Are dead gamertags freed after a while?

Gamertags are used on other services,not just xbox live so just because the tag may look inactive doesn't mean it isn't being used elsewhere.

If a tag does not sign in to any Microsoft service for 5 years it may get freed up or if the Microsoft account that the tag is linked to doesn't sign in to any of Microsoft services for 2 years then that account may get shut down & the tag freed up.

There is no guarantee on either though so all you can do is keep checking & maybe it will become available one day.

Hi, I hope you're doing great out there despite the issue that you're experiencing. I am an Independent advisor and I am here to help you in regards to your concern.

Even if the Xbox profile is inactive the Microsoft account itself still can be used for other platform which means that the only possible way as of the moment is when the owner of the Gamertag changes it into something else for it to be available to others.

You can't know that it's inactive. Gamertags are used on other services,not just xbox live,so while it may no be active on xbox live it could be being used somewhere else on another Microsoft service.

As of August 2016 if a gamertag does not sign in on any Microsoft service for 5 years it may be freed up & as of Aug 2019 if the account linked to a gamertag does not sign in for 2 years it may be freed up.

Either way,the earliest any unused tag may be freed up is at the end of August this year but there is no guarantee.

The tag could also be linked to a banned account in which case it will never be freed up unless something changes in the future.

You can either wait & hope it's freed up at some point,pick that tag but have a suffix & numbers after it or choose another gamertag.

2021 would have been the earliest it would have been freed up based on that policy, but it wasn't a guarantee it would be freed up then. The policy is still in place that if a person doesn't sign into their Xbox account within 5 years, it will be freed up. There is also a policy that will close a Microsoft account if a person does not sign into their Microsoft account within 2 years which would also free up the tag. Unfortunately, waiting is all you can do.

What about the gamertags that are permanently banned, will they get freed up after 5years?