Windows 10: Licensing Confusion between work and personal accounts

Discus and support Licensing Confusion between work and personal accounts in Windows 10 Ask Insider to solve the problem; I'm using Microsoft Office products on my personal laptop. I'm signed in to this laptop using my personal email address. The only places on this device... Discussion in 'Windows 10 Ask Insider' started by /u/yabrennan, Aug 5, 2020.

  1. Licensing Confusion between work and personal accounts


    I'm using Microsoft Office products on my personal laptop. I'm signed in to this laptop using my personal email address. The only places on this device where I sign in via my work credentials are Microsoft Teams (I unchecked the option to allow my organization to manage this device) and the Edge Browser where I access work documents via Office online.

    When I open an application like Excel, It shows that I'm logged in via my personal email but I'm given the enterprise subscription associated with my work account. Why would my work licensing be provided on my personal laptop? I'd prefer to keep work/personal files completely separate. If I'm using this license with my personal account on a non-work laptop, are my files going to be somehow linked between work and non-work accounts?

    Thanks

    submitted by /u/yabrennan
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    :)
     
    /u/yabrennan, Aug 5, 2020
    #1
  2. Vesao Win User

    Remove account

    I suggest you backup your personalized files first before removing the account.
    To delete an account, follow these steps:
    1. Press WIN + X keys and click Command Prompt (Admin) from the menu.
    2. Type the following command and press Enter. Replace test with the name of your sister's account. Code:
     
    Vesao, Aug 5, 2020
    #2
  3. confusing with microsoft account

    So this is an issue with the Office 365 creating a OneDrive account separate from your Personal one, correct?

    It was confusing because in the beginning you said it pertained to everything and not just OneDrive. If this is still true, then tell me what else is affected by this split between your Business and Personal? Your Office Files? Where and how?

    Unless you can show me how this split affects anything about Windows and isn't just a Office 365 issue, then I suggest you post again in the correct category, Office 365. If you want I will move this thread there for you, since I am a Moderator.
     
    Greg Carmack - Windows MVP, Aug 5, 2020
    #3
  4. Licensing Confusion between work and personal accounts

    How do I manage the link between a Windows 10 license and a Microsoft account?

    This is an answer to your first question: See which Microsoft account the license is linked to.

    There is no direct way to show to which account a digital license is bound to. The account device list of the Microsoft account cannot be trusted: If I add another (non admin) user with a Microsoft account to my machine, the name of the computer will be added in the device list of the new account, too. Certainly, the digital license of my computer is still bound to my (admin) account and not to the new user.

    Therfore you have to check the list of digital licenses in every Microsoft account you own.

    The only method I know to list digital licenses bound to a Microsoft account is to try to transfer them to a new, "unknown" hardware. "Unknown" means, that on this hardware Windows 10 has not been installed before. "Try" means just to begin the transfer process until the last step and not to finish the activation process.

    This new, "unknown" hardware can be a real hardware (new mainboard) or a virtual hardware (e.g. VMware virtual machine). It's important to note that the fingerprint of this hardware shall not exist in the database of Micrsoft's activation servers. Otherwise the hardware will be activated automatically and you won't get a chance to transfer a different digital license to it because it already has a digital license. The transfer process won't get offered.

    My method for Windows 10 b1607 is as follows:

    • Create a new virtual machine (VM)
    • Install Windows 10 without any product key (the edition does not matter, Home or Pro, x86 or x64)
    • Try to activate the VM
    • Enter the windows activation dialog where it is possible to transfer your digital licenses to this VM ("Troubleshoot", "I changed hardware on this device recently")
    • Enter your Microsoft account credentials of the account which you want to check
    • Now you get a list ("Reactivate Windows", "Select this device from below") of devices which are bound to your Microsoft account and which have a digital license and which are in the same "device class" as your current device (the VM). This device list is the first part of the whole list of digital licenses of the account. "Device classes" are e. g. laptops, standalone PCs or virtual machines. In my opinion virtual machines are separated in different device classes, too (VMware, Oracle, etc.)
    • To see the second part of the list of your digital licenses you have to list all devices which do not match the current VM, i.e. which belong to a different device class. Click on the link at the bottom of this page: "See other devices linked to your Microsoft account". Now you get the second part of the list of your digital licenses which belong to devices that cannot be transferred ("Device type does not match", Edition does not match")

    This whole process seems to be reliable in respect to list my own digital licenses which I bound to different Microsoft accounts. However, some devices of the second list ("We can't reactivate Windows from these devices" ) migrated after some days to the first list ("devices which can be activated"). But this does not matter as the device entries stay the same.

    And of course there is no guarantee that devices which are shown in the first list can be reactivated with the device with which you are currently checking the license. E.g. when I check with my virtual machine I also get some digital licenses in the first list which belong to a different device class (e.g. standalone PC). I am sure that a transfer from a license like this to a VM would not work in reality.
     
    Thorsten Albrecht, Aug 5, 2020
    #4
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Licensing Confusion between work and personal accounts

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