Create a new tenant in Entra ID with or without a sandbox

Dear @Paul Guzis

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A Forum!

Based on your description, I see that you can’t complete Microsoft Store publishing flows because sign‑in/permissions fail when Partner Center tries to talk to Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD). This usually appears as “insufficient permissions,” “cannot register app,” or “no tenant associated.”

In my perspective view, your Partner Center account isn’t linked to a current, active Microsoft Entra tenant, or the tenant was previously deleted that held the app registration. When a tenant is gone (or the account is in the wrong directory), Partner Center can’t create or manage Store app registrations, so all app‑association steps fail. See this link: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/publish/partner-center/associate-existing-azure-ad-tenant-with-partner-center-account. So, Partner Center depends on Entra ID for users/permissions and for app registrations used by Store submissions and APIs. Without a valid tenant (and the right directory selected), Partner Center won’t let you create/associate the app.
Therefore, I have tried my best to research and found that the safest, supportable path is to establish (or re‑establish) a valid Entra tenant and link it to Partner Center, then register the app in that tenant and proceed with publishing. You may try these suggestions to see if they can help you:

1.Confirm the current Partner Center or Entra directory link:

In Partner Center: Settings > Account settings > Tenants.

• If no tenant is shown, you must associate one.
• If the wrong one is shown, you can add the correct tenant and then remove the old one.

See details in here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/partner-center/account-settings/multi-tenant-account

If you don’t have a tenant, you may create a new one (free) directly from the Tenants page in Partner Center (“Create Microsoft Entra ID”), or in the Entra admin center. See more details in here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/publish/partner-center/create-new-azure-ad-tenant

Note: The account used to create the tenant must have Global admin rights in that tenant. If you need email, Teams, or other Microsoft 365 services, then a paid subscription would be required, but that’s separate from the Partner Center requirement.

2.Set the correct directory and permissions:

You should make sure that you signed into Partner Center using an account from the same tenant you intend to use, and that the account has appropriate roles (Manager in Partner Center + Global admin in the tenant for directory changes). Reference: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/publish/partner-center/manage-azure-ad-applications-in-partner-center

In Entra admin center, you should verify Users can register applications = Yes and that the publisher has Application developer (or sufficient) permissions. These are common blockers for “can’t create app” errors. See details: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/publish/faq/troubleshoot-app-creation

3.Re‑create / re‑associate the app registration (if the old tenant was deleted):

• App registrations may not move across tenants. If the original tenant was deleted (or the app lived only there), the registration must be created anew in the new/active tenant, then those new IDs must be referenced in Partner Center / Store submission.
• In Partner Center User management > Microsoft Entra applications, create or add the app registration and assign the required roles. Capture Tenant ID and Client ID for API use. Reference: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/publish/partner-center/manage-azure-ad-applications-in-partner-center

4.Proceed with Store publishing:

With the correct tenant associated and the app registration present, you continue the app association/submission flow in Partner Center. If app creation still errors, revisit Step 2 (app registration policy + roles).

About “Developer Program sandbox” and paid solutions:

• A Microsoft 365 Developer Program sandbox can provide a ready‑made tenant, but if you don’t qualify or it lapsed, you can create a standard tenant and proceed. The Store/Partner Center scenario does not require Developer Program specifically.
• Paid licenses (e.g., Entra ID P1/P2 or M365 Business) are not required just to link a tenant and register a Store app. They add features (Conditional Access, PIM, etc.) but are not prerequisites for association/publishing. The key requirement is an active tenant properly associated with Partner Center.

I hope this information can help you to have more insights in this case and please kindly correct me if I misunderstand your concern. Wish you a pleasant day!

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To create a new Microsoft Entra tenant, you have a couple of options:

1. Join the Microsoft 365 Developer Program: This program provides a free sandbox environment, which includes a Microsoft Entra account with P2 licenses, configured users, groups, and mailboxes. However, since you mentioned that you do not qualify for a sandbox in the Microsoft 365 Developer Program, this may not be a viable option for you.
2. Create a new tenant manually: You can create a new Microsoft Entra tenant without the sandbox. This involves signing up for a new tenant and activating a free trial of Microsoft Entra ID P1 or P2. The free tier of Microsoft Entra ID is now supported, which allows you to onboard the verifiable credential service and test issuing and verifying verifiable credentials.

If you are considering paid solutions, both Microsoft Entra ID P1 and Microsoft 365 Business Basic can provide additional features and capabilities that might help resolve your issues with app association and permissions. You can explore these options based on your specific needs and the features they offer.

Make sure to link your new tenant with Partner Center and register your app under the correct directory after creating the tenant.

References:

• Create a new Microsoft Entra ID tenant in Partner Center
• Quickstart: Create a new tenant in Microsoft Entra ID