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Summary: This content details the creation of an Office 365 administrator account with global admin privileges and offers step-by-step instructions for adding an external user as an admin, cautioning against the latter due to security concerns.

Regarding the process of establishing an administrator account within your Office 365 subscription, it’s important to note that while it’s not a complex endeavor, it can only be executed by someone possessing global administrator privileges. Typically, additional admin accounts are generated to streamline the Office 365 administrative tasks, facilitating the delegation of responsibilities and roles to other administrators, thereby enhancing the efficient management of the account and its associated data.

Certainly, it’s entirely feasible to allocate administrative roles to any user within Office 365. The most straightforward approach to establishing an admin account involves leveraging the global credentials you used during the initial purchase of your Office 365 subscription. To proceed, follow the steps outlined below to create an admin account within Office 365.

  1. Visit https://login.microsoftonline.com/ and sign in with your existing Global admin account.
    Note: This global admin account can also be used for all activities in Office 365, but we recommend you create a new admin account.
  2. Now, go to the Admin center, and in the Office 365 menu, click Users > Active Users.
  3. In the Active Users Dashboard, click the “+” icon to create a new user.
  4. The Create new user account wizard will appear on the screen. Provide the user details in the given field and click Create.
  5. Once the new user account is created, close the dialog box.
  6. Now, go back to the Active Users section and select the account that you just created.
  7. The summary of the account will display on the right side, click Edit user roles in that section.
  8. Here, you will see the roles that can be assigned to the new user, select Global Administrator, and click Save.

Note: In the Alternative email address box, provide an email address that can be used in case of a password loss.

That way, you will be able to create a new admin account in Office 365.

Adding an Outside Person as Office 365 Admin

If you want to add someone as an admin who does not belong to your organization, then you need to follow the below steps:

  1. Go to Office 365 admin center, Select User in the menu tab, and then click Add a User.
  2. Enter the details for the new user and your company’s domain name.
    Note: The user name and domain name together make up the email address and sign-in address for the user.
  3. Now, provide the contact information of the user.
  4. Click Auto-generate password for automatically creating a password by Office 365, and then check the checkbox Make this user change their password when they first sign in.
  5. Select Global Administrator under Roles.
  6. In the Alternative email address field, provide a different email address that can be used in case of password loss.
  7. Under the Product licenses, select Create user without product license, and then click Add.
  8. Make sure Send password in email is selected and add your email address and the new user’s email address, and then click Send email and close.

While it’s possible to assign an admin role to an external user, it’s important to note that doing so is generally not recommended.

Conclusion

Establishing an admin account becomes relatively straightforward when you possess the Global Administrator credentials, the same account employed during the Office 365 subscription purchase. In this article, we elucidate the procedure for crafting an admin account directly through the Office 365 admin center. Furthermore, we delve into the comprehensive process of conferring Office 365 account admin privileges to an external user via the integrated features of the Office 365 admin center interface.