remove user account

Question

I have a business standard account but cannot connect to it and instead I am shown on user as a user of a basic 365 account that i once had years ago and which should be obsolete

Answer 1

Hi @Bjornar Kristiansen,

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A Forum.

You're encountering a scenario when an old Microsoft 365 account is still cached on the device, even though you now have an active Microsoft 365 Business Standard subscription. This issue is usually local to the device, not the subscription itself

You can try the following steps to clear your credentials cache to ensure a clean reset for your device.

1. Please sign out your accounts from Office applications, then close all Office applications.   
2. Open File Explorer, paste the following path, and delete all files and folders. %localappdata%\Packages\Microsoft.AAD.BrokerPlugin_cw5n1h2txyewy   
3. In the Windows search bar, search for "Access Work or School".   
4. Check if you can see your school account in "Access Work or School".   

If you don't see it, please select Connect and add your business account.   

If you can see it, please select it and select Disconnect. After that, please click "Connect" and log into your account again to register the device.   

• Open the Control Panel on your PC.   
• Go to User Accounts > Credential Manager.   
• Under both Windows Credentials and Generic Credentials, look for any entries related to your Microsoft 365 business account and Office apps.   

• Select and remove those entries.   
• Restart your computer and try adding your account in Office again.  

Download OLicenseCleanup.vbs and run it. In this way, you can use this package to remove the license, clear the stored identities in the registry, and remove the credentials. You can follow this: Reset activation state for Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise - Microsoft 365 Apps | Microsoft Learn to reset activation state 

Restart your device.

Reopen Office apps and sign in with the correct account.

I hope this helps you resolve the issue quickly. I’m glad to assist and truly hope the information provided has been useful. Please feel free to reach out anytime if you need further assistance.  

If you find my post helpful, kindly consider marking it as the accepted answer. Doing so can assist others in the community who may have similar questions in finding solutions more quickly.  

Thank you for your kindness and contributions to the forum.

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Answer 2

The situation most likely involves being associated with more than one Microsoft 365 organization/tenant, with the old Basic tenant still linked to the same sign-in identity. The unwanted “basic 365” context must be left or the account removed from that organization so that sign-in and licensing align with the Business Standard tenant.

Use these steps depending on the scenario:

1. If the account is a guest or member in another organization (old Basic tenant)
   1. Go to https://myaccount.microsoft.com/ and sign in with the same email address being used for Business Standard.
   2. Select profile initials (top-right) > View account.
   3. Go to Manage organizations.
   4. For the obsolete/basic organization, select Leave organization.
   5. Confirm with Leave > OK.
   This removes the identity from that tenant so it no longer appears as a user there.
2. If the account was invited into a Microsoft 365 business subscription using a personal email (Gmail/Outlook/Yahoo/etc.)
   • The same Manage organizations > Leave organization flow applies. This is explicitly supported for users who were invited into a Microsoft 365 for business subscription and want to stop using that license or leave that business.
3. If the old Basic tenant is still active and the same user is the only admin there
   • Sign in to the admin center of the old Basic tenant (if possible) and delete the user from that tenant if it is no longer needed, following the standard delete-user flow:
     1. In the Microsoft 365 admin center, go to Users > Active users.
     2. Select the user.
     3. Choose Delete user and complete the wizard.
   • If the account is synchronized from on-premises Active Directory, the deletion must be done in local Active Directory instead; cloud deletion is blocked in that case.
4. If sign-in to the correct Business Standard tenant is blocked by MFA or access issues
   • If there is at least one other admin, that admin must reset the affected user’s sign-in/MFA or remove/re-add the user as needed.
   • If the affected user is the only admin and cannot access the tenant at all, contact Microsoft support by phone and request escalation to the Microsoft Data Protection team to regain access, then clean up the obsolete tenant membership as above.

After leaving the obsolete/basic organization and ensuring the user is only present in the Business Standard tenant, sign-in should reflect the Business Standard account and license rather than the old Basic account.

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References:

• Accept an email invitation to a Microsoft 365 for business subscription organization using an Outlook, Yahoo, Gmail, or other account (User)
• Delete a user from your organization
• Overview: Remove a former employee and secure data
• Step 7 - Delete a former employee's user account
• Close your Microsoft business account
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