So I changed my gamertag to try their new "suffix" way, but I am trying to revert back to...

Hello Traice, my name is zahir, i am here to help with your question.

Unfortunately you wont be able to revert back to your old gamertag.

If you are trying to change the gamertag back to the old one and it is says its not available then its not available.

The problem is this MS made a new policy change where any new gamertags including changes in gamertags have a limit of 12 characters.

The old gamertag is 14 characters so this is why it is not available for you to change your gamertag back.

So is there no way to revert the change I made, and go back to my old gamertag (4)?

안녕하세요. Masjwer 객님

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

Thank you for sharing the issue.

When you changed your original Gamertag (A) to a new one (B), it became available for others to use. However, when you tried to revert back to Gamertag A, it received a numeric suffix. Here’s why:

1. Gamertag Changes:
   
   • Xbox updated gamertags to support a 12-character max, Unicode-based name of your choice.
     
   • If a gamertag is already taken, a suffix with numbers is added to differentiate users with the same gamertag.
     
   • Existing gamertags remain unchanged with no suffix.
     
   • When you changed from A to B, A became available for others, and the suffix was added to prevent confusion.
     
   • Unfortunately, you cannot remove the suffix once it’s assigned1.
     
2. Suffix Details:
   
   • Suffixes are subtle but always shown.
     
   • They appear everywhere except in friends lists.
     
   • Friends won’t see suffixes in their lists, but they may appear in games that support modern gamertags.
     

To summarize, your original Gamertag A now has a suffix due to the change. If you want to keep it without the suffix, consider choosing a unique gamertag.

Best Regards.

Leo.L - Microsoft Community Support Specialist

So the only way I can remove the suffix is by paying for a gamertag change twice? Is there no way to not have to pay double to simply remove a suffix?

It's not a "Microsoft mistake". If you choose a gamertag someone else has, you'll be given a suffix to differentiate you from the other people. If you want to try finding a new gamertag that no one else has so you don't have a suffix, you will have to pay if you want to change it again.