What you’re seeing
- After Entra Connect was installed, each user appears twice in Microsoft 365, once as cloud-only and once as synced.
- The new synced account has no mailbox, while the old cloud account still holds the user's email.
- Licenses, Teams chats and OneDrive files stay on the cloud account and don't follow the synced user.
- Sync reports show a SourceAnchor or ImmutableId conflict for some users.
- People see two entries for the same coworker in the address book.
Common causes
Every environment is different, but these are the causes our engineers find most often:
- The on-premises user's UPN or primary email didn't match the cloud account, so the soft match failed.
- The cloud account was an admin or had a role, which blocks automatic matching.
- The cloud user already had an ImmutableId from an earlier sync attempt that doesn't match the AD object.
- Proxy addresses in AD were missing or inconsistent with the addresses on the cloud mailbox.
- Sync was turned on before the AD accounts were cleaned up to match Microsoft 365.
Why it matters
Duplicate accounts split a person's identity in two: their email lives in one, their sign-in in another. Staff get confused about which account to use, licenses can be double-billed, and data can be lost if the wrong duplicate is deleted. Mail delivery and Teams access may break while the mess is untangled. Getting identity matching wrong at the start of a hybrid setup can cause problems for months, so it pays to correct it carefully.
How AskTechGurus fixes it
Skip the trial and error. A certified engineer works on your actual system, finds the root cause, and fixes it properly.
Tell us what’s happening
Submit a ticket in about two minutes. Paste the error, describe what changed, and pick your tier. No charge to submit.
A certified engineer diagnoses it
A vetted, US-based systems engineer claims your ticket, usually within minutes during business hours, and investigates over a secure remote session you can watch and end at any time.
Fixed and verified with you
The engineer resolves the root cause and confirms with you that it’s working. You don’t just get a workaround, and you get a plain-English summary of what was wrong.
Pay only when it’s resolved
Fixed price from $99, invoiced only after you approve the fix. If it isn’t resolved, you don’t pay.
Frequently asked questions
Can we just delete the duplicate accounts?
Deleting the wrong one can remove a user's mailbox, OneDrive files and chat history. The accounts need to be matched properly so the synced user takes over the existing cloud data.
Why didn't Microsoft match them automatically?
Automatic matching depends on the email or UPN lining up exactly, and it's blocked for admin accounts. Small differences are enough to create a duplicate instead.
Can AskTechGurus help untangle this?
Yes. A certified US engineer reviews each duplicate over a secure remote session and helps merge them safely. Pricing starts at $99, and you pay only when it's resolved.