Microsoft Infrastructure deactivates accounts due to inactivity.

What qualifies an account to be considered active?

An account qualifies for "active" status if any these statements are true:

• UW NetID has a current employee or student affiliation
• UW NetID password has changed in the last year
• NETID AD or Entra ID have recorded a logon in last year
• The user is licensed for Office 365 (see eligibility)
• A delegated OU admin or other business partner vouches that that account provides an active resource that does not logon, e.g. an Exchange resource mailbox

More details follow in the sections below.

Check if an account is active

Departmental IT staff and other employees can check if an account or group of accounts is active.

How to make an account active

Any of the following actions can be used to make an account active.

Change the account password

An account is active if the password has been changed in the last year. Passwords can be changed via manage UW NetID.

Log on to AD

An account is active if it has had an AD logon in the last year. Either of these actions will result in an AD logon:

• Logon to a computer joined to NETID AD, e.g. from a Managed Workstation computer or a computer joined to a delegated OU
• Access a resource protected by NETID AD, e.g. a SQL Server or a Windows file share (note that not all campus Windows resources are protected by NETID AD)

Assign an Office 365 license

An account is active if it has an Office 365 license, see eligibility. Other accounts can be provision with an Office 365 license if there is a legitimate business need.

• To provision a sponsored UW NetID, start here.
• To provision a shared UW NetID, start here.

Add the account to a delegated OU exception group

Each delegated OU in NETID AD has an exception group used for accounts that should to be considered active even if they don't satisfy the other criteria. These groups have a name of the form u_msinf_delou_<ou-name>_accountsthatdonotlogin. Check with your departmental IT staff to determine if your unit has a delegated OU. If so, they can add exceptions. Refer to Getting Started: Delegated OUs to learn more about delegated OUs.