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Applications listed in Enterprise applications

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The Quickstart Series on Application Management walks you the basics. In it, you learn how to view all of the apps using your Microsoft Entra tenant for identity management. This article dives a bit deeper into the types of apps you'll find.

Why does a specific application appear in my all applications list?

When filtered to All Applications, the All Applications List shows every Service Principal object in your tenant. Service Principal objects can appear in this list in a various ways:

  • When you add any application from the application gallery, including:

    • Microsoft Entra ID - Enterprise applications – Apps added to your tenant using the Enterprise applications option on the Microsoft Entra admin center. Usually apps integrated using the SAML standard.
    • Microsoft Entra ID - App registrations – Apps added to your tenant using the App registrations option on the Microsoft Entra admin center. Usually custom developed apps using the OpenID Connect and OAuth standards.
    • Application Proxy Applications – An application running in your on-premises environment that you want to provide secure single-sign on to externally

  • When signing up for, or signing in to, a third-party application integrated with Microsoft Entra ID. One example is Smartsheet or DocuSign.

  • Microsoft apps such as Microsoft 365.

  • When you use managed identities for Azure resources. For more information, see Managed identity types.

  • When you add a new application registration by creating a custom-developed application using the Application Registry

  • When you add a new application registration by creating a custom-developed application using the V2.0 Application Registration portal

  • When you add an application, you’re developing using Visual Studio’s ASP.NET Authentication Methods or Connected Services

  • When you create a service principal object using the Microsoft Graph PowerShell module.

  • When you consent to an application as an administrator to use data in your tenant

  • When a user consents to an application to use data in your tenant

  • When you enable certain services that store data in your tenant. One example is Password Reset, which is modeled as a service principal to store your password reset policy securely.

Learn more about how, and why, apps are added to your directory, see How applications are added to Microsoft Entra ID.

Next steps

Managing Applications with Microsoft Entra ID