Microsoft 365: Accounts for People Who Leave U-M

Overview

  • U-M Microsoft 365 (OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams, Excel, PowerPoint, and Word) accounts are provided to all active faculty, staff, students, and Type-1 and Type-2 sponsored affiliates on the Ann Arbor, Dearborn, and Flint campuses.
  • You will lose access immediately after your active affiliation at the university changes (i.e., after graduation, after the last day of employment, etc.), and you will not receive a notification before your access ends.
    • This means alumni, retirees, and individuals who are no longer affiliated with the university do not have access to U-M Microsoft 365.
  • This document explains what steps to take before you leave the university and lose access to your U-M Microsoft 365 account.
It is important to understand the university affiliations you have to help determine when access to certain U-M computing services will end and how to prepare. For more detailed information on what happens when someone leaves U-M, refer to Leaving U-M.

Notes: 

  • U-M Microsoft 365 accounts remain intact for emeriti faculty who retain all standard computing services. For details, refer to SPG 201.80 | Emeritus/Emerita Titles.
  • @umich.edu and other UMICH email addresses cannot be used to create personal Microsoft 365 accounts. You must create personal M365 accounts using a non-UMICH email address.
  • All files stored within U-M Microsoft 365 OneDrive and SharePoint (including Teams meeting recordings) will be permanently deleted.
    • In addition, any Office 2016 software installed while you were actively affiliated with the university will only allow you to view documents in read-only mode.
    • You will not be able to edit Office documents again until you have a personal paid Microsoft 365 license. Or, you can use a personal Google account to access and edit the documents.

Before You Leave U-M

Before your affiliation with U-M changes:

If you have many files in OneDrive, you may want to use the OneDrive sync client. Remember to turn off, deactivate, and uninstall the OneDrive sync client after moving your files.

Uncooperative Departures

An uncooperative departure is when the affected U-M person cannot be relied on to assist with their departure.

If the departure involves an uncooperative employee, the best practice is to involve ITS User Advocate as soon as possible by emailing [email protected].

With User Advocate involvement, U-M Microsoft 365 administrators can assist in:

  • Preserving the contents of an account.
  • Moving U-M Microsoft 365 files and folders from one account to another.
  • Deactivating the U-M Microsoft 365 account access sooner than the automated process.
  • Download university data from the person’s account if time is critical.
Last Updated
Monday, November 9, 2026