How to Remove Old Work or School Accounts from a Mac

Overview

A Mac may continue to display an old work or school account after an account change, a Microsoft 365 migration, a password change, or a transition to another organization.

An old account or cached credential may cause:

• Repeated Microsoft 365 sign-in prompts
• The wrong account appearing in Microsoft 365 apps
• OneDrive asking you to sign in repeatedly
• Microsoft Teams or Outlook displaying an old account
• Authentication errors after changing accounts or passwords
• OneDrive reporting that you are syncing a different account

This guide explains how to identify and remove an old Microsoft work or school account from macOS.

In this article

• 1. Check Internet Accounts 
• 2. Sign Out of Microsoft 365 Apps 
• 3. Check Microsoft Edge Profiles 
• 4. Check OneDrive 
• 5. Clear Old OneDrive Credentials from Keychain 
• 6. Restart Your Mac 
• 7. The Old Account Still Appears 
• 8. Information to Provide to BEMO Support 
• 9. Related Microsoft Resources 

1. Check Internet Accounts

First, check whether the old account is still configured in macOS.

1. Open System Settings.
2. Select Internet Accounts.
3. Review the accounts listed.
4. Locate the old work or school account.
5. Select the account.
6. Remove the account if it is no longer needed.
7. Follow the prompts to confirm the removal.

Back to top

2. Sign Out of Microsoft 365 Apps

The old account may remain signed in within Microsoft 365 applications.

Open Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, and complete the following steps:

1. Select your profile picture or account name.
2. Review the accounts currently signed in.
3. Sign out of the old account.
4. Close all Microsoft 365 applications.
5. Reopen the application.
6. Sign in using your current work or school account.

If necessary, also check Outlook, Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, and Microsoft Edge for the old account.

Back to top

3. Check Microsoft Edge Profiles

If the old account appears in Microsoft Edge:

1. Open Microsoft Edge.
2. Select your profile icon.
3. Select Manage profile settings.
4. Identify the profile associated with the old account.
5. Sign out or remove the old profile if it is no longer required.
6. Restart Microsoft Edge.

Back to top

4. Check OneDrive

If the old account appears specifically in OneDrive, check which account is currently connected.

1. Select the OneDrive cloud icon in the macOS menu bar.
2. Select Help & Settings.
3. Select Preferences.
4. Open the Account tab.
5. Verify which account is connected.
6. If the old account is connected, select Unlink this Mac.

Unlinking your Mac from OneDrive does not delete files stored in the cloud. The local OneDrive folder is temporarily disconnected from the cloud account.

After unlinking the old account:

1. Open OneDrive again.
2. Sign in with your current work or school account.
3. If OneDrive detects an existing folder, carefully verify the folder before choosing to use it.
4. Allow OneDrive time to complete the synchronization.

Back to top

5. Clear Old OneDrive Credentials from Keychain

Use this section only when the issue is specifically related to OneDrive retaining an old account or cached credentials.

1. Close OneDrive.
2. Open Spotlight Search.
3. Search for Keychain Access and open it.
4. Use the search box in Keychain Access to search for: 
   OneDrive
5. Locate the following entry: 
   OneDrive Cached Credential
6. Confirm that you are troubleshooting an old OneDrive account before continuing.
7. Delete OneDrive Cached Credential.
8. Close Keychain Access.
9. Open OneDrive again.
10. Sign in with the correct work or school account.

Back to top

6. Restart Your Mac

After removing the old account:

1. Close all Microsoft applications.
2. Restart your Mac.
3. Open the application where the old account previously appeared.
4. Sign in with your current work or school account if prompted.

Confirm that:

• The old account no longer appears.
• Microsoft 365 apps use the correct account.
• Outlook and Microsoft Teams open normally.
• OneDrive is connected to the correct account.
• OneDrive is syncing without errors.
• Microsoft Edge uses the correct work profile.

Back to top

7. The Old Account Still Appears

If the old account continues to appear after completing the previous steps, do not delete additional Microsoft or macOS Keychain entries.

Microsoft 365 applications use Keychain to store authentication information. Removing the wrong credentials or changing Keychain permissions may cause repeated sign-in prompts or additional authentication errors.

At this point, contact BEMO Support for assistance.

Back to top

8. Information to Provide to BEMO Support

Please provide the following information:

• Your current work email address
• The old email address that continues to appear
• A screenshot of the account or error
• The affected application, such as Outlook, Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, Microsoft Edge, Word, or Excel
• Your Mac name
• Your macOS version
• A brief description of when the old account appears
• Confirmation of whether the Mac is managed by your organization

This information will help BEMO Support determine whether the old account remains in an application, OneDrive, Keychain, or another authentication component.

Back to top

9. Related Microsoft Resources

• Clear OneDrive Cached Credentials 
• Fix OneDrive Sync Problems on Mac 
• Office for Mac Repeatedly Requests Keychain Access 
• OneDrive Shows “You're Syncing a Different Account” Error 

Back to top