Deleted Microsoft account but gamertag is still viewable

When you say you deleted the account.

Do you mean you closed the account?

Changed the email address used to sign in with the account?

What exactly do you mean by you deleted the account?

Hello Stu-arts,

When you deactivated the account, by chance the 65 days following did you log into it. If this is the case then it never got deactivated. In order for an account to be fully deactivated you wont sign into it for 65 days. it takes that long for the deactivation
process. They want to make sure you want it deactivated. If you sign in at all during that time period you activate the account again.

https://support.microsoft.com/help/12412/microsoft-account-how-to-close-account

You can always try and sign in to the
Account website with your old email to see if it has been deactivated.

Hope this helps.

Thanks,

Brad

For some reason the steps to chat to someone regarding the issue only loaded upon a page refresh.

Thanks for your help

I never signed back into my Microsoft account during those 65 days and attempting to do so yields a "this email is not recognised" message.

I either "deleted" or "closed" it, I can't remember the exact wording of it. Main point is I had a Microsoft account with an Xbox account attached to it and closed the Microsoft account in an attempt to delete the Xbox account. I also wasn't using either
account, so I intended getting rid of them both by deleting the Microsoft one.

It's definitely still my old account - has my old games with no activity since it's closure.

I'm just a little antsy about having old accounts lying around that still have my data attached to them. It's not the end of the world, but I'd rather have it gone for sure rather than it lying around collecting metaphorical dust.