Cannot grant access to contributor

Question

Hello team, I cannot grant access to my contributor on the Microsoft for Startup program. Also where can I submit a request support instead of posting Q&A? Thanks!

Answer 1

Hi Emily Nghiem,

Thanks for reaching out in Microsoft Q&A forum,

I cannot grant access to my contributor on the Microsoft for Startup program. This problem usually happens for one of these reasons:

• You’re not the portal admin. Only the Startup Admin (the person who completed onboarding, or whoever currently has admin/owner permission in the portal) can invite and manage team members. Others cannot grant roles or permissions in the program.
• The person you want to add lacks a LinkedIn account. The Microsoft for Startups portal requires everyone to sign in with a LinkedIn-linked Microsoft account to join the team.
• They need Azure RBAC separately. Even after being invited as a member in the portal, they won’t have contributor-level access to resources (like VMs, subscriptions, resource groups) until an Azure subscription owner assigns them the Contributor (or Owner) role in the Azure portal under IAM.

Fixed steps:

1. Confirm you’re signed in as admin at: https://portal.startups.microsoft.com
2. Click the gear icon > Team Members > Invite a team member. Enter their email and send the invite.
3. After they accept:
   • Have a subscription owner go to the Azure portal > select the subscription > Access control (IAM) > Add > Add role assignment.
   • Choose Contributor, select the user, and assign it to the subscription or specific resource group.

If you’re not the admin, ask your company’s Startup Admin (the person who onboarded) to add the user and assign Admin permissions if needed.

Also where can I submit a request support instead of posting Q&A?

You can open a program support ticket directly in the portal, not on Q&A:

Steps to submit a support request:

• Sign in to the Microsoft for Startups Portal at: [https://portal.startups.microsoft.com/]]()
• Click the “?” icon (top-right corner).
• Select Submit a Support Ticket.
• Add error messages, screenshots, or any error details, then submit.

This routes your request to the Microsoft for Startups support team instead of the public Q&A forum.

For program/portal access problems (like being unable to grant roles, login issues, or membership problems), you must use this “Submit a Support Ticket” flow in the portal.

Reference:

• Microsoft for Startups Portal (how to manage team, admin, and support tickets): https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-for-startups/mfs-portal

Kindly let us know if the above helps or you need further assistance on this issue.

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