I was able to resolve the issue. Using a Chrome incognito window with all browser data deleted, I went to https://signup.azure.com and used my old email address (the same one that was blocked when I went to portal.azure.com). It recognized that I had an account and free trial credits ("You previously signed up for an Azure free account and still have free services available to use. Continue using these services by upgrading your account, and pay only for what you use above the free amounts"), so I had to "upgrade" to a pay-as-you-go account (although I was able to stay with a "Basic" account with no charges). It doesn't make any sense to me why Azure couldn't tell me that on the portal.azure.com screen or why this would even be necessary since I seem to be on the same terms as before.
Error message: AADSTS5000225: This tenant has been blocked due to inactivity.
Sign-in failed. I signed up for a free account so I could complete Azure training, and got the email with "Welcome to Azure
You’re receiving this email because you recently signed up for an Azure free account. You now have access to 12 months of free services and a USD200* credit. To get started with this service, log in to your account."
but when I try to log in, I get the Error message: AADSTS5000225: This tenant has been blocked due to inactivity.
Microsoft Security | Microsoft Entra | Microsoft Entra ID
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Nathan Roberts (SN) 7,836 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator2025-10-25T10:28:15.0233333+00:00 Hey there, Jason Sowalla
The error you have received is generated when you no one has signed into your tenant for more than 200 days. The system puts the tenant in an inactive state. You have 20 days to reach out to support to re-activate your tenant.
If your tenant has been marked as inactive, and you are within the 20 day period, please reach out to support using the phone number for your region here: https://support.microsoft.com/topic/global-customer-service-phone-numbers-c0389ade-5640-e588-8b0e-28de8afeb3f2
Once the 20 day period has completed, the system will delete all services on the tenant. This is due to Microsoft's data protection policy. You can read this policy here: https://www.microsoft.com/trust-center/privacy/data-management#leave
You can find out more about this error here: https://free.blessedness.top/en-us/entra/fundamentals/inaccessible-tenant
Hope this helps,
Nathan