Error logging in to a Microsoft account I'm already logged in to

Question

I have a problem that is confusing me.

I am already logged in to my Microsoft account and want to find my BitLocker recovery key.

According to this Microsoft support article, Finding your BitLocker recovery key in Windows, the key can be retrieved from my Microsoft account at the following URL: myaccount.microsoft.com/device-list

If I try to navigate to that URL, even though I am already logged in, I am redirected to a Microsoft login page where I am unable to successfully log in. I always get an error related to my username being unknown.

Login URL I'm redirected to:

https://login.microsoftonline.com/common/oauth2/v2.0/authorize?client_id=8c59ead7-d703-4a27-9e55-c96a0054c8d2&scope=openid%20profile%20offline_access&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fmyaccount.microsoft.com%2F&client-request-id=72517e82-9593-437e-ab65-6d82f7805df4&response_mode=fragment&response_type=code&x-client-SKU=msal.js.browser&x-client-VER=2.28.1&client_info=1&code_challenge=gWMCUzbutGYr2PL-1ijhmrtQF4gGeE-7CF1B9VAnVcY&code_challenge_method=S256&nonce=1a3db4e6-c262-4aef-9dfe-ee3d151a6a10&state=eyJpZCI6IjMzZGQyMWRhLTdiNGQtNGYyNi1hODAzLTk1MWFhNGI4MzVmYiIsIm1ldGEiOnsiaW50ZXJhY3Rpb25UeXBlIjoicmVkaXJlY3QifX0%3D

If I return to microsoft.com I am still logged in.

It appears that Microsoft has 2 separate login databases, one at microsoft.com and the other at microsoftonline.com.

Why can't I log in?

 

Answer 1

Account Type

The distinction between the sites is the account type:

1. Links using myaccount.microsoft.com are for organization (Work / School) accounts.
2. Links that incorporate account.microsoft.com are for personal accounts.

Each time you switch from one site's URLs to the other,

1. your login session from one can't be used for the other, hence the login prompt;
2. your user account from one isn't valid on the other, hence the login error if you don't have both types of accounts.

Each site maintains its own URLs. For example, to see a list of devices attached to your account, depending on the type, the URL would be:

• Personal Account
  https://account.microsoft.com/devices *
• Organization Account
  https://myaccount.microsoft.com/device-list

 

---

* Notes on site URLs and Redirection

Microsoft seems to have made some effort to redirect organization account users when they try to access URLs intended solely for personal account users, whereas no such effort appears to have been made in the other direction.

In the case where a personal URL supports account redirection, instead of a failed account login, when the organization account type is detected, the organization user is successfully authenticated and, regardless of the original URL, is redirected to their main "Account Overview" page: myaccount.microsoft.com.

The following personal account URL's all support account redirection in this manner:

• https://account.microsoft.com
• https://account.microsoft.com/privacy
• https://account.microsoft.com/devices
• https://account.microsoft.com/billing
• https://account.microsoft.com/billing/orders
• https://account.microsoft.com/profile

The following personal account URLs do not support account redirection:

• https://account.microsoft.com/security
• https://account.microsoft.com/rewards

As mentioned previously, I have yet to find a single organization URL that will perform any similar account redirection which makes the error in the support document that much more egregious.

The screenshots below are examples of the errors generated when failing to authenticate using a valid Microsoft account but on the wrong site (assuming no redirection):

_{Error authenticating Personal Account on Organization Site}

_{Error authenticating Organization Account on Personal Site}