Microsoft Engineer reply needed: Microsoft-365-developer-program - my phone is still linked to my Gmail developer deleted account

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Hi @Sergio MartinezQ

Thank you for sharing your concerns. 

Please note that, as a forum moderator, I do not have access to the internal systems required to investigate individual account issues due to privacy and security constraints. Additionally, the qualification and renewal process for Microsoft 365 Developer Program tenants is automated and based on a set of algorithms and telemetry gathered from your activity in the program and on your Microsoft 365 E5 developer subscription.  

I understand that you have already deleted the profile in which the phone number was associated with an existing Developer account. In theory, deleting the profile removes the existing Developer account and releases the associated phone number. After the profile is deleted, you should be able to sign up again using your work account and verify it with the same phone number. However, please be aware that there is typically a 60‑day waiting period before a deleted phone number becomes fully available for reuse. This waiting period is an intentional policy designed to prevent abuse of the program.  

Based on my experience, if you need to rejoin the Microsoft 365 Developer Program sooner, the quickest option is to register using a different account with a different phone number.  

For personal accounts, one common way to qualify for a sandbox subscription is to have an active Visual Studio subscription. With an active Visual Studio Professional or Enterprise subscription, you are typically eligible to create a Microsoft 365 E5 Developer subscription.  

Alternatively, you may use a corporate account if your organization participates in the ISV Success Program or the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program (MAICPP) and meets the eligibility requirements, or if your organization has Premier or Unified Support.  

I recommend reviewing the Microsoft 365 Developer Program FAQ especially the following sections, for more detailed eligibility information:  

Who qualifies for a Microsoft 365 E5 developer subscription?  

What account can I use to sign up for the Microsoft 365 Developer Program?  

I hope this information is helpful and helps clarify the situation. Please feel free to reach out if you have any other questions.  

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A Microsoft 365 Developer Program account can only be associated with a single phone number, and that phone number can only be used with one Developer Program account at a time. If the phone number is still reported as being in use, it means it is still tied to an existing Developer Program account in the system.

The documented way to reuse a phone number is to remove it from the existing account and then add it to the new one. However, for the Microsoft 365 Developer Program specifically, only one Developer Program account can be associated with a phone number, and if a Developer Program account already exists with that phone number, a new one cannot be created unless the old Developer Program account is fully removed at the service level.

Because the previous Developer Program profile has already been deleted but the phone number is still blocked, this requires direct Microsoft support intervention. The phone number cannot be manually released by the user from the Developer Program side.

Next steps:

1. Verify that there is only one Microsoft 365 Developer Program account associated with the phone number by trying to sign in to the Developer Program dashboard with the old Gmail account and confirming that the profile is deleted.
2. If the profile is deleted and the error persists when creating a new sandbox with the Outlook account, contact Microsoft support so they can check and clear the phone-number association on the backend.
3. When the association is cleared, sign up again for the Microsoft 365 Developer Program using the Outlook account and the same phone number.

References:

• Microsoft 365 Developer Program FAQ
• Help with "phone number is already used" in a Microsoft account
• I received a "This phone number has already been taken" message