What happens to Microsoft accounts when the owner dies

Only through legal process in the United States. Microsoft states it "must first be formally served with a valid subpoena or court order to consider whether it is able to lawfully release a deceased or incapacitated user's information" regarding a personal email account, OneDrive storage, or any other aspect of the Microsoft account. It responds only to non-criminal subpoenas and court orders served on its registered agent in the requesting party's state or region, does not accept faxed or emailed requests for those matters, and says service does not guarantee that it can assist. Microsoft never provides the password or resets credentials for a survivor.

Two clocks run, and the shorter one is the one that matters. Microsoft states that Outlook.com and OneDrive accounts are frozen after 1 year of inactivity and that the email messages and OneDrive files are deleted shortly after, while the Microsoft account itself expires after 2 years of inactivity. So the mail and the files -- usually the only part of the account a family wants -- can be gone a year before the account is. Acting early, including asking Microsoft in writing to preserve the account while the estate is opened, is the only lever an estate has.

Digital games, apps, movies, and other Microsoft Store content are licensed, not sold, and the licenses are non-transferable under Microsoft Services Agreement section 8.b.v. Microsoft publishes no mechanism to move a digital library to a survivor's account, and access ends when the account is closed. Physical game discs are unaffected and remain usable on any console. An estate can still ask Microsoft, as a discretionary request, to move library access to a named survivor, and can ask for the order history to inventory what was owned. For the gaming-specific details -- gamertag, digital library, Game Pass, home Xbox sharing, and the Xbox wallet -- see the Xbox estate guide at simplytrust.com/digital-assets/xbox/.

Microsoft's gift card terms state that a non-promotional account balance does not expire, that the balance is non-transferable to another person or Microsoft account, and that it cannot be redeemed or exchanged for cash except as required by applicable law. If Microsoft closes the account, it "will refund to you any remaining balance to the extent required by law"; promotional balance is not refunded. Microsoft's account activity policy adds that an unspent balance keeps the account active, and that in jurisdictions where gift cards are treated as unclaimed property Microsoft escheats the unspent balance under local law -- which is how an estate may end up claiming it from a state unclaimed-property office rather than from Microsoft.

They keep billing. Subscriptions auto-renew against the payment method on file until someone cancels them. Microsoft's bereavement page tells survivors to ensure any Microsoft subscriptions are cancelled and notes they can be stopped by closing the bank account or credit card, revoking the authorization, or informing the bank. If the deceased held a Microsoft 365 Family plan, the other members keep their own accounts and their own files, but lose the subscription benefits when the plan is cancelled or lapses.