Why Unknown Users Appear in a Microsoft 365 Developer Tenant
Question details
The user is seeing unfamiliar members and sample content in their newly created trial Microsoft 365 Developer Program tenant admin center.
- Product
- Microsoft 365 Developer Program
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Setting up and exploring a new Microsoft 365 Developer Program sandbox tenant.
- Observed behavior
- The admin center displays 16 unfamiliar users and sample data that the user did not create.
Ensure you are logged into the Microsoft 365 Admin Center using the global administrator credentials associated with your newly created developer sandbox.
Manage and Delete Sample Sandbox Users
Understand the purpose of the 16 sample users and learn how to remove them if you prefer a clean testing environment.
When you provision a Microsoft 365 Developer Program sandbox, Microsoft automatically populates it with 16 fictitious users and sample data. This is designed to help you test apps, workflows, and permissions immediately without manual setup. They are not real users and do not pose a security risk.
If you do not need these sample profiles for your development testing, you can safely delete them from your tenant.
Navigate to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center and sign in with your developer tenant's global administrator account.
On the left-hand navigation menu, click on 'Users' and then select 'Active users'.
Locate the 16 fictional users provided by the sandbox setup. You can select them individually by checking the boxes next to their display names, or use the top checkbox to select multiple.
Click the 'Delete user' option from the top action bar. Follow the on-screen prompts to confirm the removal of these accounts and their associated sample data from your tenant.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can I keep the sample users in my Microsoft 365 developer tenant?
Yes, keeping them is entirely safe and often recommended if you plan to test applications, permissions, or SharePoint workflows that require interactions among multiple users.
Will deleting these sample users break my developer sandbox?
No, deleting them will not harm the tenant's core functionality. However, it will remove the sample data associated with them, meaning you will need to manually create your own test users for app validation.
Are these unknown users compromising my tenant's security?
No. These are automatically generated fictitious accounts provided by Microsoft specifically for the developer sandbox environment to simulate a real organization. They do not have external access to your data.
