Inaccessability of an existing account

Question

I have 2 Microsoft accounts, this one being one of them (henceforth Acc1), and the other being for my other Gmail account (It was partially migrated with my Mojang account in late May of 2022)

, and I have been using that account, along with this one ever since. It was also my main login for Forza Horizon, and other odd Microsoft owned games here and there.

I was using my second account (hence forth Account2) last week when I logged into my Minecraft account on my brothers PC so that he can play with friends, it (obviously or maybe not) worked, and he was able to play for about 2 days. After which it asked for him to sign-in again, I then went to re-enter the account and the password, and it came up with a "we can't find this account".

So, I tried to recover it using the recover your username feature, to which when I input my email, I receive absolutely nothing after the "input the code that we have sent to your email" screen. So I decided then, maybe I try to see if the account exist by creating another one using the same email, and lo-and-behold.

So ultimately, the question is.

1. Does this account exist?
2. If it does, can it be recovered?
   1. if it doesn't, why not and then what happens/ed to all of the purchases on that email?

As additional context, I also used Account2 as the recovery email for Acc1. It was also used as another "ways to prove who you are" email for Acc1. It has since been removed from Acc1.

I have also tried to follow all of "Sign-in Helper Tool" (not that it helped), and it never did anything.

It just kind of stayed this way. (I waited 30 minutes... it literally didn't change, there was also pretty much no traffic from Microsoft during this time either)

Thank you so much in advance, I understand if people here aren't able to recover it. At this point I assume I will need to repurchase anything that I may want on a second account.

Answer 1

Hello dt,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum.

Please note that this is a user-to-user support forum. Moderators, contributors including external Microsoft employees cannot directly intervene in Microsoft product features or access back-end systems. Our role is limited to providing technical guidance on reported issues, requests, or ideas. In this case, In this case, you can try to contact Microsoft Support, they might be able to help you locate the account with the gamertag.

• Type Live chat in the search box. 
• Now click Get help, and Select Contact Support or Sign in to contact support below. 
• Go to the Products and services tab, and choose Other products
• On the Category tab, choose Billing and Account Profile questions 
• Go to Confirm. 
• You can now choose the option of Chat with a support agent on your web browser. 

Thank you for your understanding.

Answer 2

Yes, the behavior described indicates the email address is still associated with a Microsoft account. Microsoft’s sign-in guidance states that if sign-in says “We couldn't find an account with that username” or “That Microsoft account doesn't exist”, the next step is to use the Sign-in Helper. Microsoft also notes that an account inactive for more than two years may have been deleted and cannot be reopened.

For recovery:

1. First confirm the address on the Microsoft account sign-in page. If it shows a password prompt, that email is a Microsoft account. If it shows “We couldn't find an account with that username”, check spelling and domain carefully.
2. Use the Sign-in Helper tool for sign-in issues and for cases where the recovery options shown are not recognized.
3. If recovery still fails, use the Microsoft account recovery form. Complete it from a device and location previously used with that account if possible.
4. Gather any saved passwords first from the browser or device where that account was used.
5. If there is no access to the verification methods and two-step verification was turned on, Microsoft states support agents cannot reset the password or change account details.
6. If two-step verification was not turned on and the verification email or phone shown is not recognized, Microsoft directs use of the Sign-in Helper.

About purchases: the available guidance confirms that Microsoft accounts and work/school accounts cannot be merged, and account ownership issues must go through the account recovery process or Microsoft Support. The provided material does not state that purchases are transferred to another account automatically.

If the self-service steps have already been exhausted, the supported next step is to contact Microsoft Support through Contact Support and explain:

• sign-in says the account does not exist
• account creation says the email already exists
• recovery options shown are not recognized
• the account was used for Minecraft/other purchases

Microsoft also states support agents cannot send password reset links or directly change account details, but they can route the case appropriately.

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