Account holder deceased

Question

How do i delete the account of a relative who is deceased

Answer 1

For a deceased relative’s Microsoft account, the options depend on whether the credentials are available.

1. If the account credentials are known
   • Sign in to the Microsoft account as usual.
   • Follow the steps in How to close your Microsoft account (see that article from the support page) to close the account.
   • After closing, the account can be reopened within 60 days by signing in again; after 60 days, the account and its data are permanently deleted.
2. If the account credentials are not known
   • Microsoft generally cannot provide access or make changes for non-account holders for privacy and legal reasons.
   • Any Microsoft subscriptions tied to that account should be stopped via the bank or card issuer (for example, by cancelling the card, closing the bank account, or revoking payment authorizations), since they cannot be managed without signing in.
   • Outlook.com and OneDrive:
     • The Outlook.com and OneDrive services for that account are frozen after 1 year of inactivity.
     • Email and OneDrive files are deleted shortly after the account is frozen.
   • The Microsoft account itself expires and is automatically closed after 2 years of inactivity.
3. Regional/legal options
   • Some regions have specific legal paths (for example, court orders or proof of legal succession) to request access to a deceased person’s account. These are described under the “Regional variations” section of the same support article and require formal documentation.

If this is an organizational Microsoft 365 user (employee) account rather than a personal Microsoft account, an admin can:

1. Go to the Microsoft 365 admin center → Users → Active users.
2. Select the user and delete the user account.
3. Decide what to do with the user’s email and OneDrive content (for example, convert the mailbox to a shared mailbox and assign access to another user, and manage OneDrive content as described in the admin guidance).

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References:

• Accessing Outlook.com, OneDrive and other Microsoft services when someone has died
• Delete a user from your organization
• Respond to personal data deletion requests (Microsoft account)
• Cancel subscription of someone who died and we don't have their account information - Microsoft Q&A
• How to Cancel Microsoft 365 subscription if you do not have account info? Or get anyone to help? - Microsoft Q&A

Answer 2

I am sorry for your loss, if you know the password to access the account, then you can use the steps provided on this link to close the account.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/accounts-billing/manage/how-to-close-your-microsoft-account
If you do not know the password to access the Microsoft account, if you have access to their Email then try using the steps on this link to reset the account password.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/account-billing/reset-a-forgotten-microsoft-account-password-eff4f067-5042-c1a3-fe72-b04d60556c37

If you are still unable to access the account, then this is basically a legal process that must be entered into to access the account, that information is provided on this link.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/accounts-billing/manage/accessing-outlook-com-onedrive-and-other-microsoft-services-when-someone-has-died