Personal account getting stepped on my work account

Question

Personal account getting stepped on my work account

Brenda Shore Kaiser 20

I have a personal account and use it on my computer. Unfortunately, I also have to check a work account - email - sometimes. For some reason, however, it takes priority over my machine and prevents me from accessing my own apps. Specifically, I need to use Forms on my personal account. I did everything I could to download - went Incognito - and it still attached to this work account. Now everything it tied to the wrong email. Is there anything I can do to resolve this issue?

Thanks, Brenda

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Answer accepted by question author

Killian N 4,145 Independent Advisor

Hi

Based on your description, it appears that your work account may be taking precedence over your personal Microsoft account on your device or within your browser session. This can happen when both personal and work/school accounts are signed in on the same computer. Microsoft Forms may automatically use the account that is currently authenticated. 

To migrate this issue, you can try the following steps:

Sign out of all Microsoft accounts in your browser.
Clear your browser cookies and cache, particularly for Microsoft sites such as Office.com, Forms.office.com, and Microsoft sign-in pages.
- Launch the browser, and press Ctrl + Shift + Delete to open the Clear browsing data utility. 
- Now, select All time from the Time range dropdown menu, tick the checkboxes for Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files, then click on Clear data towards the bottom. 
Open a new InPrivate/Incognito browser window.
Navigate directly to https://forms.office.com.
When prompted, select Use another account and sign in with your personal Microsoft account.
If the issue persists, check Settings > Accounts > Access work or school on your Windows device and verify whether the work account is connected there. If appropriate, disconnect the work account.
Consider creating separate browser profiles for your personal and work accounts to prevent account conflicts in Microsoft 365 applications.

Here’s a resource that provides more insight:

Please note that this information is shared solely for your convenience. The referenced sites are not managed or maintained by independent advisors, and therefore I cannot guarantee the accuracy, security, or suitability of any software or content available on those sites. I recommend reviewing all information carefully and ensuring you fully understand any potential risks before following suggestions from the provided links.

I hope this information is useful. Additionally, as other users have raised similar concerns and may not be aware of where to share their feedback, I hope this response helps clarify the situation and suggests a potential next step. Highlighting this information can make it more visible to others in the community who may be facing the same issue, making it easier for them to find guidance and contribute their feedback as well.

Thank you again for your time and for raising this important usability concern. If you have any further questions or need additional assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

I look forward to your thoughts on this.

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Killian N 4,145 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-07-20T02:41:00.8666667+00:00

Hi

I hope everything is going well on your end.

I am following up on the support thread that has been discussed and wanted to check whether the information shared in my previous response helped address the issue you were experiencing.

If you are still encountering any issues or have additional questions, please feel free to reach out at any time. I would be happy to assist further as needed.

Additionally, ensuring that everything is functioning as expected and that your experience remains smooth is a top priority.

Thank you again for your collaboration throughout the troubleshooting process. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Warm regards,
Brenda Shore Kaiser 20 Reputation points

2026-07-20T12:02:26.26+00:00

I have looked at your response multiple times - this is basically what I did to set up Forms the first time, and I still have this issue. Obviously, this is a pain in the neck as once I do all that you say, I lose absolutely everything I have and have to rebuild. I am still putting my world back together from doing this.

When I downloaded Forms, I signed in, very specifically, with my personal account so I have no idea how or why it is grabbing a business account.

I know that this is not a question, but I am sharing frustration. There has got to be a better way to have access to my own stuff. The irony is I actually pay for my personal license and don't care about the business license, that is not mine anyway. I did not realize that this was a problem until I realized that the responses to my Form was going to go to a business email that I do not want to use.

Any interim help would be appreciated - like, how can I get the email to be my personal email?

Thanks, Brenda

1 additional answer

Your answer

Killian N 4,145 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-07-20T02:41:00.8666667+00:00

Hi

I hope everything is going well on your end.

I am following up on the support thread that has been discussed and wanted to check whether the information shared in my previous response helped address the issue you were experiencing.

If you are still encountering any issues or have additional questions, please feel free to reach out at any time. I would be happy to assist further as needed.

Additionally, ensuring that everything is functioning as expected and that your experience remains smooth is a top priority.

Thank you again for your collaboration throughout the troubleshooting process. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Warm regards,
Brenda Shore Kaiser 20 Reputation points

2026-07-20T12:02:26.26+00:00

I have looked at your response multiple times - this is basically what I did to set up Forms the first time, and I still have this issue. Obviously, this is a pain in the neck as once I do all that you say, I lose absolutely everything I have and have to rebuild. I am still putting my world back together from doing this.

