Buying a business (or even just one of its computers) often means you inherit more than desks and devices—you inherit the old owner’s Microsoft 365 tenant. That tenant is the cloud “home” where Azure AD / Entra ID identities, Intune policies, BitLocker keys and licences live. If your PCs are still joined to it, the previous owner keeps a surprising amount of control—and that’s a risk you don’t want hanging over your head.
What Exactly Is a Microsoft 365 Tenant?
Think of it as a private, walled-garden version of Microsoft’s cloud. The tenant holds user accounts, security policies, device registrations and admin privileges. When a Windows 10/11 PC is Azure AD-joined during setup, it becomes part of that garden until it’s deliberately removed. See Microsoft 365 tenant overview.
Six Reasons to Cut the Cord (Now!)
- 🔒 The old owner—or anyone still listed as an admin—can remotely wipe, lock or reset your PCs in Intune at any time (Intune remote actions).
- 🎯 Licence headaches: duplicate device records consume 365 activations and can block new installs (device-based licensing limits).
- 👀 Privacy risk: BitLocker recovery keys, sign-in logs and compliance data are still visible to the other admins.
- ⚙️ Mystery policies & software: Intune or Group Policy settings you don’t control can keep pushing apps, registry tweaks and firewall rules.
- 📈 Audit & compliance costs skyrocket when devices sit in the wrong tenant during an ISO 27001 or cyber-insurance review (Microsoft ISO 27001 compliance).
- 🚀 Future migrations—or a clean resale—are far easier when every device already lives in your tenant (Windows Autopilot).
How to Tell If You’re Still Linked
Open Settings → Accounts → Access work or school. If you see an account from the previous business (often something.onmicrosoft.com) and the button says “Disconnect”, you’re still joined.
Best-Practice Steps to Unlink Properly
- Check you have a valid Microsoft 365 tenant and licences under your new company email.
- Back up user data (OneDrive, Desktop, local PSTs, etc.).
- Sign in as a local admin and Disconnect the work account (this unjoins Azure AD and removes Intune profiles).
- Reboot, then Join this device to Azure AD using your tenant credentials or enrol with Autopilot/Intune if you use them (Microsoft Entra device join).
- Re-add user profiles, Outlook, Teams and shared drives.
- Finally, delete or retire the old device record inside the previous tenant to close any remaining back doors (retire / wipe in Intune).
Need a Hand? PcRiot Can Do the Heavy Lifting
Unlinking sounds simple, but one missed step can lock you out of cloud files or leave loopholes a disgruntled admin could exploit. PcRiot can untangle Microsoft 365 messes for Perth homes and small businesses. We’ll back up your data, cut the old ties and have you safely enrolled in your own tenant—often the same day.
Call Lex on 0451 129 245 or hit the Contact page to book. Your technology and data should be yours, not the previous owners.