Windows 10: How to link digital licence to Microsoft account on a local user account

I have a new computer with Windows 10 Pro. It is activated. I log in to the computer with a local account, let’s say username “pen” and password “paper”.

In activation settings, there is an option to link a Microsoft account to a digital licence. I did this and it said it was linked to the account. However it also said I would now log into the computer with this Microsoft account. It gave me the option to change this to a local account, so I re-entered the information for my username “pen” and password “paper”. However when I went back to activation settings, the digital licence was no longer linked to my Microsoft account.

I have rung Microsoft 5 times today about this and I keep getting disconnected so I hope you can help.

I already have 2 other computers set up by someone else and they user a local user Account & yet they have the digital licence linked to a Microsoft account so there must be a way to do this.

Can you please explain how I can link the digital licence to a Microsoft account but retain the local user account as I would rather do this? What happens if there is more than one user account on the computer? Currently there is a local user account with Admin rights, and also the default Admin account. Both currently use a username & password for logging in, not a Microsoft account.

:)

 

Link Microsoft Account to Windows 10 Digital License


I have done some interesting tests today.

I had a VM which had an activated version of Windows 10.

This VM1 was using an MS account, and was showing as activated with a digital licence, and linked to my MS account. I could see the device in my MS account as a device.

I created a new VM2, and used the activation troubleshooter, and as expected, I could see VM1. I did not actually go ahead to transfer the licence.

So far, nothing unusual. Now, here is the interesting bit.

I went back to VM1, and changed it to a local account. As expected, the device disappeared from my MS account.

Now I used the activation troubleshooter on VM2 again, and as I feared, it could not see VM1 anymore!

So I set VM1 back to an MS account, and guess what - I could see VM1 again both in my MS account and iv VM2 via the trouble shooter.

So the inescapable logic is that there is NOT a separate list of linked devices i.e. it is the SAME list as in the MS Account (attached devices).

The implication of this is quite important i.e. you must ALWAYS remain logged in via an MS account for the digital licence to remain linked. You cannot link it, then revert to a local account.

Brink - You might want to add a warning in main text accordingly (even as a possible caveat until somebody else verifies my conclusion).

Of course, you could revert to an MS account later but if your mobo fails whilst on a local account, you would be goosed.

Additional, it gets more complicated now if you have a dual boot pc with a home digital licence and a pro digital licence on same pc (how I am setup), as I have also discovered you can only link the last one setup to you MS account, even though both have a valid digital licence on the server.

The only way round this as far as I can see is to link each digital licence to a separate MS account. I do not know (yet) what would happen if you logged in to the other account ie cross matching.

 

Licence not linked to Microsoft Account

I got my Mum a new PC to replace her current one as it's been having some hardware issues. I changed her from a local account login to using her outlook.com account and that's fine but it doesn't seem to have linked her licence with her MS account, as when I login with her outlook.com account on the new PC it's not activated. Selecting "Troubleshoot" returns "We weren't able to activate Windows on this devices" and clicking "I recently changed hardware on this device" returns "We can’t find any devices linked to your Microsoft account that can be used to reactivate the device that you’re using at the moment. Make sure that you’re signed in with the same Microsoft account that you linked to the Windows 10 digital licence on this device, or try again later. "

Her old PC was upgraded from Windows 8 to Windows 10 and it says "Windows is activated with a digital licence linked to your Microsoft Account". At https://account.microsoft.com it shows two devices, her old PC with Windows 10 Pro v1903 and her new one with Windows 10 Pro v1909 and neither say activated but maybe it's not meant to say that there?

So what do I need to do to get Windows on her new PC activated?

 

Creating a MS account without losing Local account

Go to https://account.microsoft.com, click Create account and fill the form:





With a Microsoft account you can then use OneDrive and Office Online apps for free. You can also use built-in native Windows apps which require a Microsoft account like Mail, Skype Preview, People, Calendar and download apps from Windows Store.

See steps 3 to 5 in this tutorial to continue using local account as Windows sign-in account even when / if you download apps from store and / or use Windows apps requiring a Microsoft account, to avoid Windows user account converting to Microsoft account: Store - Use when Signing in to Windows 10 with Local Account - Windows 10 Forums

Other tutorials you might be interested in when you have created a Microsoft account:

• Microsoft Account Two-step Verification - Turn On or Off - Windows 10 Forums
• Microsoft Account - Link to Digital License on Windows 10 PC - Windows 10 Forums