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AADSTS700016

AADSTS700016: application not found in the directory

Entra ID can't find the application named in the sign-in request in the tenant the request was sent to.

From Microsoft's documentation, checked 9 Nov 2026.

Microsoft Entra ID application lookupApp registrationhigh
Error text as Microsoft documents it
AADSTS700016: UnauthorizedClient_DoesNotMatchRequest - The application wasn't found in the directory/tenant.

Also searched as: UnauthorizedClient_DoesNotMatchRequest · application with identifier was not found in the directory

What it means

Microsoft's reference lists this as UnauthorizedClient_DoesNotMatchRequest: the application wasn't found in the directory or tenant. That happens when no administrator has installed the app in the tenant and no user has consented to it, when the app's identifier is misconfigured, or when the request was sent to the wrong tenant.

Common causes

  • No administrator has installed the application in the tenant and no user in the tenant has consented to it.
  • The identifier value for the application (its client ID) is misconfigured.
  • The authentication request was sent to the wrong tenant.
From Microsoft's documentation

How to fix it

1

Find the failing sign-in

In the Microsoft Entra admin center, go to Entra ID > Monitoring & health > Sign-in logs and filter by user, date and correlation ID. Or query the logs with Microsoft Graph PowerShell (needs AuditLog.Read.All); Microsoft recommends a time range so the request doesn't time out.

$since = (Get-Date).ToUniversalTime().AddDays(-7).ToString("yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ssZ")
Get-MgAuditLogSignIn -Filter "status/errorCode eq 700016 and createdDateTime ge $since" -Top 10
2

Compare the client ID and tenant

Check the application (client) ID and the tenant in the app's sign-in request against the app registration. They must name an app that exists in the tenant the request goes to.

3

Check the app is in the tenant

In the target tenant, look for the app under Enterprise applications. An app can appear there once a user consents to it; otherwise an administrator needs to add it or grant consent.

How to confirm it's fixed

  • Sign in again and check the sign-in log shows success for the application.
Copyable operational controls

Related engineering templates

Conditional Access Deployment Checklist
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