IT Employee Offboarding Checklist

Overview

A structured IT offboarding process is one of the most overlooked security controls. When an employee departs without a complete offboarding workflow, you risk orphaned accounts, lingering access, unrecovered licenses, and compliance violations.

Every departure — voluntary or involuntary — must follow this checklist. Assign an IT lead, track each step, and get sign-off before closing the offboarding ticket. The cost of a missed step is real: unused licenses waste budget, stale accounts invite credential-stuffing attacks, and unrecovered data can violate retention policies.

1. Pre-Departure Preparation

Complete these items as soon as the departure is confirmed. Ideally 5-10 business days before the last working day.

• Confirm last working day with HR — Verify the exact departure date, whether the employee will work through it or be placed on garden leave

• Schedule knowledge transfer sessions — Arrange handover meetings for projects, passwords, and process documentation

• Identify data and file ownership transfer targets — Determine who inherits OneDrive files, shared mailbox access, and project ownership

• Create offboarding ticket in IT service desk — Log a formal ticket with all tasks, assigned owners, and due dates

• Notify relevant teams — Alert finance (license reclaim), facilities (badge/key return), and security (access review)

• Inventory all accounts and access — Document every system, SaaS app, and shared resource the employee currently accesses

  # List all group memberships for the departing user
  Get-ADPrincipalGroupMembership -Identity "jsmith" | Select-Object Name

• Determine legal hold requirements — Check with legal/compliance whether any data must be preserved for litigation or regulatory holds

2. Account Deactivation

Disable accounts on the employee's last working day. Never delete accounts immediately — retain them for audit trails and legal holds.

• Disable AD/Entra ID account — Disable the account immediately; do NOT delete — retain for legal hold and audit trails

  Disable-ADAccount -Identity "jsmith"

• Convert mailbox to shared mailbox — Convert before removing the license so the mailbox data is preserved

  Set-Mailbox -Identity "jsmith@contoso.com" -Type Shared

• Remove Microsoft 365 license — Reclaim the E3/E5/Business license after converting the mailbox

  # Remove license via Microsoft Graph PowerShell
  Set-MgUserLicense -UserId "jsmith@contoso.com" -RemoveLicenses @("ENTERPRISEPACK") -AddLicenses @{}

• Disable SaaS application accounts — Deactivate access in CRM, ERP, ticketing system, and any role-specific platforms

• Revoke OAuth/API tokens and app registrations — Remove any registered applications or API keys tied to the user

  # Revoke all refresh tokens for the user
  Revoke-MgUserSignInSession -UserId "jsmith@contoso.com"

• Remove from distribution lists and shared mailboxes — Clean up all group memberships in Exchange Online

  # Remove from all distribution groups
  Get-DistributionGroup | Where-Object { (Get-DistributionGroupMember $_.Identity | Where-Object {$_.PrimarySmtpAddress -eq "jsmith@contoso.com"}) } | ForEach-Object { Remove-DistributionGroupMember -Identity $_.Identity -Member "jsmith@contoso.com" -Confirm:$false }

3. Access Revocation

Systematically remove all access. This is the highest-priority security step — any missed access point is a potential breach vector.

• Remove from all security groups — Strip every AD/Entra security group membership to revoke resource access

  Get-ADPrincipalGroupMembership -Identity "jsmith" | Where-Object { $_.Name -ne "Domain Users" } | ForEach-Object { Remove-ADGroupMember -Identity $_ -Members "jsmith" -Confirm:$false }

• Revoke VPN access certificates — Remove or revoke the VPN client certificate and delete the VPN profile assignment

• Reset/remove MFA registration — Clear all MFA methods (Authenticator app, phone, FIDO2 keys) from the account

  # Remove all authentication methods
  Get-MgUserAuthenticationMethod -UserId "jsmith@contoso.com" | ForEach-Object { Remove-MgUserAuthenticationMethod -UserId "jsmith@contoso.com" -AuthenticationMethodId $_.Id }

• Disable Conditional Access exclusions — Remove the user from any CA policy exclusion lists they may have been added to

• Revoke remote desktop and SSH access — Remove from Remote Desktop Users groups and revoke any SSH key access

• Remove from privileged access groups — Remove from admin, helpdesk, and any elevated-privilege groups (check PIM assignments too)

  # Check for active PIM role assignments
  Get-MgRoleManagementDirectoryRoleAssignment -Filter "principalId eq '$userId'"

• Rotate shared credentials the employee had access to — Change any shared passwords, service account credentials, or Wi-Fi PSKs the employee knew

4. Device Recovery & Wipe

Recover all company hardware and ensure no company data remains on personal devices.

