Stay ahead of the game with the latest updates to the Microsoft 365 Developer Program
February 2024 Update: At this time, we are limiting access to the Microsoft 365 developer subscription to developers and/or organizations with active subscriptions to Visual Studio Enterprise. The following Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program participants can contact their Microsoft partner to be added to an allow list to receive access to a developer subscription:
- ISV Success
- Solutions Partner
- Specialization/Expert
- Managed Partners
- Premier or Unified Support plan members
If you do not currently qualify for a developer subscription, you can purchase a single license Microsoft 365 plan and configure it for development. You also have the option to purchase a Copilot license as an add-on. Members who currently have a subscription are not affected by this change.
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The Microsoft 365 Developer Program is an excellent resource for developers looking to create solutions for the Microsoft 365 platform. The program offers a Microsoft 365 E5 developer subscription, access to sandbox environments, and a range of developer tools and documentation. Additionally, members have the opportunity to provide feedback to help shape the future of the platform.
Program updates
We value your trust. As part of the Microsoft Secure Future initiative, we’ve made the following improvements to the Microsoft 365 Developer Program.
Updated service plans. The Microsoft 365 developer subscription now includes service plans that were previously missing. For a complete list of the service plans that are included, see Product names and service plan identifiers for licensing.
Geographic limitations. For technical and security reasons, the Microsoft 365 Developer Program only supports a subset of countries/regions listed here: Microsoft 365 International Availability. We review our supported country list regularly. If you are unable to sign up from your country or region, then it means we do not support it at this time.
More frequent renewal checks. To offer a higher level of service to our valued customers, we are shortening the time between renewal checks. Renewal depends on meeting developer activity requirements and following our terms and conditions. This subscription should never be used for production purposes. Data can be removed, and membership suspended if we find violations of the terms and conditions.
Removal of the Microsoft Office 365 E3 Developer offer. We’re finishing the process for removal of the original Office 365 E3 developer offer. If you are one of our first developer program members and you are still using the old subscription, you must migrate to a new paid plan before April 1, 2024. Compare Microsoft 365 Plans | Microsoft 365.
Early access to new and improved services. Have you been caught off guard by a feature update or code change in your production tenant? The developer program is switching to preview mode. Coming soon, you can preview features in the Microsoft 365 Developer E5 subscription. This change will give you early access to updates and new features to test existing solutions, plus an opportunity to provide feedback to the product team to help reduce disruption before the change is generally available.
For more information about the Secure Future Initiative, see the following:
- Announcing Microsoft Secure Future Initiative to advance security engineering | Microsoft Security Blog
- Microsoft Built-In Security – Secure Platforms | Microsoft
Microsoft 365 developer research panel
We are creating a research panel of Microsoft 365 developers who can help guide us and influence the program development. By joining, you can help us determine and prioritize upcoming features, share your challenges, review design prototypes, and offer suggestions for program improvement. When you join the panel, we’ll reach out to you to share designs and a variety of studies to get your feedback.
As part of the research panel, you will receive invitations to participate in user research studies. You can decide how often you want to participate and which studies to do. You can leave the panel at any time.
Join the Microsoft 365 developer research panel today!
Follow us on X (Twitter) / @Microsoft365Dev and subscribe to our YouTube channel to stay up to date on the latest developer news and announcements.
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156 comments
Hi Kelly,
I would like some clarification on the statement ” At this time, we are limiting access to the Microsoft 365 developer subscription to developers and/or organizations with active subscriptions to Visual Studio Enterprise.”
Does this mean that everyone in the tenant needs the VSE subscription, or would it be possible for someone with a Visual Studio Professional subscription to create a sandbox if someone else in their tenant has a VSE subscription?
I am asking this because this is the case for me, I have a VSP subscription but other employees have a VSE subscription in the tenant. I am able to go through the process of creating the E5 subscription until the very end, after the phone number verification, where I get the following error;
“We can’t set up your subscription right now. The service might be unavailable. Please try your request again.
MS-CorrelationId: 00000000-9d7e-474b-89e0-4ae9d9808dcc
Code: 50003”
Is there some sort of outage? I am able to see the setup wizard for setting up an E5 subscription up to this point so I would assume that I should be able to create the sandbox and move passed this error message.
Unfortunately, after several days, I am still unable to get passed the above error message.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
This is a different error. I checked with eng and we had a service issue. It should be resolved. Please try again. If it persists, email dxipsup@microsoft.com with your tenant ID or name, the error message, and details.
Thank you, it has been resolved!
Kelly Bowen-McCombs,
To be perfectly honest, I have been working in IT for over 2 decades. In that time, I don’t think I have ever seen a decision that is as frustrating as this one.
Microsoft biggest problem has always been complexity. This past 5 years working with Microsoft have been a true innovation as Microsoft started to embrace open source tools..
