Can't Login to Azure DevOps after swapping Microsoft Account (MSA) aliases

Question

Hello,

I am locked out of an Azure DevOps organization due to what appears to be a stale identity mapping/PUID caching issue after moving email aliases between different personal Microsoft Accounts (MSAs).
This DevOps organization is NOT connected to Entra ID

Steps that caused the issue:

1. I originally had access to the DevOps org using Account A (Primary alias: Email 1).
2. I was invited to the same org on Account B (Primary alias: Email 2) and signed up successfully, but assignments to tickets were lost.
3. I then removed Email 2 as an alias from Account B, and replaced it with Email 3.
4. I added Email 2 as an alias to Account A and made it the primary alias.
5. Attempting to log into DevOps with Account A (now using Email 2) resulted in an Error 500.
6. All emails was removed from the Organization and re-invited Email 2, Now can't access the organization with Error 401
7. When logging in to an email, I tried using Incognito sessions, no luck too

Any help would be appreciated,
Thanks

Answer 1

Hi @AhmedShemais-1233 ,

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A Platform! Thank you for asking your question here

Based on the steps performed, the issue appears to be related to Azure DevOps continuing to resolve the email alias to a previously associated Microsoft Account identity after the alias was moved between different personal Microsoft Accounts. This can result in authentication failures such as Error 500 during sign-in and Error 401 even after the user has been removed and re-invited to the organization. Similar Azure DevOps identity-related issues have been observed when identities, aliases, or account mappings change. [[Internal]...ntegration | Teams], [Azure DevO...rosoft Q&A | Learn.Microsoft.com], [learn.microsoft.com]

To troubleshoot further, please:

1. Sign out of all Microsoft accounts using the Azure DevOps sign-out process. [User canno...rosoft Q&A | Learn.Microsoft.com], [learn.microsoft.com]
2. Clear all browser cache and cookies related to Microsoft authentication. [User canno...rosoft Q&A | Learn.Microsoft.com], [learn.microsoft.com]
3. Open a new InPrivate/Incognito session and attempt to sign in again. [User canno...rosoft Q&A | Learn.Microsoft.com], [Troublesho...soft Learn | Learn.Microsoft.com], [learn.microsoft.com]
4. Access the organization directly and verify which Microsoft Account is being authenticated. [Troublesho...soft Learn | Learn.Microsoft.com], [learn.microsoft.com]
5. Ask the Azure DevOps Organization Administrator to verify that:
   • The user appears under Organization Settings > Users.
     • There are no duplicate user entries associated with the affected email address.
       • The invitation status is active and associated with the intended account. [Troublesho...soft Learn | Learn.Microsoft.com], [learn.microsoft.com]
       1. Confirm that the Microsoft Account currently signing in is the same account that now owns Email 2 as its primary alias. Azure DevOps access issues can occur when the same email address has been associated with multiple Microsoft Accounts over time. [learn.microsoft.com]

References:

• Microsoft Learn – Troubleshoot Azure DevOps connection and access issues. [learn.microsoft.com]
• Microsoft Learn – Troubleshoot access and permission issues in Azure DevOps. [Troublesho...soft Learn | Learn.Microsoft.com]

Please let us know the outcome of the above checks, especially whether any duplicate user identities are visible in the organization and whether the authenticated account matches the account currently owning Email 2.

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