• Collect laptop and peripherals — Schedule hardware return for the last day; use a signed equipment return form

• Remote wipe mobile devices via Intune — Wipe any enrolled personal or corporate mobile devices

  # Intune remote wipe via Microsoft Graph
  Invoke-MgDeviceManagementManagedDeviceWipe -ManagedDeviceId $deviceId

• Verify BitLocker recovery keys are escrowed — Confirm encryption keys are stored in AD/Entra before wiping the device

  # Check BitLocker recovery keys in AD
  Get-ADObject -Filter {objectClass -eq "msFVE-RecoveryInformation"} -SearchBase "CN=jsmith,OU=Users,DC=contoso,DC=com" -Properties msFVE-RecoveryPassword

• Remove device from Intune/MDM enrollment — Delete the device record from Intune after confirming the wipe completed

  # Remove device from Intune
  Remove-MgDeviceManagementManagedDevice -ManagedDeviceId $deviceId

• Update asset management records — Mark the asset as returned, unassigned, and available for redeployment

• Reclaim all physical items — Dock, monitors, headset, access badge, keys, parking pass, and any other company property

• Remove device from corporate Wi-Fi certificate store — Revoke the 802.1X machine certificate if applicable

5. Data Management

Transfer, archive, or delete data according to retention policies. Do not skip this — data loss or improper handling can have legal consequences.

• Export/archive mailbox to PST — If required for legal hold, export the mailbox before any conversions

  # Create mailbox export request
  New-MailboxExportRequest -Mailbox "jsmith@contoso.com" -FilePath "\\fileserver\archives\jsmith.pst"

• Transfer OneDrive files to manager — Grant the manager access to the departing employee's OneDrive for Business

  # Transfer OneDrive ownership via SharePoint admin
  Set-SPOUser -Site "https://contoso-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jsmith_contoso_com" -LoginName "manager@contoso.com" -IsSiteCollectionAdmin $true

• Set email auto-reply and redirect — Configure an out-of-office reply informing senders, then forward to the manager

  # Set auto-reply on the shared mailbox
  Set-MailboxAutoReplyConfiguration -Identity "jsmith@contoso.com" -AutoReplyState Enabled -ExternalMessage "This employee is no longer with the company. Please contact manager@contoso.com." -InternalMessage "This employee has departed. Please contact manager@contoso.com."

• Transfer shared drive and folder ownership — Reassign ownership of Teams channels, SharePoint sites, and shared folders

• Remove personal files from company devices — Verify personal data is cleared before reimaging the device

• Archive Teams chats and channel data — Export relevant Teams data if needed for compliance or project continuity

• Verify cloud storage cleanup — Check for files in third-party cloud services (Dropbox, Google Drive, Box) if permitted by policy

6. Security Verification

Run post-deactivation audits to confirm zero residual access. Perform these checks within 24 hours of the last working day.

• Run final sign-in audit — Check for any authentication attempts after the account was disabled

  # Check Entra ID sign-in logs for activity after disable date
  Get-MgAuditLogSignIn -Filter "userPrincipalName eq 'jsmith@contoso.com'" -Top 10 | Select-Object CreatedDateTime, Status, AppDisplayName

• Verify no active sessions remain — Force-terminate any lingering browser sessions, app tokens, or cached credentials

• Check for forwarding rules on mailbox — Look for hidden inbox rules that could be exfiltrating email

  # Check for suspicious inbox rules
  Get-InboxRule -Mailbox "jsmith@contoso.com" | Where-Object { $_.ForwardTo -or $_.RedirectTo -or $_.ForwardAsAttachmentTo }

• Audit data downloads in last 30 days — Review DLP alerts, SharePoint access logs, and cloud app activity for unusual downloads

• Verify EDR agent marked device as offline — Confirm the endpoint detection agent shows the device is no longer active on the network

7. Compliance & Sign-Off

Final administrative steps to formally close the offboarding process.

• Confirm NDA and non-compete acknowledgment — Verify the departing employee has signed or been reminded of post-employment obligations

• Complete exit interview IT section — Document any IT-related feedback, concerns, or unresolved issues

• Get manager sign-off on offboarding checklist — Manager reviews and confirms all access has been revoked and hardware returned

• Document any exceptions or deferred items — Log anything that could not be completed immediately (e.g., pending legal hold, delayed hardware return)

• Schedule 30-day post-departure review — Set a calendar reminder to re-audit the account, verify no reactivation, and confirm license reclamation

  # Verify account is still disabled after 30 days
  Get-ADUser -Identity "jsmith" -Properties Enabled, LastLogonDate | Select-Object Name, Enabled, LastLogonDate

Quick Reference

Onboarding Counterpart

This checklist is the reverse of the employee onboarding process. When a new hire joins, use the IT Employee Onboarding Checklist to provision accounts, deploy hardware, configure security, and verify access — ensuring a consistent, secure start from day one.