Windows 10: Windows 11 – Azure AD Joined User Disappeared After Deleting a Local Admin Account

StartFragmentI'm looking for insights into an issue we encountered on a Windows 11 machine involving local and Azure AD user accounts. The system was joined to Azure AD and had multiple local administrator accounts. While logged in as one local admin, we used Control Panel > User Accounts > Manage Accounts to delete another unused local administrator account, selecting the option to delete files. Shortly after the deletion, we noticed that an Azure AD-joined user account which was previously visible and in active use had disappeared from the user list in Control Panel. It no longer app

:)

 

Join Azure Ad or Local domain

We have recently migrated to Office 365 with a hybrid AD setup. I am setting up a new laptop for a user, first one since the migration, and in the original setup it had me join the Azure AD. However, I usually set these laptops up to join the local domain so the users can access the file shares. The shares are accessed via Mapped Drives from Group Policy, and being joined to the Azure AD did not map these drives. When I go to join the laptop to the local domain, I get an error saying "The device is joined to an Azure AD. To join an Active Directory domain, you must .... disconnect your device from your work or school." So there's no way to be joined to the Azure, even though its syncing with my local AD? I want the best of both worlds. What's the best way of doing that? I feel if I unjoin from the Azure AD I'm kind of going backwards, but they need access to those local file stores. Any brilliant workarounds out there? Thanks!

 

Convert online Microsoft Azure account to local account?

Unfortunately, you cannot switch an Azure AD account to a local or Microsoft account. You need to create a new user account first, make it an admin account, then disconnect from your organizational account, restart and sign in to new local account.

All software remains installed and intact but all user specific customizations and settings are lost, new local user starting from scratch with default settings.

The whole process step by step:

1.) Copy your personal data (documents, images etc.) from current Azure AD user profile folder to respective folders in C:\Users\Public

2.) In Settings > Accounts > Other people, add a new local user (see Option One in this tutorial) and change it's account type to Administrator (tutorial)

3.) Check that everything is correct, that you will see your Azure AD account under Work or school users (yellow highlight), and your new local admin account under Other people (blue highlight):





4.) Select Access work or school on left pane, select the connected Azure AD domain, click Disconnect:





5.) Click Yes:





6.) Click Disconnect:





7.) Enter the username and password for your new local admin account, click OK:





8.) Click Restart now:





9.) When back on desktop with your new local admin account, move personal data from Public folder and its subfolders you backed up in step 1 above to respective subfolders on new user profile folder. If the old Azure AD user profile folder is still present in Users folder, it can be deleted now.

That's it.

 

Azure AD account login option disappears from system after Windows update

Some of our clients are joined to Azure AD on their laptops running Windows 10 using Single Sign-On.

(Settings > User Accounts > Work or School Account > Connect > Join to Azure AD directory instead > Office 365 email address)

Azure AD sign-in on their laptops was running fine unless they ran windows update on their system and restarted their system. The Azure AD account disappeared completely from their sign-in option on the laptop. We had to use the local account (backup account)
to sign in to their laptop, restore Windows to a previous build in order to fix the issue.

Thoughts?