When I downloaded Forms, I signed in, very specifically, with my personal account so I have no idea how or why it is grabbing a business account.

I know that this is not a question, but I am sharing frustration. There has got to be a better way to have access to my own stuff. The irony is I actually pay for my personal license and don't care about the business license, that is not mine anyway. I did not realize that this was a problem until I realized that the responses to my Form was going to go to a business email that I do not want to use.

Any interim help would be appreciated - like, how can I get the email to be my personal email?

Thanks, Brenda

Answer 1

Brenda Shore Kaiser 20

I have looked at your response multiple times - this is basically what I did to set up Forms the first time, and I still have this issue. Obviously, this is a pain in the neck as once I do all that you say, I lose absolutely everything I have and have to rebuild. I am still putting my world back together from doing this.

When I downloaded Forms, I signed in, very specifically, with my personal account so I have no idea how or why it is grabbing a business account.

I know that this is not a question, but I am sharing frustration. There has got to be a better way to have access to my own stuff. The irony is I actually pay for my personal license and don't care about the business license, that is not mine anyway. I did not realize that this was a problem until I realized that the responses to my Form was going to go to a business email that I do not want to use.

Any interim help would be appreciated - like, how can I get the email to be my personal email?

Thanks, Brenda

Killian N 4,145 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-07-21T01:57:25.9466667+00:00
Hi Brenda,

What you're describing does not sound like normal behavior, especially if you intentionally created the Form while signed in with your personal account.

One important thing to know is that the email that receives Form responses is determined by the account that owns the Form. Unfortunately, there isn't a setting to simply change the recipient email address on an existing Form from a work account to a personal account.

A few things you can check before rebuilding anything:

Open the Form and select Share.

Look at the owner information or the account shown in the upper-right corner of Forms.

If the owner is your work account, then the Form was likely created under that account, even if it wasn't obvious at the time due to account switching behind the scenes.

As an interim workaround, if the Form is owned by your work account, you can still access the responses directly within Forms and export them to Excel. If you specifically need email notifications sent to your personal address, you may need to recreate the Form while ensuring only your personal Microsoft account is signed into Forms at the time of creation.

As independent advisor, I unfortunately do not have the ability to directly modify or disable features within From. However, I strongly encourage you to submit your ticket directly to Microsoft. This ensures that your concerns are seen by the engineering team, who can evaluate and improve the process to avoid causing further inconvenience to users.

Since you have checked all the steps, but the issue still persists, I believe Microsoft Support Engineering should step in to investigate further. Please reach out to them directly.

Ticket Support: In the Microsoft 365 Admin Center>Support>Help & Support. You can raise support ticket. Please note that you’ll need a work account with admin rights to sign in to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.

Phone Support: Microsoft provides customer service phone numbers based on your region. You can find the appropriate contact number here.

I sincerely apologize once again for the inconvenience you’ve experienced, and I truly appreciate your continued support and engagement with Microsoft.

Best regards,
Brenda Shore Kaiser 20 Reputation points

2026-07-22T12:05:27.29+00:00

Thank you. Sadly I am in the loop from h___. I cannot get into the Help center because it will not accept my personal account; the work account continues to step on me. The only phone number I could find just gives me online support. I cannot get to a person for help. Is there anything I can do?
Brenda Shore Kaiser 20 Reputation points

2026-07-22T17:18:38.21+00:00

THANK YOU to all who responded and provided good advice. This has been quite difficult, but I think it is finally resolved. The hardest part is having to be fairly computer literate to get to the help needed for your computer. Through this path I have engaged with some customer service reps that thought I was a blooming idiot and just wanted to pass me along to someone else. I did however find one CS rep who did help and I am very appreciative.

Again, thanks. Brenda
Killian N 4,145 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-07-23T10:13:59.3166667+00:00

Hi Brenda,

Thank you for providing the update on the status of your case.

It is great to hear that the issue has been resolved. If you found the response helpful, marking it as "Yes" would be greatly appreciated. This helps surface the solution for other community members who may be searching for similar guidance and, in turn, supports a more informative and collaborative forum experience.

Thank you again for your time and cooperation throughout the resolution process. Should any questions or concerns arise in the future, please feel free to reach out. I would be happy to assist, and the moderators in the Microsoft Q&A forum remain available to provide additional guidance as needed.

Thank you for your continued engagement and for contributing to the Microsoft Q&A community.