Introduction
In some situations, you may encounter an issue where a Windows Autopilot device cannot be removed in Intune, even though management via Autopilot appears to be inactive. The « Remove » button is grayed out, and the object does not appear under Autopilot. This strange behavior particularly occurs with Hybrid Azure AD Join devices.
In this article, we will detail the steps required to solve this problem using Microsoft Graph Explorer
Issue
When you try to remove a device, Intune displays a message
"This device is a Windows Autopilot device. Devices deployed with Windows Autopilot cannot be removed in the Microsoft Entra Admin Center."
However, when checking the Autopilot section, the device does not appear. This behavior may be caused by a desynchronization or an object management problem.
Solution: Deletion via Microsoft Graph Explorer
Step 1: Identify the device object ID
- Render
- Find the affected device and note its Object ID .
Step 2: Use Microsoft Graph Explorer to find the object
- Go to [Microsoft Graph Explorer]
- Log in with an account that has Global Admin and Device.ReadWrite.All permissions .
- Perform a query
GET
using the device object ID:https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/devices/{ObjectID}
Replace{ObjectID}
with the copied ID.
![Solution: Deletion via Microsoft Graph Explorer
Step 1: Identify the device object ID
Render
Find the affected device and note its Object ID .
Step 2: Use Microsoft Graph Explorer to find the object
Go to [Microsoft Graph Explorer]
Log in with an account that has Global Admin and Device.ReadWrite.All permissions .
Perform a query GET using the device object ID: https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/devices/{ObjectID} Replace {ObjectID} with the copied ID.](https://msendpoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/image-8.png)
Step 3: Check the results
- If the object still exists, it will be returned by the query.
- This confirms that the device is still registered in Entra, even if it does not appear in the GUI.
Step 4: Delete the object with a DELETE query
- Replace the method
GET
withDELETE
in Graph Explorer.

- Run the query to permanently delete the object: DELETE
https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/devices/{ObjectID}
- If the deletion is successful, you will see a response with the code
204 - No Content
.

Conclusion
This Autopilot device deletion issue in Intune is unusual but can be resolved effectively via Microsoft Graph. By following these steps, you can work around the limitations of the GUI and clean up the problematic objects in your Azure AD environment.
If you have any further difficulties, please ensure that your account has the necessary permissions and that your request is correctly formulated.