tenant and directory

Question

Hello,

In this instructor-led training, it's said that 'tenant' and 'directory' refer to the same thing in Entra ID. So, when we use both interchangeably, then we can say that a directory is also an instance?

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/shows/on-demand-instructor-led-training-series/az-104-module-2

But I thought that a directory is a physically or online registered list - am I correct? Because when a tenant is like a directory, then we are talking about instances, am I right?

Please correct me.

Thank you

Marouf

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A,

In Entra ID, "tenant" and "directory" are used interchangeably.

1. A tenant is essentially a dedicated instance of Microsoft Entra ID that an organization owns.
2. A directory in Entra ID stores user identities, groups, and permissions. Since each organization has its own directory, it is effectively the same as its tenant.

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