Can't Switch from Local Acount to Microsoft Account

I'm updating a friends laptop. He has a local account I want to change to his Microsoft account. His MS login name is [myname]@gmail.com and he also has a Google account with the same user name but a different password.

He has MS Office 2016 which is logged in as his MS account above.

I can't change the local account to a MS account since I get this message - [myname]@gmail.com is here already. Another user on this device uses this MS account, so you can't add it here.

I am also unable to add a MS account from this screen in Settings:

I logged out of MS Office but get the same error. How to fix this without breaking the account?

Steve C said:

He has MS Office 2016 which is logged in as his MS account...

....I can't change the local account to a MS account since I get this message - [myname]@gmail.com is here already. Another user on this device uses this MS account, so you can't add it here.

...I logged out of MS Office but get the same error. How to fix this without breaking the account?

Just because you signed out of Office doesn't mean Windows no longer has that MS account remembered and ready to be re-used.

Go to Settings > Accounts > Email & accounts. You will see the MS account listed there. If you click on it you will be able to remove it.

Add and Remove Accounts used by other apps in Windows 10

Bree said:

Just because you signed out of Office doesn't mean Windows no longer has that MS account remembered and ready to be re-used.

Go to Settings > Accounts > Email & accounts. You will see the MS account listed there. If you click on it you will be able to remove it.

Add and Remove Accounts used by other apps in Windows 10

There are no other accounts shown on that page. I tried adding a new user with the same name [myname]@gmail.com but that was rejected since another user on the PC already has that name - but Control Panel / User Accounts only shows two local accounts.

PS C:\Users\David> Get-LocalUser | Where-Object { $_.Enabled -match "True"} | Select-Object Name,PrincipalSource
>>

Name PrincipalSource
---- ---------------
Admin Local
David Local

Steve C said:

....Control Panel / User Accounts only shows two local accounts.
PS C:\Users\David> Get-LocalUser | Where-Object { $_.Enabled -match "True"} | Select-Object Name,PrincipalSource

What does it show for all accounts, enabled or otherwise? Just use Get-LocalUser

Hello @Steve C,

For a bit more in depth information, Copy & Paste the following command into a CMD Prompt and press Enter.

Code:

PowerShell Get-wmiObject Win32_UserAccount ^| Sort-Object -Property Caption ^| Format-Table -Autosize ^
     @{L='User Account'       ;E={$_.Caption}}, ^
     @{L='Account Type'       ;E={$_.AccountType};A='Left'}, ^
     @{L='Disabled'           ;E={$_.Disabled};A='Left'}, ^
     @{L='Domain'             ;E={$_.Domain};A='Left'}, ^
     @{L='Local Account'      ;E={$_.LocalAccount}}, ^
     @{L='Lockout'            ;E={$_.Lockout}}, ^
     @{L='Password Changeable';E={$_.PasswordChangeable}}, ^
     @{L='Password Expires'   ;E={$_.PasswordExpires}}, ^
     @{L='Password Required'  ;E={$_.PasswordRequired}}, ^
     @{L='Status'             ;E={$_.Status};A='Right'} ^| ^
Out-String -Width 1000

I hope this helps.

Bree said:

What does it show for all accounts, enabled or otherwise? Just use Get-LocalUser

See below. I suspect the account dsidd is a dormant MS account having the same name. How to remove traces of it?

PS C:\Users\David> Get-localuser

Name Enabled Description
---- ------- -----------
Admin True
Administrator False Built-in account for administering the computer/domain
David True
DefaultAccount False A user account managed by the system.
dsidd False
Guest False Built-in account for guest access to the computer/domain
WDAGUtilityAccount False A user account managed and used by the system for Windows Defender Application Guard scen...

Hello @Steve C,

Steve C said:

I suspect the account dsidd is a dormant MS account having the same name.

Does this help ? . . .

Code:

PowerShell Get-wmiObject Win32_UserAccount ^| Sort-Object -Property Caption ^| Format-Table -Autosize ^
     @{L='User Account';E={$_.Caption}}, ^
     @{L='SID'         ;E={$_.SID}}, ^
     @{L='SID Type'    ;E={$_.SIDType};A='Right'} ^| ^
Out-String -Width 1000

Did you see my Post #5 ?

Paul Black said:

Hello @Steve C,



Does this help ? . . .

Code:

PowerShell Get-wmiObject Win32_UserAccount ^| Sort-Object -Property Caption ^| Format-Table -Autosize ^
     @{L='User Account';E={$_.Caption}}, ^
     @{L='SID'         ;E={$_.SID}}, ^
     @{L='SID Type'    ;E={$_.SIDType};A='Right'} ^| ^
Out-String -Width 1000

Did you see my Post #5 ?

Problem solved! I reenabled and logged into that dormant account dsidd which was using the same MS account. There was no data there and I don't know the history since it's not my PC. Changed that account to a local account and have now changed the account I want to use as a MS account. Beware of lurking disabled accounts! Will removing that account in Settings completely remove all traces of account dsidd?

Steve C said:

Problem solved! I reenabled and logged into that dormant account dsidd which was using the same MS account..... Changed that account to a local account and have now changed the account I want to use as a MS account. Beware of lurking disabled accounts! Will removing that account in Settings completely remove all traces of account dsidd?

Yes, deleting it in Settings should remove all traces.
Just check that you have at least one local account that's an administrator before you do.

Bree said:

Yes, deleting it in Settings should remove all traces.
Just check that you have at least one local account that's an administrator before you do.