Google Deleted Account that Links Managed Play Store

[Krystina]

Hello all,

We're facing an issue with our Intune/Managed Google Play connector. Google has deleted the account set up specifically to connect to our Managed Google Play instance in Intune. This has been an active link, with the last new device registered about 2 weeks ago and apps on devices being updated since then. We are currently unable to enroll new devices or add new apps. We are also unable to attempt to recover the account and have not been able to find a way to contact Google directly about the account issue.

Barring being able to recover the account, are there ways for us to lessen the impact of creating a new account for the linkage? Or are we going to have to have all our Android BYOD users re-enroll their devices?

[LMMAN]

Hello @Lizzie, same thing here. Our Android Enterprise linked Account will being deleted in a few month, but it has already been deactivated.

[Lizzie]

Hello @LMMAN,

Thanks for your message - nice to see you back in the community. Sorry to hear this has happened to your enterprise account. 

Can I check if you have seen this community article? If you look to the bottom there are initial steps to get a new gmail account rebound to your existing enterprise. Have you raised a ticket already with your EMM yet? 

Hope to hear from you soon.

Thanks,
Lizzie

[Kmspr]

Hi  @Lizzie ,
The same happened to a Knox Manage tenant of a client of ours.
We have contacted our EMM provider but we didn't get any further than the advise of unrolling everything and linking a new account!

Upon trying to recover the account, the message pops up saying "Google doesn't provide another way to sign in to this account".
It is deleted a week ago by Google for unknown reason. The Managed Play account is still bound to the EMM and is active, but how long? Can you provide me more information please?

[Lizzie]

Thanks @Kmspr, I've just sent you a direct message via your Community inbox.

Speak to you soon. 

Lizzie

[kasar]

yes

[casse]

We are experiencing the same issue with a customer we are managing the Intune environment for. This is the third time this has happened to us that the Google account linked to the Managed Play Store is deactivated due to "violation of ToS", where we don't get to know what terms are violated.

@Lizzie Can you also provide me with more information? Appreciate your support!

[Lizzie]

Hello @casse,

Thank you for your post, I'm sorry to hear you have had this, especially as it's been three times. 

As it happens based on the feedback shared here, I've actually just created an community article to hopefully help you and others if this occurs. Click here to view in the community. 

If you have any further questions just let me know and do keep me posted if you can on how you get on. 

Thank you,

Lizzie 

[GiovanniS]

Hi Lizzie,

I have the same problem. Google account that linked to Microsoft Intune has been deleted. Can not delete Android Apps in  Microsoft Intune. Could you also assist me, please. Thank you.

[GiovanniS]

I have see now the article and will first verify the post. Thanks!

[Lizzie]

No problem @GiovanniS - thanks for letting me know. Give me a shout if you have any questions or I can be of any help. 

Hope you get it sorted. 

Lizzie

[bogdanhandaric]

Hello @Lizzie !

We have the same problem regarding our Google account that is linked to Microsoft Intune.

Unfortunately, i think  more than 30 days passed since the account was deleted as i get the "Couldn't find your google account" message when i try to log in.

We can't add apps anymore. 

Is there any way to recover the old account or to migrate to another one?

Thank you,

Bogdan Handaric

[Lizzie]

Hello @bogdanhandaric,

Nice to meet you. I'm sorry to hear this has happened to your account. It's likely that you will need to rebind a new Google gmail to your enterprise/organisation. Have you seen this community guide: here with a few pointers on what to do. 

Do keep me posted if you can on how you get on and if you have any additional questions.

Thanks,

Lizzie

[bogdanhandaric]

Hello @Lizzie !

Nice to meet you too! I opened a ticket to Microsoft but they say "We never created ticket directly to Google before for Google account migrating, actually we are not allowed to create any ticket." and suggested i try opening a ticket to google myself. I didn't find any way to contact directly, and I am hoping you can provide me a way to do this. Can you help me please?

