Autopilot Device Preparation Error 80180003

Windows Autopilot simplifies device deployment, but errors like Device Preparation Error 80180003 can disrupt enrollment. This guide explains the root causes—such as MDM authority misconfiguration, device type restrictions, and licensing issues—and provides step-by-step troubleshooting to help IT admins resolve the error quickly and ensure seamless Intune onboarding.

Issue – The user is not authorized to enroll

In newly configured Intune environments, Windows Autopilot Device Preparation (Autopilot v2) may fail with error code 80180003.

The user is not authorized to enroll. You can try to do this again or contact your system administrator with the error code 80180003.

Causes of Autopilot Error 80180003

The “Something went wrong” – Error 80180003 in Windows Autopilot Device Preparation may occur due to several configuration or policy issues in Intune and Microsoft Entra ID:

• Device type restriction: The device is blocked by Intune’s enrollment restrictions.
• Maximum device limit reached: The user has already enrolled the maximum number of devices allowed in Intune.
• Unsupported Windows edition: The computer is running Windows 10 Home, which does not support Intune enrollment or Microsoft Entra ID join. Enrollment requires Windows 10 Pro or higher.
• Microsoft Entra join setting disabled: The setting Users may join devices to Microsoft Entra ID is configured as None, preventing new users from joining their devices.
• Missing licenses: The user does not have the required Microsoft Intune or Entra ID Premium licenses assigned.
• MDM authority not configured: The MDM authority is not set to Microsoft Intune, blocking device enrollment.

We have noticed the following error in DeviceManagement-Enterprise-Diagnostics-Provider logs in the event viewer.

MDM Enroll: Server Returned Fault/Code/SubCode/Values(Authorization) Fault/Reson/Text=(MDM Authority Not Defined).

MDM Enroll Failed:(The user is not authorized to enroll to Mobile Device Management (MDM). Try again or contact your system administrator.

When reviewing the Intune enrollment logs, you may encounter the following entry related to Windows Autopilot Device Preparation Error 80180003:

Intune mobile device management (MDM) authority is not configured yet.

Finally, on the Tenant details, we can see that the MDM authority status was Unknown.

Solution: Configure MDM Authority to Microsoft

To resolve Windows Autopilot Device Preparation Error 80180003, configure the MDM authority to Microsoft Intune by following these steps:

1. Open the Intune Admin Center
   Navigate to Microsoft Intune Admin Center > Troubleshooting + Support > Guided Scenarios (Preview).
2. Select Guided Scenario
   Choose “Set up a test device to try out cloud management” and click Start.
3. Complete the Setup
   Follow the on‑screen instructions. This process will trigger the MDM Authority prompt, allowing you to set the authority to Microsoft Intune.

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