Merge duplicate account

Question

I have two duplicate accounts (with same name, contact, email address), need help to merge the two accounts.

Answer 1

Hi, I'm John!

To help narrow down the issue:

1. What accounts are you referring to? Is this a Microsoft account, or something inside a Microsoft service like Outlook, OneDrive, or Microsoft 365?
2. Are you able to sign in to both accounts separately?
3. Or do you see two profiles under the same account somewhere? Where exactly are you seeing the duplicates?

It’s important to know because Microsoft accounts themselves cannot actually be merged. Usually the solution is to move data from one account to the other and then stop using the duplicate.

Answer 2

Microsoft accounts themselves cannot be merged. Purchases, subscriptions, and data from one Microsoft account cannot be combined into another.

The only supported options are:

1. Keep using both accounts separately, each with its own data and subscriptions.
2. If one account is not needed and has no important data or purchases, close that Microsoft account and optionally add its email address as an alias to the account that will be kept (only possible when the email is not an Outlook.com address and is no longer associated with any Microsoft account).
3. For Outlook.com email addresses specifically, they cannot be moved from one Microsoft account to another, and closing the account does not free the address for reuse on a different Microsoft account.

For scenarios like certifications or Learn profiles, content can sometimes be moved by linking profiles as described in the certification merge guidance, but this does not merge the underlying Microsoft accounts themselves.

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References:

• I realize I have 2 different accounts. How do I combine the 2? - Microsoft Q&A
• How to add an existing outlook.com account to my existing microsoft account? - Microsoft Q&A
• I need assistence on merging my certification - Microsoft Q&A