Downgrade subscription

Question

how do I downgrade my subscription from family to personal without losing my current settings?

Answer 1

The process to downgrade your subscription from the Family version of Microsoft 365 to the Personal version is provided on this link.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/switch-between-microsoft-365-subscriptions-3fcc1efc-2722-427f-8efa-db94b9b0a36b

To downgrade from a version of Microsoft 365 to a version with less features, you basically need to cancel the current Family subscription, get a refund (if applicable) then take out the new Personal subscription.

Provided you use the exact same Microsoft account for the new subscription, you will not loose your settings or access to your files or 1TB of OneDrive storage online.

Answer 2

To downgrade from Microsoft 365 Family to Microsoft 365 Personal and keep settings (files, email, OneDrive content, etc.), change only the subscription, not the Microsoft account.

There are two supported ways in the context:

1. Switch by cancelling and choosing a plan with fewer features
   This keeps the same account and data; only the plan changes.
   1. Go to the Subscriptions tab at https://account.microsoft.com/services and sign in with the Microsoft account that currently has Microsoft 365 Family.
   2. Find the Microsoft 365 Family subscription and select Manage.
   3. Select Cancel subscription.
   4. On the Cancel page, choose the Microsoft 365 subscription with fewer features (Microsoft 365 Personal) that works for your needs.
   5. Follow the instructions to complete the switch.
   The subscription will stay on Family until the current term ends, then automatically change to Personal. Files, OneDrive contents, and account settings remain with the same Microsoft account; only Family‑specific benefits (like sharing with others and higher storage if applicable) are removed.
2. Switch using a new Microsoft 365 Personal product key (if already purchased)
   1. Go to https://setup.office.com/ and sign in with the same Microsoft account that currently has Microsoft 365 Family.
   2. Enter the new Microsoft 365 Personal product key.
   3. When prompted, choose the option to switch to the new subscription.
   When adding a different subscription to an account that already has one, the account is switched to the new plan and the subscription benefits are updated. Settings and data under that account remain.

If a Microsoft 365 Personal key is applied to an account that currently has Microsoft 365 Family, there may be a choice to stay with Family or convert to Personal; after converting, sharing benefits are removed but the account and its data stay intact.

To avoid losing anything, always:

• Use the same Microsoft account when switching.
• Do not delete or close the Microsoft account; only change/cancel the subscription.

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References:

• Switch between Microsoft 365 subscriptions
• What happens if I add another Microsoft 365 for home subscription to my account?