accessing subscription

Question

I used the microsoft subscription with an email that I no longer have access. My subscription has 6 users so I tried to access the subscription with my personal email and it says that I already have access, but I do not. What do I need to do so that I can use the subscription on my personal email?

Answer 1

Hi, I'm John! I will help you with this.

You can’t access or move a Microsoft subscription without signing in to the original account that owns it. It’s tied to that account.

Have you had a chance to try the Microsoft Account Recovery form yet? That’s currently the only official way to recover your account. It lets you prove your identity by answering questions about your account. You can try it up to twice a day: https://account.live.com/acsr

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If recovery doesn’t work for weeks, there’s no way to transfer that subscription to your personal email. You’ll need to contact your bank or card provider to stop the recurring charge.

• Contact your bank or card provider and ask them to block or stop the recurring charge.
• Wait for the current billing period to end so the subscription expires.
• After it expires, purchase a new subscription using your personal email that you have access to.
• If your personal email says it “already has access,” sign in at https://account.microsoft.com/services and check if there’s an active or expired subscription listed.
• Also check if your personal email was added as a member before (family/shared). If yes, try accessing the apps (Word, Excel) while signed in with that email.

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Should you need further information please let know.

I really hope this information is helpful! Let me know if you have any further questions or concerns.

Regards,

John J.D.

Answer 2

The subscription and all licenses stay tied to the Microsoft account that was used to buy/activate the subscription. It is not possible to merge or move purchases and data from one Microsoft account to another.

To use the subscription with the personal email, the subscription must either:

1. Still be accessible with the original Microsoft account
   • If the original account is a Microsoft account (for example, an Outlook.com or Gmail-based Microsoft account) and the password is forgotten, use the sign‑in helper and account recovery options to regain access to that account.
   • Once signed in with the original account at https://account.microsoft.com/services, manage the Microsoft 365 subscription and confirm which account owns it.
2. Or be cancelled on the old account and a new subscription purchased on the personal account
   • If access to the old account cannot be recovered, the existing subscription cannot be moved to the personal account. In that case, cancel the old subscription (if possible) once access is restored, and then purchase/activate a new Microsoft 365 subscription under the personal Microsoft account.

If there are two separate Microsoft accounts (for example, one with a Gmail sign‑in and one with a personal Outlook/Live address), they cannot be combined. At most, an email address can be added as an alias to another Microsoft account, but existing subscriptions and data from the old account will not transfer.

To manage or verify which subscription is active on each account, sign in to https://account.microsoft.com/services with each Microsoft account separately and check the listed Microsoft 365 subscriptions and renewal dates.

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References:

• Where can I manage my Microsoft 365 subscription?
• I realize I have 2 different accounts. How do I combine the 2? - Microsoft Q&A
• I am paying for two subscriptions - Microsoft Q&A
• Problems renewing a Microsoft 365 subscription