Forum Discussion

FaisalM's avatar
FaisalM
Copper Contributor
Feb 17, 2026

Onboard devices in Purview is grayed out

I’m getting started with Microsoft Purview and running into issues onboarding devices. In the Purview portal, no devices appear, and the “Onboard devices” option is grayed out.

I have EMS E5 licenses assigned to all users, and I’m signed in as a Global Admin with Purview Administrator and Security Administrator roles. All devices are managed by Intune and run Windows 11 Enterprise with the latest updates. They are Microsoft Entra joined (AAD joined), show up correctly in Defender, and their Defender onboarding status is active and onboarded.

What piece am I missing that would prevent these devices from showing in Purview and keep the onboarding option disabled? Any guidance would be appreciated.

3 Replies

  • FaisalM's avatar
    FaisalM
    Copper Contributor

    Thank you for the response. The information around this topic is confusing at first. Your guidance helped point me in the right direction. It turns out the issue wasn’t technical at all, it was related to licensing. After acquiring M365 E5 licenses, I was able to onboard devices successfully.

    I’m also sharing a couple of links here that explain this in more detail, in case it helps anyone else who runs into the same problem in the future.

    https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/guidance/Microsoft-Purview?msockid=1e363bca68d467792c8f2e1f69f16608

    https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/servicedescriptions/microsoft-365-service-descriptions/microsoft-365-tenantlevel-services-licensing-guidance/microsoft-purview-service-description#microsoft-data-loss-prevention-endpoint-data-loss-protection-dlp


    • It can be any of the following licences, not just M365 E5

      • Microsoft 365 E5/A5/G5
      • Microsoft Purview Suite/EDU/GOV/FLW
      • Microsoft Defender + Purview Suite FLW
      • Microsoft 365 E5/A5/F5/G5
      • Information Protection & Governance