I have 2 microsoft accounts with the same email address. How do I clear up or merge the accounts

Question

I think I have mistakenly created 2 different microsoft accounts with the same email address and would like to merge or remove one. Is there a way to do this?

Answer 1

I don't know how the second account was added it was paid $62 and some change I'm not using it

Answer 2

how do I set up an alias to my account

Answer 3

Sometimes, Microsoft log-in may think that a personal account is in fact an organization/business one. I don't know the exact criteria, but I am assuming it has to do with the domain. I ran into this years ago when I tried to use a student account for personal log-ins.

Are you seeing messages that asks you to confirm if your account is a personal or an organization one, when you try to sign in? Or what happens?

Creating an @outlook.com alias may work around the issue.

Answer 4

Dear @Ron Waltman,

Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Q&A Forum.

I understand that you're having an issue with Microsoft accounts sharing the same email address. This situation usually arises when you have a Personal Microsoft account (for services like Xbox, Skype, personal OneDrive, or personal Office 365 subscriptions) and a Work or School Microsoft 365 account that both use the same email address (e.g., your work email address). Unfortunately, Microsoft currently does not offer a direct way to merge two separate Microsoft accounts, whether they are both personal accounts or a personal and a work/school account, even if they share the same email address. However, you can take steps to resolve the conflict and effectively use just one of the accounts:

The most common and recommended way to resolve having two accounts with the same email is to rename your Personal Microsoft account by changing its primary sign-in alias.

 

Step 1: Rename the Personal Microsoft Account

You'll need to change the email address used to sign in to the Personal account to an address that is not currently associated with any Microsoft account (e.g., a new free Outlook.com email address).

1. Go to the Microsoft Account website and sign in to the Personal account. If you see the "Which account do you want to use?" prompt, select the Personal account option.
2. Navigate to the Your info section.
3. Click on Manage how you sign in to Microsoft (under Account info). You may need to verify your identity.
4. Under Account aliases, you should see the email address causing the conflict.
5. Add a new alias: Click Add email and either create a new Outlook.com email address or use an existing, non-Microsoft email address (like a Gmail address) that isn't tied to any other Microsoft account.
6. Once the new alias is added, click Make primary next to the new email address.
7. Remove the conflicting email: Click Remove next to the original, conflicting email address. This frees up that email to be exclusively used by the other account (likely your Work/School account) for signing in.

 

Step 2: Choose to Keep or Close the Accounts

After renaming your Personal account in Step 1, you can decide how to proceed with the two accounts:

Keep both separate:

• Keep the renamed Personal account and the original Work/School account.
• You'll sign into the Personal account with the new alias and the Work/School account with the original email. This lets you keep all data and subscriptions separate.

Delete the Personal account:

• If you don't need the Personal account, follow the process to close it after renaming it.
• Caution: Closing an account results in the permanent loss of all data, files, and subscriptions linked to it (e.g., OneDrive files, Skype credits, Xbox purchases) after a 60-day waiting period. Make sure to back up all data and transfer any purchased subscriptions before you proceed.

For reference: Which account do you want to use? - Microsoft Support

I hope this information helps clarify the situation and provides you with workable solutions. Should you have any further questions or need additional assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out. We're always here to help. Have a wonderful day! 

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