The developer program is not just a single Microsoft products.
The developer program was the primary tool that allow non-IT people to figure out what they needed–to communicate between non-IT and IT. This is because directly tied to the training and certification program for Microsoft. The developer program IS THE SCHOOL HOUSE for Microsoft Learn. Where are kids supposed to learn without a school?
I don’t think I can support people using any Microsoft product if there is no longer the Microsoft learning program as it is today.
I have deadlines to meet and my co-workers have people to literally save out of literal burning fires or rescue from a truck driver on the next Clark Memorial Bridge. If we cannot use microsoft learn anymore, then I will have to move on to other platforms.
Thanks @Michael Lane. I agree with you. Collecting these comments to push for change and working to find a path forward.
What kind of single license Microsoft 365 plan do I need to change this license to a developer license?
It can’t be changed. You would have to do all the configuration yourself unfortunately.
I’ve been using the developer sandbox for years. Was just in it last week doing some testing, and today when I logged in, looks like my account has gone to inactive and pending deletion. I don’t have the link to “challenge” this and say I’ve been doing work in it. Any way to fix this?
Email dxipsup.microsoft.com. Provide the name of your tenant and they can look it up to see the renewal status, possibly reactivate it.
Kelly,
I have had a dev tenant for 3 years now and without warning it expired. I have tried working with support and billing and they are unable to assist. VS support stated that since I have a free dev account, that my account was not eligible for automatic renewal and was cancelled and that there is currently no ETA on when I will be able to get access to a new account. On top of that, my tenant and all of my work will be removed. Can you assist?
Email dxipsup.microsoft.com. Provide the name of your tenant and they can look it up to see the renewal status, possibly reactivate it.
Kelly,
I emailed dxipsup and did not receive any reply at all. Is there anything else we can do besides pay?
Thank you
This is a terrible decision communicated equally terribly. You are making developers who would bring you more customers pay you as well for the privilege? If schools or other businesses are abusing this developer license then give them an alternative or audit them. Don’t punish hobbyists, independent contractors, and people keeping their skills up to date. Not everyone has a workplace subscription or partnership with microsoft that is appropriate to use outside of the workplace. The relentless cost cutting and revenue chasing may look great on the balance sheet short term but in the long term it will make your products worse and drive users away from the platform.
@Kevin Hegel, We are thinking similarly and are working on a solution to do exactly that. I and Kalyani, my new counterpart in India, are working to find a way forward for students and independent learners and other people without established identities that minimizes security risks. This alternative is neither fully designed nor committed. This is why we are not giving an ETA or confirming whether the program will be more generally available in the future. When we have a plan, a commitment, and a roadmap, we’ll update here.
As an owner of an Enterprise-level MPN subscription, I’m unable to renew my expired M365 subscription. This is a terrible decision!!!”
Email dxipsup.microsoft.com. Provide the name of your tenant and they can look it up to see the renewal status, possibly reactivate it.
I created my profile with the Visual Studio Dev Essentials Subscription a few days ago and it said that my account was not qualified. Today I upgraded my Enterprise subscription but my profile is still not qualified. What should I do?
Thank you!
I am so disappointed that Microsoft stopped free access to the Developer Sandbox. This sandbox was a great opportunity for IT professionals to learn, test and develop. I’ve spent almost a year learning MS365 and Power Platform and I wanted to take the MS-900 and PL-900 exams, but now I can’t upgrade my knowledge because of the lack of environment. I am currently unemployed and was hoping that this program would give me a chance to get deep into MS365 and Power Platform and be able to get a job. I hope that Microsoft will find a solution for people like me to have a chance to learn and develop.
I have been using the developer subscription for a long time now, and I can see both the positives and negatives for both MSFT and end developers like myself.
I have set up my developer account under my student (educational) account that will stop working in a few months’ time and I need to transfer it to another account – how would it be possible to change this moving forward, please? Thank you
That’s a great question and one that generates a lot of customer frustration. Your developer account is associated with your general Microsoft account. You can associate one or more email accounts with your Microsoft Account and then set a specific one as your primary account. I just tested that I could use one of my other accounts to log in to the developer profile.
To change your email associated with your Microsoft 365 developer program profile
1. Go to Dashboard – Microsoft 365 Dev Center (https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/profile)
2. Choose your profile image in the top right corner of the page.
3. Select My Microsoft Account. This should open a new tab that takes you to your general Microsoft account page.
4. On the left pane, choose Your Info (person icon).
5. Scroll down to the Account Info section. Here you will find one or more email addresses associated with your account. You can add or remove accounts. You can also choose which one to be primary.
Change the email address or phone number for your Microsoft account – Microsoft Support
As long as you continue to do qualified activity, your subscription should renew.
Good luck!