EntraID error 70003

Question

Hi All,

As far as I understand this may happen because a device is found stale.

As I understand a device is found stale if no activity is detected within 180 days.
However, users regularly use devices so not sure why all of a sudden devices found stale.
What activity should be generated by users to prevent device deleting to happen.

Answer 1

Dear @DT_2026

Error 700003 indicates that your device has been removed or deleted from the organization’s MDM, and the user can’t access specific organizational resources. This error usually occurs due to connection issues or if the organization deleted the device. However, there are several other reasons responsible for why this error occurs. Some of them are:

• Unstable Internet Connection
• Errors with the User Account
• Corrupted Credential Data

However, there is no specific action you need users to perform daily. As long as the device is properly joined to Entra ID and regularly authenticating to Microsoft cloud services, the sign-in timestamp should update automatically.

Here are some suggestions to fix the " Your organization has deleted this device error 700003" error in Microsoft 365:

Step 1: Check Internet Connection

Restart your computer > Try connecting to another high-speed Wi-Fi or Ethernet network and try signing in again.

Step 2: Disconnect and Reconnect the Problematic Account

Go to Windows Settings > Accounts > Access work or school > Find the account that you can’t use and select Disconnect > Wait until the account is disconnected > Restart your device once done, log in with the account, and try signing into Microsoft 365.

Step 3: Clear Credential Cache Data

Press Start, type Credential Manager and hit Enter > Navigate to Windows Credentials > Here, locate credentials associated with Office 365 and click on Remove.

Step 4: Repair Office 365

Windows Settings > Apps > Installed apps > Select the Microsoft 365 or Office product you want to repair, click the ellipses, and select Modify > Select Online Repair  (The faster Quick Repair option is also available, but it only detects and then replaces corrupted files.) For reference: Repair an Office application

If possible, you can uninstall Microsoft 365 from your desktop and install it again from the official website. For reference: Download, install, or reinstall Microsoft 365 or Office 2024 on a PC or Mac

Step 5: Contact your Administrator

Lastly, contact your admin and see if they can help fix the Error 700003, Your organization has deleted this device. The error may lie on their end; if that’s the case, you can do nothing but wait. For reference: How do I find my Microsoft 365 admin?

If the device object was deleted, the admin can check Entra Admin Center > Identity > Devices > Audit Logs to determine who or what deleted the device and when. Additionally, they can verify whether the device still exists in Identity > Devices > All devices. For more information, admins can refer to Manage device identities using the Microsoft Entra admin center

I hope the information shared is helpful. If you have any questions or if I have misunderstood anything, please feel free to reach out. I'm looking forward to your update.

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Answer 2

A device is not marked stale simply because users are actively using it locally. The stale-device signal in Microsoft Entra ID is based on the device activity timestamp: ApproximateLastSignInDateTime.

That timestamp is updated when Microsoft Entra ID evaluates device activity during specific events:

1. A Conditional Access policy that requires a managed device or approved client app is triggered.
2. A Windows 10 or newer device that is Microsoft Entra joined or Microsoft Entra hybrid joined is active on the network.
3. An Intune-managed device checks in to the service.

Important details:

• The timestamp is not an audit signal and is not updated continuously.
• Microsoft Entra ID only replaces the timestamp when the new activity is more than 14 days newer, with a +/- 5 day variance.
• Because of that update window, a timestamp younger than 21 days should not be treated as stale.
• Some active devices can still have a blank timestamp.

So the activity that helps prevent a device from appearing stale is not just “user signs in to Windows every day.” It is activity that causes Microsoft Entra to evaluate the device, such as:

• accessing cloud apps where Conditional Access checks device state,
• the device being active as an Entra joined or hybrid joined Windows 10+ device,
• Intune check-in for Intune-managed devices.

If devices are being deleted unexpectedly, the likely issue is the cleanup policy or automation, not normal user activity alone. Microsoft guidance is to:

1. Review the device’s ApproximateLastSignInDateTime.
2. Confirm whether the device is Entra joined, hybrid joined, or Intune managed.
3. Check whether Conditional Access policies that require managed/compliant devices are actually being triggered.
4. Avoid using a stale threshold below the documented update window.
5. Prefer a process of disable first, wait through a grace period, then delete.

Also note the impact of disabling a device:

• Entra hybrid joined: users might still sign in to on-premises domain resources, but cannot access Microsoft Entra resources such as Microsoft 365.
• Entra joined: users cannot use the device to sign in.
• Mobile devices: users cannot access Microsoft Entra resources such as Microsoft 365.

If the concern is error 700003 specifically, that error is associated with a device object that Microsoft Entra no longer considers valid for authentication. A stale timestamp by itself does not automatically mean the device was deleted; deletion usually comes from an admin cleanup process or scripted cleanup.

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