Merge personal with Microsoft business basic?

Question

I’ve had Microsoft Personal for years, it’s got all my photos, study notes etc. When I decided to open my small business I bought the Business Basic but from what I understand if I now can my personal account, I will lose all of my data?

I thought I’d be able to merge them but apparently you cant do that either. The only thing I can think of is to save everything from my personal Microsoft account onto a hard drive and then upload it into Business basic but I don’t know if that will work.

Has anyone had the same issue and solved it? I’d love your help!

Answer 1

So I recommend you to:

• If you cancel your Personal subscription, you won’t instantly lose your stuff. Your files will stay in OneDrive, but if you’re using more than the free 5GB limit, they’ll be read-only after the grace period until you either free up space or resubscribe. If you actually delete the account, then yes — everything tied to it (emails, files, photos) eventually gets wiped.
• The only way to move things into your Business account is manually. Easiest way is either:
  • Download everything to your computer and re-upload it into OneDrive for Business, or
  • Use the OneDrive app, sign in with both accounts, and just drag files from one folder to the other. That way you don’t have to shuffle them through a hard drive.
• Email, calendar, and contacts don’t transfer automatically either. If you’ve been using Outlook.com on your personal account, you’d need to export/import or set up forwarding.

Most small business owners I know just keep both accounts active: Personal for photos, family, personal purchases — Business for everything work-related. That way nothing gets lost, and you’ve got a clean separation between your personal life and your business.