Use Company Email in Teams Only on My Personal Laptop Without Linking It to Windows

Francis Vuong 0 Reputation points
2026-09-05T11:50:04.5266667+00:00

Hi, I need help using my company email in Microsoft Teams on my personal laptop without linking the company account to Windows.

Email A: My company/work email — I want to use this account only inside Microsoft Teams.

Email B: My personal Microsoft account — this is the account associated with my personal laptop and Windows.

This laptop is my privately owned personal computer at home. It is not owned, provided, or managed by my company.

For privacy and protection of my personal data, I do not want Email A to be linked to my Windows profile, personal files, settings, other Microsoft apps, Windows Hello, “Access work or school,” or any company/organization device-management system.

What I want is strictly:

Personal laptop / Windows → Email B (personal) Microsoft Teams app only → Email A (company/work)

Currently, Teams keeps showing: “We need you to sign in again.”

When I try to sign in with Email A, I received:

Tag: 7q6ca Error code: 2148073526

I already used Repair for Microsoft Teams. After that, when I tried signing in again, Windows asked me to “Use Windows Hello with your account.” I cancelled this because I do not want my company account (Email A) connected to the Windows sign-in or to my personal laptop.

Could you please advise how I can sign in with Email A only within Microsoft Teams, while keeping my personal Windows account (Email B), personal laptop, files, settings, and other applications separate from the company account?

Please also tell me exactly which option I should choose during sign-in so that Email A is used by Teams only and is not added to, linked with, or used to manage my personal laptop or Windows account.

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  1. Michelle Nguyen 1,180 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-09-05T12:23:19.5233333+00:00

    Hi @Francis Vuong

    Based on the information provided, I understand that you want to use your company account, Email A, only within Microsoft Teams on your privately owned laptop, while keeping Windows and all other Microsoft apps associated exclusively with your personal account, Email B.

    The repeated “We need you to sign in again” message began after you declined the Windows Hello prompt. Error 2148073526, which corresponds to 0x80090036, appears to be occurring during the Windows authentication stage. In other words, Teams is not completing the work-account authentication and therefore does not receive a valid sign-in token. Repairing Teams may not resolve this because the interrupted authentication state can be stored by Windows rather than solely within the Teams application.

    Please try to clean up the partial state first

    1.Settings > Accounts > Access work or school. If Email A is listed, select it and Disconnect.

    2.Settings > Accounts > Email & accounts. Remove Email A if present.

    3.Quit Teams completely (right-click the tray icon > Quit).

    4.Open Credential Manager >Windows Credentials. Delete entries referencing MicrosoftOffice16_Data, msteams, MicrosoftAccount:target=SSO_POP_Device, or your work domain.

    5.Delete the Teams cache: %LocalAppData%\Packages\MSTeams_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache

    6.Reboot > Sign in correctly

    Open Teams, enter Email A, complete your password and MFA. Then choose “Stay signed in to all your apps” > click No, sign in to this app only > “Use Windows Hello with your account” or a PIN setup screen > choose Skip for now, or Other ways to sign in / Use my password. Don’t press the X or Cancel; use the skip option, or you’ll land back on 0x80090036.

    Teams will hold its own token. Windows stays on Email B, and Email A won’t appear in Access work or school, Windows Hello, Outlook, or OneDrive.

    If your organization’s Conditional Access policy requires a compliant or registered device, none of the above will work and you’ll see an error saying your device must be managed. That’s a tenant-side setting no local change can bypass, and you’d need to raise it with your IT team.

    Let me know which prompt you land on and I can narrow it down further.

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