How to delete your Microsoft account and personal information associated with it

When you signed up for an Xbox gamertag, you associated that account with a Microsoft account. This is required for all Xbox Live content downloads and services.

For more information about Microsoft account management, including how to change the Microsoft account linked to your gamertag, see Manage account support. Be aware that you can’t currently move a gamertag from one Microsoft account to another.

Note If you only want to close your Microsoft account, go to How to close your Microsoft account.

• Remove your friends:
  1. In a web browser, sign in at the Xbox friends page.
  2. Locate and select the friend you want to remove.
  3. Select Remove.
  4. Select Yes.
  5. Repeat for all friends.

  To remove your friends using your console, follow the steps under "Remove a friend" at Find friends and connect on Xbox Live.

• Clear your profile information:
  1. Sign in at the Edit profile page.
  2. Select Customize profile.
  3. Change the personalized fields of the profile.
  4. Select Save to save the changes.
• Change the name on your billing contact information:
  1. Sign in at My account.
  2. Select Payment & billing (you may be prompted to enter a code sent to you that is associated with your Microsoft account).
  3. Select Billing info, and select Edit profile.
  4. Change the first name on the account to "Close" and change the last name to "Account."
  5. Select Save to save the changes. (This can also be performed on a console.)
• Remove your payment options:
  1. Sign in at My account.
  2. Select Payment & billing (you may be prompted to enter a code sent to you that is associated with your Microsoft account).
  3. Select Payment options.
  4. Select your payment option, and then select Remove.
• Set your preferred contact information at the Microsoft profile center:
  1. In a web browser, sign in at the Profile center. Make sure that you sign in with your Microsoft account.
  2. Select My profile and My personal information to set or remove any personal information.
  3. Select Manage communications to set or remove contact preferences.

Now that your Xbox account has been moved to a new Microsoft account, you can close the original account.

For individual accounts

To completely remove your Microsoft account, you must first remove your personal information from that account, as described earlier in this article. Removing your Microsoft account information will close the account. Be aware that once you close your Microsoft account, you cannot reopen it. When this process is complete, all content associated with this account, including paid downloadable content, Zune content, access to saved games, and achievements, will be permanently deleted.

Also note that your current Microsoft account and gamertag will not be available for any future Xbox Live accounts. All information will be permanently removed.

1. Make sure that there are no outstanding subscriptions or payments due on the account.
2. Sign in at Microsoft account.
3. Select Security, and then scroll down to more security settings.
4. At the bottom of the page, select Close my account.
5. Select Next.
6. Review and check all the boxes on the page.
7. From the drop-down menu, select a reason for closing your account, and then select Mark account for closure.
8. Problems closing the account:

• If you have trouble closing the account due to existing subscriptions, this means you haven't moved your Xbox account to a new Microsoft account. Follow step 5 of “Remove your personal information” above to move your Xbox account.
• For other problems, see Microsoft account help.

For family or child accounts

If you want to close a Microsoft account that is a parent of a child account, that child account must be moved to a new account before you can close the current account.