Use Managed Apple IDs in Apple Business Manager

A user can have two types of Apple IDs: a Managed Apple ID and a personal Apple ID:

A Managed Apple ID is owned and managed by your organization—including password resets and role-based administration. It also provides access to iCloud for collaboration with iWork and backup on iPhone and iPad devices. Apple Business Manager makes it easy for organizations to create and manage these accounts at scale.
A personal Apple ID is used to access personal data such as Photos, iMessages, and other personal iCloud data when signed in to a personal device.

Important: A user with a Managed Apple ID can be locked out of their account if they enter an incorrect password more than 10 times or if Apple suspects any fraudulent activity on their account. To reset their password, the user must contact any user with the role of Administrator or People Manager. For users locked due to suspected fraudulent activities, an Apple Business Manager user with the role of Administrator must contact Apple to have the account unlocked. At that point, the user’s password can be reset by the Administrator.

How Managed Apple IDs are created

Managed Apple IDs are created after you:

Create accounts manually
Use federated authentication with Google Workspace or Microsoft Azure Active Directory (Azure AD)
See Intro to federated authentication.
Note: If your organization is using federated authentication, the Default Managed Apple ID Format setting doesn’t apply.
Use SCIM with Azure AD
See Review SCIM requirements.
Sync with Google Workspace

Important: Keep in mind that every Managed Apple ID must be unique. It also can’t be the same as other Apple IDs that other users may already have.

How Managed Apple IDs are used

As any user with the role of Administrator or any Manager, you use Managed Apple IDs in two main ways—with accounts and roles.

Accounts: Users with the role of Administrator can complete a range of tasks within Apple Business Manager to manage accounts. For example, you can assign roles or reset passwords for a specific set of users.
Roles: After a Managed Apple ID is created for a user, roles can then be assigned for the user. These roles define which tasks users can perform in Apple Business Manager with their Managed Apple ID.

Managed Apple ID changes with Administrator roles

You can’t change the Managed Apple ID of a user with the role of Administrator. You must first change the role to any other role, change the Managed Apple ID, then change the role back to that of Administrator.

Edit Managed Apple IDs

In some cases, it may be necessary to change the Managed Apple ID for accounts—for example, if the domain name of the organization changes. Managers who have the “Create, edit, and delete Managed Apple IDs” privilege can edit the Managed Apple ID of other accounts. This changes the Managed Apple ID format for all new and existing accounts.

After you change the Managed Apple ID, active users can sign in using their new Managed Apple ID and existing password. If the new format includes an element that’s missing or empty for that user, the user’s Managed Apple ID won’t be updated. If the new format results in a Managed Apple ID that’s already in use, a number is added to the end of the new Managed Apple ID to make it unique.

Important: Users aren’t notified when their Managed Apple ID is changed, so you must notify them as soon as you make the change.

Edit the Managed Apple ID format for a single user

In Apple Business Manager , sign in with a user that has the role of Administrator or People Manager.
Tap Users in the sidebar, then search for a user in the search field. See How to search.
Select the user from the list.
Tap the Edit button , then edit the Managed Apple ID.
You can also enter text, such as a period (for example, amy.frost), in the field.
Select a domain from the list, then tap Save.

Edit the Managed Apple ID format for multiple users

This task can be successfully completed only for users created manually.

In Apple Business Manager , sign in with a user that has the role of Administrator or People Manager.
Tap Users in the sidebar, then search for users in the search field. See How to search.
Select the users from the list.
Tap Edit next to Update Managed Apple IDs, then tap the Add button to select what the Managed Apple ID will start with.
You can also enter text, such as a period (for example, amy.frost), in the field.
Select a domain from the list, then tap Continue.
Do one of the following:
- Tap Activity to view this activity.
- Tap Done.

Service access with Managed Apple IDs

Because Managed Apple IDs are owned by the organization, certain features are disabled.

Note: Not all of these services are available in all countries or regions.

Services	Supported operating system	Description
Apple Pay	iOS iPadOS macOS	The user can’t use Apple Pay.
Continuity	macOS	The user can’t access the following services: Sidecar Markup Sketch Camera Universal Control
Find My	iOS iPadOS macOS Web	The app appears, but the user can’t use it.
Freeform	iOS iPadOS macOS	Users can’t see collaborator cursors or the collaborator list and updates from other participants appear in batches.
Home	iOS iPadOS macOS	The user can’t add HomeKit devices to the Home app.
Media services	iOS iPadOS macOS Web	The user can’t access the following services: Apple One Apple Arcade Apple Music Apple Music radio Apple Fitness+ Apple News+ Apple TV+
News Publisher	macOS Web	The user can’t use News Publisher to manage channels in Apple News.
Specific iCloud features	iOS iPadOS macOS Web	The user can’t access the following services: iCloud Mail iCloud Family Sharing iMessage (allow in iCloud) iCloud+ services: (Private Relay, Hide My Email, Custom Email domain, Advanced Data Protection) iCloud Keychain (although keychain items are saved and restored on Shared iPad devices) Allows browsing but not purchasing, paid or free in: App Store iTunes Store Apple Books

Helpful?

Apple Business Manager User Guide