • Create an Azure account and a new tenant so that a directory is associated with the account:
     1. Go to the Azure account website and select Try Azure for free.
     2. Complete the sign-up process.
     3. A new tenant is created and the account becomes Global Administrator in that tenant.
3. If there are also sign-in issues with the Microsoft account itself (for Outlook.com/Hotmail email):
   • Use the Sign-in Helper to diagnose common sign-in problems.
   • If the username or password has stopped working, use Recover your account at https://account.live.com/password/reset as described in the “My username and password have stopped working” article.
   • If the account still cannot be accessed, follow the guidance under “I can't sign in to my Microsoft account” to reset the password, look up the account, or troubleshoot verification code issues.

These steps address both the tenant error (AADSTS50020) and standard Microsoft account sign-in problems.

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References:

• Error AADSTS50020 - User account from identity provider does not exist in tenant
• I can't sign in to my Microsoft account
• My username and password have stopped working
• How to sign in to Outlook.com