How do I get my default desktop and Teams credentials to be from a local (work) account instead of my personal (Microsoft) account?

Robert Rosenbaum 21 Reputation points
2024-12-04T14:58:25.0333333+00:00

fine with my work email address. The user on the start menu showed the local account

I then added my personal Microsoft account into Outlook and added my personal OneDrive to the system. They system is now using my personal account as the default account, meaning when I click on the start menu and the user it is showing my personal email and Office 365 account.

The desktop is now my personal account/OneDrive desktop, not my work account/OneDrive desktop.

Even though it looks like my work account is logged into Teams, Teams is now using my Microsoft credential for one of my customer Teams accounts and is therefore forcing me to manually log into that account every time Teams starts.

How can I get the local account desktop to be the default and how do I get Teams to use my work credentials for all of my Teams accounts

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A Microsoft customizable chat-based workspace.
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OneDrive: A Microsoft file hosting and synchronization service.Management: The act or process of organizing, handling, directing or controlling something.
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Accepted answer
  1. JimmyYang-MSFT 55,141 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor
    2024-12-05T07:47:39.25+00:00

    @Robert Rosenbaum

    To set your default desktop and Microsoft Teams credentials to a local (work) account instead of your personal Microsoft account, you can follow these general steps:

    For Desktop Credentials:

    1. Sign Out of Your Personal Account:
    • Go to Settings > Accounts.
    • Under Your info, select Sign in with a local account instead and follow the prompts.
    1. Add Your Work Account:
    • Go to Settings > Accounts > Access work or school.
    • Click + Connect.
    • Enter your work account credentials and follow the prompts. 3. Set Your Work Account as Default:
    • Go to Settings > Accounts > Email & accounts.
    • Under Accounts used by other apps, select your work account and set it as the default.

    For Microsoft Teams:

    1. Sign Out of Your Personal Account:
    • Open Microsoft Teams.
    • Click on your profile picture (or initials) in the top right corner.
    • Select Sign out.
    1. Sign In with Your Work Account:
    • After signing out, you'll be brought to the sign-in page.
    • Enter your work email and follow the prompts to log in.
    1. Clear Teams Cache (if needed):
    • Sometimes, Teams might remember your previous account. To clear the cache:
    • Close Teams completely.
    • Open File Explorer and go to %appdata%\Microsoft\Teams.
    • Delete all files and folders within this directory.
    • Restart Teams and sign in with your work account.

    By following these steps, you should be able to use your work account as the default for both your desktop and Microsoft Teams.


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  1. Michael Taylor 55,676 Reputation points
    2024-12-04T15:09:09.7433333+00:00

    I have no idea what you mean by your local desktop account. The desktop on a machine is just a folder structure specific to that machine. It is tied to the profile you logged in as. When you log in you should be logging into your work account.

    For Windows 11, local accounts are all but gone. MS wants you using an MS account and it is hard to use a local account. If you created an actual local account, not tied to an MS account, and then added an MS account it'll probably prefer the MS account. However if this is a company computer then most likely your work MS account is the "local" account.

    You can then use Accounts to add a personal MS account as well if you want. Once you do that then OneDrive can optionally start up another instance and you would have access to both account's OneDrive. Outlook works basically the same as you can add additional email accounts to Outlook.

    Teams will use whatever account you logged in with. If you don't want one of your accounts to use Teams then go into Teams and remove the account. Note that you cannot remove organization-managed accounts from Teams for some bizarre reason, that requires a network admin.

    1 person found this answer helpful.

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