Thank you,

Bogdan

[Lizzie]

Thanks @bogdanhandaric for your update. Sorry to hear about this. I've just sent you a direct message via your Community inbox (the little envelope in the top right corner of the community) to get some more details. 

Hope to speak with you soon.

Lizzie

[bogdanhandaric]

Hello again, @Lizzie ! We still haven't solved this problem, as we waited till now for Microsoft do make the changes. The account seems to have been changed, but now we cannot install any apps after enrolling an device. Can you do anything on your side or guide me what i should do?

[Lizzie]

Hello @bogdanhandaric,

Sorry to hear this is still causing problems. If everything is working, it occurred to me that perhaps you need to accept the Terms of Service with your new associated account at: https://play.google.com/work

Would you mind checking for me and letting me know how you get on? My fingers and toes are crossed. 🤞

Thanks,

Lizzie

[SbutterworthHOV]

Hey Lizzie my org is in a similar situation. The main account associated with the bind was and is inaccessible, because a previous admin created it. We got another account tied to the managed enterprise. Our security team wants us to remove the old account from the bind and/or from Intune. 

Would removing the account from the enterprise bind blow everything up? Or is there a way to have MS support change the email associated with the bind? 

[Lizzie]

Hello @SbutterworthHOV,

Thanks for your message here. So just to check, do you currently have two accounts bound to your managed enterprise and you want to just remove the account that a previous colleague set up? Or are you needing to regain access to the original bind?

[SbutterworthHOV]

We have two accounts in the bind now. (A) is the locked out original count used for the link to Intune. (B) is the new account that we added to the managed enterprise. Since we can't get access to (A) security wants us to remove it from everywhere, because we have no insight or control of it. 

[Lizzie]

Gotcha, thanks @SbutterworthHOV. I would recommend contacting Intune directly about this as they should be able to either help with this or raise a ticket with our engineering team. 

Please do keep me posted of how you get on. 

Thanks,

Lizzie

[JacS]

Hi all,

Sorry to hear about the issue with the Intune/Managed Google Play connector. If recovering the deleted Google account isn’t an option, creating a new account for the linkage might be your only choice. Unfortunately, this will likely require re-enrollment of devices, as the link between the old account and the devices is broken.

To lessen the impact, consider the following steps:

1. **Communicate Early:** Notify your Android BYOD users about the situation and the potential need for re-enrollment. Clear instructions can help smooth the process.

2. **Plan for Re-enrollment:** If re-enrollment is necessary, provide a step-by-step guide and support to minimize downtime.

3. **Test First:** Before asking all users to re-enroll, test the process with a small group to identify any issues and refine your instructions.

4. **Backup Data:** Ensure users back up any important data on their devices before re-enrollment to avoid data loss.

5. **Engage with Microsoft Support:** Reach out to Microsoft support for any specific guidance or tools they may offer to help with the transition.

Hopefully, this helps reduce the disruption to your users.

Best regards,

[jasonbayton]

If you read up to the linked help article, it is possible to associate orphaned binds to new Google accounts with the appropriate information and validation. No re-enrolment necessary.

This is great info for customers who have accidentally deleted their bind, though. 

[Lizzie]

Hello @Krystina, @bogdanhandaric, @SbutterworthHOV, @JacS, @LMMAN, @Kmspr, @casse, @GiovanniS, @mvanderhoff, @Rudy, @danielvlasoff, @rasti, @dvespasiano, @aruppert, @mstrmke, @cdeguire, @sgulbr, @PatrickJ, 

I know it has been a little while since we last spoke and I hope all is going well.

In light of the issues you have raised in this thread, I wanted to personally highlight that a solution to upgrade Managed Google Play Enterprises (which use Gmail accounts) to Managed Google domains (which use work email addresses) will be rolled out via EMMs in 2025. 🎉

If you are interested in getting this sooner and providing feedback, we are currently looking for customer for our trusted tester program. It would be amazing to have you involved, especially as you have been through the frustration shown here. To read more about how this works, please take a look at this post here or feel free to ask me directly.  

Thanks so much,

Lizzie