Does deleting a Microsoft account delete all data associated with that account from Microsoft servers?

Question

Does deleting a Microsoft account delete all data associated with that account from Microsoft servers?

Such as photos, files, emails, teams posts/messages, anything saved on one drive & and all data on associated services such as Skype, teams etc.

Answer 1

Yes, deleting your Microsoft account will eventually remove most of the data associated with it from Microsoft servers.

Some data may take some time like onedrive data (60 days). Consider downloading your data beforehand and choosing the appropriate closure option based on your needs.

Answer 2

Hello,

 

Thank you for posting in Q&A forum.

Deleting a Microsoft account does not necessarily immediately delete all data associated with the account from the Microsoft server. According to Microsoft's policies and data retention practices, the following are some data types and their processing methods that may be affected:

Photos and files: Data stored on OneDrive may be retained for a period of time after account deletion. So that users have the opportunity to recover their accounts before they close.

Email: Email data in email accounts associated with Outlook.com (or other Microsoft mail services) may be retained for a period of time after account deletion. Similarly, users typically have a period of time to recover these emails.

Teams Posts/Messages: Messages and posts in Microsoft Teams may be retained for a period of time after account deletion to ensure data consistency and record retention.

Data in OneDrive: Files and data stored on OneDrive will be retained for a period of time after account deletion. According to Microsoft's policy, users can recover this data within a certain period of time.

Overall, data will not be permanently deleted immediately after deleting a Microsoft account. Microsoft typically retains data for a period of time, allowing users to recover data before the account is closed. The specific retention period and recovery options may vary depending on the data type and service. It is recommended to backup important data before deleting an account and carefully read Microsoft's policies on data deletion and recovery.

 

Best regards，

Jill Zhou

 

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