Two Microsoft Accounts

Question

Hi,

I have two Microsoft accounts. This likely happened when we got a new computer, updated to Windows 11 and used our recently changed email address. The old Microsoft account is the one that we pay the annual fee on for extra storage.

The new computer is only recognising the newer Microsoft account and advising our storage is full. How do I resolve this so the computer is using the Microsoft account that we pay the annual fee for for increased storage.

I hope that makes sense.... if not here is a summary of what I am trying to query.

Account 1 - pay annual fee for extra storage but under old email address and will not let me update the address to our new one

Account 2 - has the free Microsoft storage which is full and under the new email address

I need to have the computer use the Microsoft account that we pay for to get increased storage, it would be best if the accounts can be moved into one account.

Any help is appreciated.

Answer 1

Hello

Microsoft doesn't allow merging accounts, but I think we can work out some migration within what's technically possible.

Before I go into the specific, Regarding account B, the email address you use to sign into it, is it an outlook.com address, or a third party email address ? Please let me know as that affects whether you can bring the email address to account A.

Answer 2

Personal Microsoft accounts and Microsoft 365 work or school accounts, as well as multiple personal Microsoft accounts, cannot be merged or combined into a single account. Subscriptions, storage, purchases, and data cannot be transferred between accounts.

To use the storage from the account that has the paid subscription (Account 1) on the new computer, the device and apps must be signed in with that same Microsoft account, not the newer one (Account 2). The accounts can only be used side by side:

1. Keep using Account 1 for the Microsoft 365 subscription and extra storage.
2. On the Windows 11 PC, sign out of the newer account where it is used for OneDrive/Office, and sign in with Account 1 instead so that OneDrive and Outlook use the paid storage.
3. If needed, add the other account only as an additional email in Outlook (for sending/receiving mail), but not as the main Microsoft account for OneDrive or subscription.

If the goal is simply to have both email addresses available, use them side by side rather than trying to merge them. It is not possible to link, merge, or combine the two Microsoft personal accounts into one, and the subscription cannot be moved between them.

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References:

• Combining Microsoft accounts
• Which account do you want to use?
• Changes to Microsoft 365 email features and storage