The Microsoft 365 Developer Program has long been a great resource for developers building solutions on the Microsoft 365 platform. Today, we’re thrilled to share some exciting updates that make onboarding easier, environments more capable for Microsoft 365 Copilot developers, and development even faster.
Enhancements to subscription and tenant management
- Automated onboarding for ISV & MAICPP partners: We’ve streamlined and automated the onboarding experience for eligible MAICPP and ISV partners! Now, developers can request their developer sandbox directly from the Microsoft 365 Developer Program portal using their corporate email ID. Eligible members will see ‘Set up E5 subscription’ right on their dashboard to request the sandbox, no manual steps required. This makes getting started faster and smoother than before.
- Support for Microsoft 365 Copilot license purchases: All new Developer Program eligible members will receive sandboxes that support add on license purchases including Microsoft 365 Copilot directly within their environment, with rollout planned around Microsoft Ignite 2025 (November 18-21). This means developers can now experiment, build, and test Microsoft 365 Copilot extensions in a real, production-like setup. They will have full flexibility to configure their tenant, connect data sources, and bring their Copilot scenarios to life, all within the Developer Program sandbox. Once the initial rollout is complete, later this year, existing program members will also be able to get access to commercially enabled sandboxes.
More enhancements coming soon
- Visual Studio subscription linking: In response to your feedback, we’re introducing a new self-service capability that lets developers link a new Visual Studio subscription to their existing Developer Program tenant. This is especially useful if your previous visual studio subscription has expired. This will prevent your sandbox from being deleted and ensure uninterrupted access to your environment.
- Microsoft 365 Copilot Starter Pack: We’re also excited to announce a new Starter Pack, designed to help you build your first Microsoft 365 Copilot extension, in matter of some minutes. The starter pack will automatically install all the prerequisites needed for Microsoft 365 Copilot extensibility development, giving you a ready-to-use environment and saving valuable setup time.
What’s next?
Thank you for your continued engagement and feedback, it’s helping us shape the next chapter of the Microsoft 365 Developer Program. We are just getting started on this journey and your feedback continues to be welcome to ensure relevance of our investments. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to add comments below and we will get back to them as soon as possible.
How do I release my cell phone number from my previous employer that’s linked to their tenant? I can’t create a new developer account since my personal cell number is tied to the account I setup at that company?
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This all sounds very interesting, but I still cannot find a way to renew or recreate my subscription after I let my previous one expire. I tried deleting my profile, then wait for 2 months and make a new profile, or delete my profile and create a new one and then wait for two months – the deleted subscription is still there and apparently prevents me getting a new one. Can this be fixed, Microsoft?
When there will be the way for the tenant owner (Microsoft personal account) in the Developer program to reset the account MFA when the global Admin account locked out? The Improved tenant ownership and management. https://devblogs.microsoft.com/microsoft365dev/exciting-updates-coming-to-the-microsoft-365-developer-program/
Right now there is no link from the Developer dashboard and the generated tenant from this Microsoft 365 Developer program. Supposed this feature would be released from September 2025 as the announcement from April 2025.
This is a great opportunity, and the ease of access is great.
Hi, I´m already a member of the Developer Program program. Will there be a way to have support add on license purchases including Microsoft 365 Copilot for my tenant, which is not new?
I got my developer tenant via my Visual Studio license. If not, is there a workaround in my case?
Thanks
Thank you for all the things you’ve done. One question: Will there be a tool to migrate existing MS365 developer program sandbox tenant to commercial enabled sandbox tenant?