Microsoft Subscription Query 2

Question

I have just bought a new HP laptop. The purchase includes a Microsoft 365 Personal subscription for 12 months. I already have a Family subscription that is due to renew mid-January 2026. I haven't started the Personal subscription yet. Can I start the free Personal subscription and then upgrade this to a Family subscription? Do I need to cancel my existing Family subscription first?

Answer 1

You can start your new Microsoft 365 Personal subscription without needing to cancel your existing Family subscription. When you upgrade from a Personal subscription to a Family subscription, the remaining time on your Personal subscription will be converted into a prorated amount of time added to your Family subscription. Therefore, you can activate the Personal subscription first and later upgrade it to Family without any issues. Just ensure to follow the upgrade process when you're ready to make that change.

---

References:

• Cancel your subscription in the Microsoft 365 admin center

Answer 2

Hello Thomas Lane,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum

To answer your question, yes, you can start the free Personal subscription and then switch/upgrade to Family using the same Microsoft account. When you move to a plan with more features, you do not need to cancel first, the remaining time on Personal is converted and added to Family.

You can refer to this site for more info: Switch between Microsoft 365 subscriptions

If you have more questions, feel free reply back to this post, I'll be happy to help

Answer 3

Hello Xavier,

I'm still struggling a bit with this. For some reason I can no longer claim the free Windows 365 Personal subscription. I can see the 'Claim' button to do this on the Microsoft store. When I click on the claim button, Word opens but then nothing happens after Word opens. Any thoughts?

Thanks for your help, Thomas.