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Microsoft’s 2022–2023 change moved the destination for Microsoft 365 Azure Active Directory links toward the Microsoft Entra admin center; it did not announce that Azure AD management tasks were being removed. The Entra center retained those tasks under an Azure AD navigation tab. The rollout dates below describe Microsoft’s historical announcement, not a guarantee about redirects in every tenant today.
What changed in MC477013?
Microsoft announced that administrators clicking Azure Active Directory links from Microsoft 365 would be directed to entra.microsoft.com instead of aad.portal.azure.com. The change consolidated the administration entry point in the Microsoft Entra admin center. According to Microsoft’s December 1, 2022 announcement, Azure AD management tasks would remain available there in the Azure AD area of the navigation. The announcement also said a link back to the Azure AD admin center would be available during the transition. (Microsoft Entra Blog)
In the announcement’s description, the Entra center brought Azure AD together with products including Permissions Management, Verified ID, Workload Identities, and Identity Governance. That is the product grouping described in 2022, not a definitive list of the current Microsoft Entra portfolio.
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Microsoft’s original December 2022 post described a staged rollout and expected it to be complete in March 2023. The archived MC477013 notice, updated March 22, 2023, gave a more specific transition schedule: the Azure AD Admin Center would begin redirecting to the Entra Admin Center on April 1, 2023, while the old center would continue functioning until May 2023. These were dates stated in the historical notice; they should not be read as a new 2026 change or as confirmation of current redirect behavior in every tenant or region. (Archived MC477013 notice)
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Where could administrators access Azure AD?
| Route described in the notice | Audience or entry point | What the notice said |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Entra admin center | Administrators following Microsoft 365 Azure AD links | The links would direct users to the Entra center, where Azure AD management tasks remained available under the Azure AD navigation tab. |
| Azure portal | Azure customers | The updated notice said Azure customers could continue to access Azure AD through the Azure portal. |
The archived notice’s answer to whether administrators could still access the old Azure AD admin portal after April 1 was that it would continue to function until May 2023. That transition window is historical, so consult current Microsoft guidance and your tenant’s actual access routes rather than relying on it as a present-day guarantee.
What should Microsoft 365 and identity administrators check?
- Update internal instructions: Point staff who use Microsoft 365 links for Azure AD administration to the Entra admin center, and note that Azure AD tasks were available under its Azure AD navigation area.
- Review network controls if needed: Microsoft advised organizations to allow
*.entra.microsoft.comthrough firewall rules as needed to maintain access to the management experience. This was conditional guidance, not a statement that every organization had to change its rules. - Validate your current route: Since MC477013 described a planned 2023 rollout and does not establish behavior for every tenant today, check the current Microsoft entry point and any organization-specific bookmarks or access policies before changing operational runbooks.
Microsoft’s current Learn overview describes Entra as a family of multicloud identity and network access solutions, with documentation for identity fundamentals, architecture, deployment, and security. Its portfolio presentation includes Entra ID, Agent ID, ID Protection, ID Governance, External ID, Internet Access, Private Access, Verified ID, and Workload ID. This newer overview provides current terminology context; it should not be mistaken for the exact set of products covered by the 2022 portal announcement. (Microsoft Entra documentation)
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- Aligns with cybersecurity measures that comply with key privacy laws and regulations, including GDPR, BIPA, and CCPA. Approved for use in U.S. federal government institutions.
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