About account transfers in Apple School Manager
After the domain capture process starts, Apple Accounts using that domain are notified in an email and in a notification on any device signed into the account. For notifications, the device must use iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS 15.1, visionOS 2.0, or later.
See Domain capture process and Domain capture example.
If an Apple Account can’t be transferred
Users may be prompted to make changes before they’re eligible to transfer their account. These changes may include the following:
Note: The country for their account should match the country of the organization.
Note: The account must be removed as a recovery contact for another Apple Account.
Apple Pay or Apple Wallet cards, including expired and parked cards (cards associated with the account but not provisioned on the particular device)
To help users maintain access to personal data and services, users may also be presented with only one option—to rename the Apple Account and keep using it as a personal account. Here are some examples of when an Apple Account can’t be transferred to an organization:
The account was created for a child (minimum ages may differ across countries and regions).
The account has a Legacy Contact configured.
The user has temporarily disabled their account in the Data and Privacy portal.
The user has Apple pre-orders.
The account is using one of the following:
If an Apple Account can be transferred
When the account can be transferred and the user chooses to do so, full ownership of the account and associated data is transferred to the organization. The list of services that Managed Apple Accounts can access (listed in Access to services using Managed Apple Accounts) are also available and remain accessible after the transfer.
Transferred accounts get assigned the role of Student. If necessary, users with the role of Administrator, Site Manager, or People Manager can change the user’s role.
To view what the user must do before they transfer their account, see the Apple Support article If you are asked to transfer your Apple Account or keep it as a personal account.
Decide when to transfer an Apple Account
There are different aspects users should consider when determining whether or not to transfer their personal Apple Account.
Users may want to keep their Apple Account if:
The account is used to store personal photos, iCloud Keychain items, or other personal data
The account is used to make app, music, or movie purchases
The account is used with Apple Pay
The account is part of Family Sharing and provides subscriptions, music, movie purchases, or app licenses to other family members
Users may want to transfer their Apple Account if the account was created to:
Be used primarily on work devices and to collaborate with other people in the organization
Access services related to the organization, like Apple Business Connect, Apple Business Register, or the Apple Push Notification service portal
If a user wants to keep their Apple Account
If the user decides to keep their account as a personal account, they may want to transfer services they have been using in the organizational context. See Transfer Apple services to a Managed Apple Account.
Apps and books
Apps and books that have been purchased before the transfer remain available. Other content, like music, movies, TV shows, Fitness+, Apple TV+, and Apple Arcade, won’t be available. Also, after the transfer, existing and active subscriptions can be used but can’t be renewed. The Apps & Books section in Apple School Manager, together with the mobile device management (MDM) solution framework, offer an easy and scalable way to distribute content in a managed environment.