What date next year do inactive gamertags get released?

yep, if they dont sign into any xbox services then the xbox account will be closed unless there is a paid service attached, but just signing into windows 10 also uses xbox services so any account signed in will most likely be classed as active, its 5 years
for any microsoft account that has had zero sign in over 5 years and all associated services will be closed too, unless a paid for service is attached.

as an example i have a gamertag associated with my other email address, i have never used that tag and never used it on xbox, but i use the email regular and that has been like that for years and years.

Damn Been waiting for this one account for 10 years and they have played any games for on it for 7 years. Guess I will have to just keep checking.

When you say 2-5 years is that from the date where Microsoft changed account terms and conditions?

there is no specific dates for this to happen, it can be between 2 and 5 years for accounts that have not logged in to be removed from the system as per the terms of service.

if an account is deleted from the system the associated tag may become available, but to know the date is impossible and accounts reaching either 2 years or 5 years depending on status can close throughout the year.

and tags that look like they arent used may still be attached to an active account and as long as that account signs into the services then it will never be released.

After the last mass openings of inactive gamertags there was a new policy put into place that the ONLY way gamertags will be released is if the MS account that they are attached to has been inactive for FIVE years from 2016.

What this basically means is that the MS account attached to a tag can not be signed into anything to do with MS for five years starting in 2016 Keep in mind that the MS accounts are more then just Xbox so even if the account shows inactive on the Xbox the
account may be signed in elsewhere. If it is truly inactive the earliest that it will be released would be 2021 five years from the date that the policy was implemented.

Once a gamertag is acquired MS will not release the gamertag until that account has been completely inactive with anything to do with MS not just the xbox for 5 years from the last date that it was used. Keep in mind even if it may seem like a gamertag
is inactive on the xbox console that does not mean that the MS account associated with that gamertag is not being used in something else associated with MS.

Microsoft have recently updated their terms and it is now 2 years of inactivity and they will shut down the account.