When an employee leaves your organization or a Microsoft 365 account is no longer required, deleting the account might seem straightforward. However, there are a few important things to consider before clicking Delete user.
The user’s email, OneDrive files, licenses, and other organizational data may need to be preserved or reassigned first.
In this guide, I’ll walk you through how to safely delete a user from the Microsoft 365 Admin Center and explain what you should check before completing the deletion.
What You Should Do Before Deleting a Microsoft 365 User
Before deleting the account, determine what needs to happen to the user’s:
- OneDrive files
- Microsoft 365 license
Microsoft specifically recommends considering what you want to do with the user’s email and OneDrive content and whether you want to keep the license or stop paying for it. [learn.microsoft.com]
This is especially important when you’re removing an employee who has left your organization.
For a full employee offboarding process, Microsoft recommends additional measures such as preventing the former employee from signing in, preserving their mailbox where necessary, handling organizational data on mobile devices, forwarding their email or converting the mailbox, providing access to OneDrive/Outlook data, and then addressing licensing and account deletion.
How to Delete a User in Microsoft 365 Admin Center
Let’s go through the process step by step.
Step 1: Open the Microsoft 365 Admin Center
Step 2: Go to Active Users
From the Microsoft 365 Admin Center:
- Select Users from the navigation menu.
- Select Active users.
Step 3: Select the User You Want to Delete
Find the user account that you want to remove.
Select the user to open the account details.
Before proceeding further, double-check that you’ve selected the correct account.
Step 4: Decide What to Do With the User’s Data and License
This is one of the most important parts of the process.
On the Delete user page, review the available options for the user’s license, email, and OneDrive data.
Don’t rush through these options, particularly when you’re deleting the account of a former employee.
Preserve Important OneDrive Files
If the user stored organizational files in OneDrive, make sure you preserve any files the business still needs. Important files can be moved to another appropriate location or access can be given to another user.
Take care of important OneDrive data as part of the offboarding process rather than assuming that deleting the user immediately deletes everything associated with the account.
Preserve Important Email
If you need to retain the user’s email, deal with the mailbox before completing the account deletion.
If the account has already been deleted and is still within the recovery period, you may be able to restore the account first and then handle the email data appropriately.
Consider the User’s License
Think about whether the license needs to be reassigned or removed.
If the license is no longer required by this user, it may be available to assign to another user.
Also remember that removing a license assignment from a user and reducing the total number of licenses you’re paying for are not necessarily the same thing. If your goal is to reduce subscription costs, review your subscription and billing settings as well.
Step 5: Delete the User
Once you’ve reviewed the account and made the appropriate decisions about the user’s data, complete the deletion by selecting Delete user.
What Happens After You Delete a Microsoft 365 User?
Deleting the account does not necessarily mean everything disappears instantly.
A deleted Microsoft 365 user account can generally be restored for 30 days before the user’s data is permanently deleted. [learn.microsoft.com]
This recovery window can be helpful if an account is deleted accidentally.
However, you shouldn’t treat that recovery period as a replacement for properly backing up or transferring important organizational data beforehand.
What Happens to the User’s OneDrive Files?
If the user has important organizational files stored in OneDrive, move or preserve the files you want to keep.
The default OneDrive retention period for a deleted user’s OneDrive is 30 days. After that retention period, the deleted user’s OneDrive is moved to the site collection recycle bin, where it is retained for 93 days. [learn.microsoft.com]
Because OneDrive retention settings can be configured, check the retention settings that apply to your organization instead of relying only on the default.
Important: Deleting a User Is Not the Same as Offboarding an Employee
If the account belongs to an employee leaving the company, simply deleting the user should not necessarily be your entire offboarding procedure.
A proper offboarding process may include:
- Preventing the former employee from signing in
- Saving mailbox content when required
- Handling organizational data on the employee’s mobile device where applicable
- Forwarding email or converting the mailbox to a shared mailbox when appropriate
- Giving another employee access to relevant OneDrive and Outlook data
- Handling the former employee’s Microsoft 365 license
- Deleting the former employee’s user account [learn.microsoft.com]
Following an established offboarding procedure can therefore involve considerably more than simply deleting the account.
Important Note About Shared Mailboxes and Email Forwarding
Be particularly careful if you’ve already converted the user’s mailbox to a shared mailbox or configured email forwarding.
If you’ve converted the account to a shared mailbox or configured email forwarding, don’t simply delete the account. These functions can still depend on the account, and deleting it may interfere with the setup. [learn.microsoft.com]
This is an important distinction if the departing employee’s email address needs to remain active for customers, suppliers, or other contacts.
What If Your Organization Uses On-Premises Active Directory?
There’s an important exception for organizations with synchronized identities.
If your organization synchronizes user accounts to Microsoft 365 from an on-premises Active Directory environment, you need to manage deletion and restoration of those synchronized accounts from the local Active Directory environment rather than directly from Microsoft 365. [learn.microsoft.com]
So, before troubleshooting an account that cannot be removed from the Microsoft 365 Admin Center, determine how your organization’s identities are managed.
Can You Restore a Deleted Microsoft 365 User?
Yes, provided you’re still within the recovery period.
You have 30 days to restore a deleted user account before the user’s data is permanently deleted. [learn.microsoft.com]
This can save you from an accidental deletion, but you should still exercise caution before removing any account.
Best Practices When Removing Microsoft 365 Users
Here are some practical recommendations to follow:
1. Review the account before deleting it
Verify that you’ve selected the correct person and determine what organizational information may still be associated with the account.
2. Protect important business data
Determine whether the user’s email and OneDrive files need to be transferred or retained before completing the deletion.
3. Determine what should happen to the license
If the license is no longer required by the departing user, determine whether it should be reassigned to someone else or handled as part of your organization’s licensing process.
4. Don’t delete a shared mailbox account without checking first
If you’ve converted the user’s mailbox to a shared mailbox or configured email forwarding, verify the setup before deleting the underlying account. [learn.microsoft.com]
5. Use a proper offboarding procedure
For departing employees, account deletion should be considered within your wider security and data-retention process.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long can I restore a deleted Microsoft 365 user?
You generally have 30 days to restore a deleted Microsoft 365 user account before the user’s data is permanently deleted. [learn.microsoft.com]
Do I need administrator access to delete a Microsoft 365 user?
Yes. You need the appropriate user-management administrative permissions to delete another user’s account.
What happens to a user’s OneDrive after I delete them?
The default retention period for a deleted user’s OneDrive is 30 days. After that retention period, the OneDrive is moved to the site collection recycle bin, where it is retained for 93 days. [learn.microsoft.com]
Can I give someone else access to a former employee’s files?
Yes. Providing another employee access to relevant OneDrive and Outlook data can be part of the offboarding process. [learn.microsoft.com]
Where do I find users in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center?
Navigate to Users > Active users in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center. [learn.microsoft.com]
Should I delete an account after converting it to a shared mailbox?
Don’t simply delete the account after converting its mailbox to a shared mailbox. The account can still be required for the shared-mailbox configuration. [learn.microsoft.com]
Conclusion
Deleting a Microsoft 365 user takes only a few steps, but safely removing an account requires more consideration.
Before completing the deletion, review the user’s email, OneDrive files, and license. When the user is a departing employee, also consider the wider offboarding actions necessary to protect company data and maintain access to important information.
If you prefer to watch the process instead of reading it, check out my video tutorial, How to delete a user in Microsoft 365 Admin Center, where I walk through the process step by step. [youtube.com]
If you found this tutorial helpful, subscribe to my blog and YouTube channel for more practical Microsoft 365 administration tutorials.
