office 365 fails device registration

Question

office 365 fails device registration how do I fix it

Answer 1

Hi @Mark Goff,

Thank you for reaching out regarding this matter.  When Microsoft 365 fails during device registration, it’s usually related to the device’s join/registration state or tenant policies. To narrow this down, could you please clarify the following?

1. Are you running Windows 10 or 11, and is the edition Home, Pro, or Enterprise? 
2. Is this a work or school account (usually provided by your organization) rather than a personal Microsoft account? 
3. Does the error occur while signing into an Office application (such as Outlook or Word) or when adding an account via Settings > Accounts > Access work or school? 
4. Was this device previously joined to a different organization or tenant? 
5. Is this device intended to be managed by organizational policies or compliance requirements? 

In the meantime, you can safely try the following while gathering the details above: 

1. Check device registration status. 
   • Open Command Prompt as administrator and run: dsregcmd /status  
   • Note whether AzureAdJoined shows YES or NO. This helps determine if the device is properly registered with the organization. 
2. Disconnect and re-add the work account. 

• Go to Settings > Accounts > Access work or school. 
• If a work account is listed, select it and choose Disconnect this account. 
• Restart the device, then return to the same screen and select Connect to add the account again.
  

1. Confirm the device isn’t disabled in the tenant. 
   • If you have an IT admin available, please ask them to check whether the device exists and is enabled in the organization’s device list. 
   • A disabled or previously deleted device record can block registration. 

If the issue continues after these checks, it would be helpful to share the answers to the probing questions above (without posting any sensitive information). That will allow the scope to be narrowed further and determine whether tenant-level settings or device state are involved. 

Looking forward to your response.

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Answer 2

Use the following steps to troubleshoot device registration failures when activating Microsoft 365 Apps on Windows.

1. Confirm the device is enabled in Microsoft Entra ID
   1. Sign in to the Azure portal.
   2. Go to Microsoft Entra ID > Devices.
   3. Search for the device (or the user) and check if the device is disabled.
   4. If found as disabled, select the device and choose Enable.
   5. If the device was deleted, re-register it from Windows:
      • Go to Settings > Accounts > Access work or school.
      • Select the work/school account and choose Disconnect.
      • Select Connect and sign in again to register the device.
2. Make sure device join/registration is allowed in Entra ID
   1. In the Azure portal, go to Microsoft Entra ID > Devices > Device settings.
   2. Ensure Users may join devices to Microsoft Entra ID is set to All.
   3. Ensure Users may register their devices with Microsoft Entra ID is set to All.
3. Check Microsoft Entra join status from the device
   1. Open Command Prompt as administrator.
   2. Run:

            dsregcmd /status
      

   3. In the output, check AzureAdJoined:
      • If YES, the device is joined; try activation again.
      • If NO, follow the leave/rejoin steps below.
4. Leave and rejoin Microsoft Entra ID (if join is broken)
   1. In elevated Command Prompt, run:

            dsregcmd /leave
      

   2. Run dsregcmd /status again and confirm AzureAdJoined = NO.
   3. Restart the device.
   4. After restart, open elevated Command Prompt and check dsregcmd /status again.
   5. If it is still not joined, use PsExec to join as system:
      • Download PsExec from the Sysinternals site (per documentation).
      • In elevated Command Prompt, run:

                psexec -i -s cmd.exe
        

      • In the new system Command Prompt, run:

                dsregcmd /join
        

      • Run dsregcmd /status and verify AzureAdJoined = YES.
   6. Try Office activation again.
5. Force device recovery sign-in to Entra ID If registration is stuck, run in elevated Command Prompt:

      dsregcmd /forcerecovery
   

   Then complete the sign-in dialog, sign out of Windows, sign back in, and retry activation.
6. Check Mobile Device Management (MDM) enrollment (if required by policy)
   1. Use dsregcmd Tenant Details as described in the MDM troubleshooting article to see if MDM is configured.
   2. If not enrolled and MDM is required, an admin must configure automatic MDM enrollment in Entra ID and Intune, then enroll the device using the Windows MDM enrollment steps.
7. Clear local token broker data (if activation still fails)
   1. In File Explorer, go to:
      • %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.AAD.BrokerPlugin_cw5n1h2txyewy\AC\TokenBroker\Accounts
      • Select all files and delete them.
   2. Then go to:
      • %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.CloudExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\AC\TokenBroker\Accounts
      • Select all files and delete them.
   3. Restart the device.
   4. Run the Microsoft 365 sign-in troubleshooter from the documented link and then try activation again.
8. If using device-based licensing
   • In the Microsoft 365 Apps admin center, go to Health > Licensing and confirm the device is not failing device-based activation.
   • Ensure the device is joined to Microsoft Entra ID and added to the group that has the device licenses assigned.
   • Wait up to an hour after adding the device to the group, close Office apps, and reopen them.

If device registration and Entra join are healthy and activation still fails, follow the additional Microsoft 365 activation network and sign-in troubleshooting steps referenced in the documentation.

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References:

• Microsoft 365 Apps activation error: “Your organization has disabled this device”
• Microsoft 365 Apps activation error 0xCAA50021
• Troubleshooting device-based licensing for Microsoft 365 Apps
• Device-based licensing for Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise
• Microsoft 365 Apps activation error 0x80070005
• Microsoft 365 Apps activation error: “Trusted Platform Module malfunctioned”