How to connect with my students in China on Teams with a personal MS 365 account

Susan Drummond 0 Reputation points
2026-09-10T19:03:14.5966667+00:00

I have used MS Teams for years to connect with my students in China. However, as of August 17, 2026, my students cannot connect to me anymore unless they can use a VPN. If I purchase a business MS 365 account, will my students in China be able to attend my meetings without having a MS account of their own and without the use of a VPN?

Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Teams for business | Other
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  1. AI answer

    2026-09-10T19:03:33.6133333+00:00

    Yes. The China availability change applies only to Teams for personal use with a personal Microsoft account. It does not apply to Microsoft Teams (work or school).

    Students in China can still join Teams work or school meetings in these ways:

    1. Join anonymously / as a guest in a browser
      • Open the meeting link.
      • Enter a name when prompted.
      • Join without signing in to a Microsoft account.
      • If the organizer uses a lobby, the organizer must admit them.
    2. Join with a work or school account
      • If they have one, they can use it instead of a personal account.

    Important limits from the available information:

    • The documented China restriction says Teams for personal use is unavailable in China on mobile already, and on desktop and web starting August 17, 2026.
    • Microsoft states this change does not impact joining Teams work or school meetings, which can be done anonymously or with a work or school account.
    • No documentation here states that a VPN is required for joining a work or school meeting from China.

    For meeting quality in China, Microsoft documents network optimizations for Teams meetings real-time media traffic for users in China, and notes that organizations may improve performance further with network design such as split tunneling for Teams real-time media traffic.

    References:

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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  2. Ryan-N 15,565 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-09-10T19:16:59.0566667+00:00

    Hi Susan,

    Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A forum.

    Based on the information I found, Microsoft has officially announced that Teams for personal use (Teams Free that uses a personal Microsoft account) will no longer be available in China on the web and desktop platforms starting August 17, 2026.

    You can refer to the following documentation:

    Microsoft Teams for personal use (also called Teams Free) availability changes in China | Microsoft…

    In this situation, there are three possible options:

    1. Continue using a VPN

    Your students can continue using a VPN to connect with you through Teams using their personal Microsoft accounts.

    1. Subscribe to a Microsoft 365 Business account and allow Anonymous Join

    You can subscribe to a Microsoft 365 Business account. After creating a Teams meeting and sending the meeting link to your students, you can ask them to join the meeting using Anonymous Join (without signing in to a Microsoft account).

    1. Subscribe to Microsoft 365 Business and provide accounts to your students

    You can subscribe to a Microsoft 365 Business account for yourself, then create user accounts for your students within your tenant and assign the appropriate licenses to those accounts.

    In this case, your students can sign in to Teams using Work or School accounts instead of personal Microsoft accounts.

     I hope this information is helpful.

    If you have any questions or need further assistance, please feel free to share them in the comments on this post so I can continue to support you.

    I look forward to continuing the conversation.

    If the answer is helpful, please click "Yes" and kindly upvote it.

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  4. EmilyS_726 27,470 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2026-09-10T23:56:14.02+00:00

    Susan,

    I definitely would NOT recommend your student to use VPN because it is technically against the laws in China to do so.

    Using personal account to sign into Teams is no longer possible in China, even if the personal account has a paid subscription. It is not whether it is paid or not that matters. What matters is the account type - if it is personal account, the answer is no.

    You certainly can buy them business license so they can continue using Teams, but that's not necessary.

    There's one very important detail here - see screenshot below.

    User's image

    You can add the students’ personal accounts to your business tenant as guest users. Once they are added, they can use their guest identities to communicate and collaborate with you within your organization.

    A simple way to think about it is this:

    Before, you were working inside your office building while each student was working from their own private home. You could still communicate with one another, but everyone remained in their own separate environment.

    Adding them as guest users is more like inviting the students into your office building so you can work together inside the same environment.

    Before they can enter, you first register their personal identity with your organization. When they arrive, security checks their ID against the information you provided and issues them a guest badge. That guest badge allows them to enter your building and access the areas and resources you have permitted them to use.

    In Microsoft 365, their personal account is essentially their ID, while the guest account in your tenant acts like the guest badge that gives them access to your organization.

    I think that's probably the best and cost effective way to set up.

    Just to make sure, you are using a business license, right? Are you the admin user for the business account?

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