What’s your policy on accounts that have been inactive?

Payton Patterson · May 20, 2020

So I’ve had my mind on changing my gamertag to match my Steam username, Reddit username, Discord username, etc. for a while now. However I recently just figured out that that gamertag is already taken (the only difference between their’s and the one
I want is a space, but Xbox doesn’t recognize that as a difference. I know that it can add a number ID to it, but that doesn’t feel genuine to me as it seems like I’m just imitating the other user which is not the case). I noticed that this user hasn’t been
online in a while and doesn’t even seem to be a gold account (however I could be wrong and just have misread the information on their profile). I was wondering (if this is actually the case) what is Xbox Live’s policy on accounts that have been inactive for
a long time and are just taking up space?

:)

Smwutches

As of August 31, 2019, if a person does not sign into their Microsoft account within 2 years, the account will be closed which would free up the tag. Keep in mind that does include signing in on other Microsoft services. So even if they are not active
on an Xbox, they may be active elsewhere.

CyclingCanoe703

They close bunch of it lately. My advice is to contact support. https://support.xbox.com/contact-us

AridLizard

that account may be used for PC and not Xbox.

just because it doesn't have Gold or a gamerscore doesn't mean it is inactive

steeledwand7664

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.

Nathan Roberts (SN)

Hey there, Asmodeous Noctis

If your account has been closed due to inactivity which means you can't use it as a recovery method for the account. You will need to submit an account recovery form to Microsoft via this link: Account recovery form

This will allow the Microsoft account team to verify you are the account owner and send a password reset link. It should allow you to reset your password and security information on your account.

In terms of the inactive account, once it has been marked as inactive and deleted. Everything on the account is deleted. To learn more about Microsoft's account inactivity policy, please look at this article: Microsoft account activity policy - Microsoft Support

Hope this information helps,

Nathan

What’s your policy on accounts that have been inactive?