The best way to answer this question is to check with your IT team, however in most cases you are able to tell by the way you log into your PC. Active Directory (AD) ‘on-premises’ users log into the domain, whereas for Azure AD (AAD) users they login to the cloud. In general, this means that users who are logging into a domain will enter their domain/username and the corresponding password, where as those logging into the cloud will generally enter their email address and password.

 

For AAD users the account will often be shown as an “other user” or listed as a “Work or School” account. This can also be seen by viewing the Users in the Settings application, however depending on your IT setup you may not have the authority to view these settings.

Users can also use the whoami utility in a command box which will show:

• Azure AD authenticated users will display the logged on user as: AzureAD\<UserNameAD>.

• AD On-Premises users will display the logged on user as <Domain>\<UserNameOn-premiseAD>.

• Users logged into the PC (no domain) will display the logged on user as <LocalComputerName>\<UserName>.

 

There are many variations in the way business networks can be deployed and User PC’s can be setup – so the best way if you are unsure is to check with your IT team!

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