Unable to sign into Azure Subscription

Question

Unable to sign into Azure Subscription

Tee 5

My previous azure subscription has expired and gone beyond the renewal date. I want to create a new subscription but I cannot sign into portal.azure.com . I get a sign in error

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AADSTS90072: User account '' from identity provider 'live.com' does not exist in tenant 'Default Directory' and cannot access the application 'PII'(Azure Portal) in that tenant. The account needs to be added as an external user in the tenant first. Sign out and sign in again with a different Azure Active Directory user account

I can't sign into entra.microsoft.com either

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AADSTS50020: User account '' from identity provider 'live.com' does not exist in tenant 'Microsoft Services' and cannot access the application 'PII'() in that tenant. The account needs to be added as an external user in the tenant first. Sign out and sign in again with a different Azure Active Directory user account.

How can I create a new subscription?

Rukmini 36,695 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-11T00:23:50.8533333+00:00
Hello Tee

Based on your description, it appears that you have created a Microsoft personal account, not an Azure work or school account. This is why you’re encountering errors when trying to access the Azure Portal.

Issue: When users try to login to Azure portal using their personal Microsoft Account (Outlook, Hotmail..) they are getting AADSTS160021 or AADSTS16000 or AADSTS50020 errors.

Reason: When signing in to the Azure portal with a personal Microsoft account, you are automatically connected to the Microsoft Services tenant (Tenant ID: f8cdef31-a31e-4b4a-93e4-5f571e91255a).

You can verify this by navigating to Microsoft Entra ID > Overview, where you’ll see this Tenant ID.

This default tenant does not have a directory associated with it, which you can confirm by going to the Settings blade. As a result, you cannot perform administrative actions such as:

Creating users or groups

Registering enterprise applications

Managing resources

In short, it’s a system tenant with restricted capabilities, and administrative access is not granted by default.

Solution: To fully utilize the Azure portal, you need to create your own tenant instead of relying on the Microsoft Services tenant.

Follow these steps:

Open an in-private/incognito browser window (to avoid automatic sign-in via SSO).

Navigate to https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/free/ to sign up for a free Azure account.

During the setup, you’ll be prompted to create a new directory (tenant). Once completed, you will become the Global Administrator of this new tenant, giving you full access to manage Azure resources.

Let me know if you need help with the sign-up process or configuring your new tenant.

If you already have an existing tenant and still unable login, please share your email address over private message which used to login into Azure Portal.
Tee 5 Reputation points

2026-03-11T01:04:29.76+00:00

Hi Rukmini,

Thanks for the response. I tried the steps you mentioned to create a free azure account (and same is the case for pay as you go account). As soon as I put in my email I get the sign in failed error
Rukmini 36,695 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-11T01:06:36.73+00:00

Hello Tee

Please check private messages

1 answer

Your answer

Tee 5 Reputation points

2026-03-11T01:04:29.76+00:00

Hi Rukmini,

Thanks for the response. I tried the steps you mentioned to create a free azure account (and same is the case for pay as you go account). As soon as I put in my email I get the sign in failed error
Rukmini 36,695 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-11T01:06:36.73+00:00

Hello Tee

Please check private messages

Answer 1

Rukmini 36,695 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hello Tee

This issue will be resolved by signing in using the tenant-specific Azure portal URL and the tenant ID I have provided over the private messages tab:

HTTP

https://portal.azure.com/<tenant-ID>

Once you accessed the portal through the tenant-scoped URL, the tenant became active again and you will be able to manage resources without further issues.

And the tenant will be restored successfully.

If this answers your query, do click and Yes for was this answer helpful, which may help members with similar questions. If you have any other questions, let me know in the “comments” and I would be happy to help you.

Rukmini 36,695 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-12T18:59:08.34+00:00

Hello Tee If this answers your query, do click and Yes for was this answer helpful, which may help members with similar questions. If you have any other questions, let me know in the “comments” and I would be happy to help you.

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Unable to sign into Azure Subscription

1 answer

Your answer