M365 Changelog: Announcing account switching for Microsoft 365 web apps

MC338712 – In this age of hybrid work, where personal and work boundaries are collapsed, Microsoft 365 users wear multiple hats during their workday and need a way to quickly switch contexts in order to stay productive.

With the multi-account and account switching feature support, users will be able to sign into multiple work (Azure Active Directory, or Azure AD) and personal (Microsoft Account, or MSA) accounts on Microsoft 365 web apps in the same browser. This will also allow them to seamlessly switch between the accounts without having to sign out and sign back in again – while maintaining data integrity and privacy across different account/tenant boundaries. This feature currently exists in Microsoft native applications, other Microsoft web apps e.g., Azure Portal, Azure DevOps, and now Microsoft is bringing it to the Microsoft 365 web suite.

Note: This change only affects the following Microsoft 365 web apps for now: Office.com and other start pages, Outlook Web App (OWA), OneDrive for Business, OneDrive Consumer, SharePoint Online, Office on the web, and M365 Admin Center. More web apps will be added later.

Key Points

• Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID: 70801
• Timing: This feature will begin rolling out in early April and is expected to be fully available by late June.
• Roll-out: Tenant level. This rollout is limited to Microsoft 365 subscriptions in the standard Worldwide environment.
• Control type: User control
• Action: Review and assess 

How this will affect your organization:

Today, users in your organization can only work with a single account inside of a Microsoft 365 web app in a browser. In order to use a different account, they either must sign out, use an InPrivate window, or a different browser. This change will allow them to add a new Azure AD or MSA account using the Account Manager on the top right. And then they can perform a one-click switch between them using the same control. Upon a successful account switch, the page will refresh with content flowing from the new account.

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Even though the user can add multiple accounts in a web app, only one account will be active per app at a time. If a user ends up with two or more browser app tabs with different accounts, users will be notified to refresh the tabs with non-active accounts.

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As an admin, you should be aware that all the Azure AD and MSA signed-in accounts in a user’s browser will be available for switching in Microsoft 365 web apps.

Note: This is an additive functionality – other user actions present in the Account Manager, such as ‘Sign out’, will continue to work in the same manner.

What you need to do to prepare:

Notify your users about this change and update your training and documentation as appropriate.