Permanently remove cached Microsoft account - its preventing me from signing into my Microsoft 365

Question

Windows still has an old Microsoft account credential saved and will not let me use my proper login credentials to sign into and use Microsoft365

Answer 1

Hi! Sorry to hear that you’re having trouble with this situation. Could you please share more information about the issue? What happens when you try to sign in with your Microsoft account?

Please also share a screenshot of what you see, making sure to hide any personal information.

Answer 2

None of that worked

Answer 3

Follow these steps to permanently remove old cached Microsoft account information that is blocking Microsoft 365 sign-in.

1. Sign out of Office apps

• Open any Office app (Word, Excel, Outlook).
• Go to File > Account.
• Select Sign out for the current account.
• Close all Office apps.

2. Remove old Office/Microsoft 365 identities from the registry

Important: Editing the registry incorrectly can cause serious problems. Before making changes, back up the registry for restoration as described in the Microsoft documentation.

1. Open Registry Editor:

• Press Windows + R, type regedit, and select OK.

2. Delete cached Office identities (Office 2016/365 and later):

• In Registry Editor, browse to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\Identity
• Right-click Identity and select Delete.
• If Shared Computer Activation is enabled on the device, also remove: HKEY_USERS\<user_SID>\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\Identity To get the current user SID, run whoami /user in a Command Prompt.

3. (If using Office 2013) Clear older identity entries:

• In Registry Editor, browse to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Common\Identity\Identities
• Select the Office account(s) to remove and select Delete.
• Under the Identity key, open Profiles, right-click the same account(s), and select Delete.
• Close Registry Editor.

3. Clear cached credentials in Windows Credential Manager

1. Open Credential Manager:

• Open Control Panel.
• Select Credential Manager.
• Go to the Windows Credentials tab.

2. Remove old Microsoft/Office credentials:

• Find entries related to Microsoft 365, Office, or the old Microsoft account.
• Select each and choose Remove.

3. Sign out/in to Windows (or restart) to ensure changes take effect.

4. Remove OneAuth and IdentityCache folders (if Office still prompts for old account)

1. Close all Office apps and sign out of OneDrive if running.
2. In File Explorer, go to:
   • %localappdata%\Microsoft\OneAuth
   • %localappdata%\Microsoft\IdentityCache
3. Delete all folders inside these two locations.

5. Sign back in with the correct Microsoft account

• Open an Office app.
• Go to File > Account > Sign in.
• Enter the correct Microsoft 365 account credentials.

If Microsoft 365 still refuses the correct account, verify that the account has a valid license assigned (if using a work/school account, this must be done by a Microsoft 365 administrator in the Microsoft 365 admin center under Users > Active users > Licenses and apps).

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References:

• Error 0x8004dec5 when signing in to OneDrive
• Error AADSTS50020 when signing in to the OneDrive sync app
• "Sorry, another account from your organization is already signed in on this computer" in Office 2013
• Error 0x8004deef when signing in to OneDrive
• How to fix the issue with MS Office asking you to log in every time you open an Office app - Microsoft Q&A
• Do you know how to fix the issue where Outlook keeps prompting for a password even though credentials are saved - Microsoft Q&A
• How to remove Microsoft Sign In - Microsoft Q&A