A Hotmail address opened in 1999 is still a Microsoft account today, and it may be the login for far more than email. The same account can hold the person's OneDrive files and photos, their Xbox, their Office subscription, their Skype credit and the sign in for the family computer. Microsoft has a clear process for families, but it is one of the stricter ones, and it starts with a rule that surprises people: Microsoft will not give anyone the password.
This guide explains what the account covers, the inactivity rule that quietly deletes everything, Microsoft's next of kin process, and what to do if you already have access to a signed in computer.
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One Account, Many Services
Outlook.com, Hotmail, Live and MSN email addresses are all Microsoft accounts. The same account signs in to OneDrive, Microsoft 365 (Word, Excel and the rest), Xbox and Game Pass, Skype, Minecraft, the Microsoft Store, and Windows itself on the person's PC. Closing the account closes all of them at once, so the order of operations matters.
LinkedIn is owned by Microsoft but runs its own separate process, which our LinkedIn guide covers. A work or university email that ends in the employer's domain is not a personal Microsoft account at all, and the section at the end explains who to ask.
The Two Year Inactivity Rule
Under Microsoft's services agreement, an account that nobody signs in to for two years can be closed, and the email and OneDrive files inside it deleted. For some families that is welcome, because the account tidies itself away with no paperwork. For others it is a deadline, because the photos in OneDrive and the emails in the inbox go with it. If anything in the account matters, act well inside the two years, and do not rely on the rule in either direction, because a paid subscription or a device that still signs in automatically can keep the account active.
Microsoft's Next of Kin Process
Microsoft's position is simple. It will not give a family member the password or sign them in, whatever documents they hold. What it will do, through what it calls the next of kin process, is close the account on request, and in many countries release a copy of the contents of an Outlook.com, Hotmail, Live or MSN mailbox, meaning the emails, attachments and contacts, to the next of kin or the executor. The copy is sent on physical media or by another secure route once the paperwork has been checked.
The death certificate, your own photo ID, and proof that you are the next of kin or the person handling the estate: a grant of probate, letters of administration, letters testamentary in the US, or a will that names you. Microsoft will also want the person's email address, full name, date of birth, and, if you know them, the approximate date the account was created and any phone number or alternative email attached to it.
At the time of writing the next of kin team is reached by email at msrecord@microsoft.com, and Microsoft support can also route you to it. Say whether you want the account closed, the mailbox contents released, or both. Ask for a case number in the first reply.
Microsoft verifies the documents carefully and may ask for more. Release of mailbox contents is not available in every country, and Microsoft decides case by case. Closure alone is usually straightforward once the death certificate has been accepted.
If You Have Access to a Signed In Device
If the person's laptop or phone is unlocked and already signed in, you can save what matters and close the account yourself, with the same caution that applies everywhere: Microsoft's terms allow only the account holder to use the account, so this is a practical route rather than an official one.
First, export the email. On the Outlook desktop app, use the export option to save the mailbox as a file. On Outlook.com in a browser, the Privacy and data section of Settings offers a mailbox export. Second, download the OneDrive folder in full, including the Pictures folder, which is where Windows and the phone often back up photos automatically. Third, cancel the subscriptions on the Services and subscriptions page at account.microsoft.com and remove the saved payment methods. Then use the Close account page at account.microsoft.com. Microsoft holds a closed account for sixty days, during which signing in reopens it, and deletes it after that.
OneDrive, Photos and Files
OneDrive deserves its own line because it is where the irreplaceable things live. Windows offers to back up the Desktop, Documents and Pictures folders to OneDrive during setup, and many people said yes years ago and never thought about it again. Whether you close the account by hand or through the next of kin process, the files are deleted with it, so download them first or ask Microsoft what it can release.
Xbox, Game Pass and Microsoft 365
Subscriptions keep billing until they are cancelled or the card stops working. Game Pass, Microsoft 365 Personal and Family, and Xbox subscriptions can all be cancelled from the Services and subscriptions page if you have access, or by asking Microsoft support. Games and apps bought on the account are licences that cannot be moved to another person. If the person organised a Microsoft 365 Family plan, everyone in it loses Office when the plan lapses, so another family member may want to start their own before that happens. Our subscriptions guide covers the rest of the household.
Work and School Accounts
An email address at an employer or a university runs on Microsoft 365 for organisations, and it belongs to the organisation, not the person. Microsoft cannot help with it. Contact the employer's IT or HR department, which can forward mail to a colleague, retrieve files the family needs, and close the account under its own policy. Do the same for Teams, SharePoint and any other work systems.
Or Let Us Handle All of It
Departed Digital manages the whole process for families: Microsoft, Google, Apple, Facebook, Instagram, Amazon, PayPal and any other platform, in one case. You send the documents once, we run every request and chase every silence until each account is closed or memorialised, and you receive a written record of everything for the family and the estate.
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