Why did my gamertag transfer back to the inactive "original Xbox" account that it was on...

Hi T2P,

Thank you for waiting.

Please note that If you do decide to change your existing gamertag, be aware that you may lose it to someone else.

Please see: Xbox gamertag FAQ | Xbox Support

Please be advised that our support boundaries are limited to what we can do or recommend on our end. We do have access to account information, order, request, or changes made with the account or information from other accounts mentioned.

I encourage that you file this concern directly to the Xbox team so that they can look into what is truly going on with the account.

Provide feedback to Team Xbox | Xbox Support

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It also depends on how long the original account has been inactive. They did do a purge of inactive accounts a while ago. In most cases your gamertag should remain unchanged under the same account.

I believe that it is unfair that 98% of all original gamertags are inactive and have be inactive for many, many months/ years. I have always wanted an original tag but it always seems someone has already taken in on an inactive account that has not be sign
into for years. This is unfair because many people creating accounts with original gamertags forgetting the email and password to sign in to them and even play on them. Original gamertags should be reset it the account shows no sign of life or activity for
more then a year. The least the person can do is sign in on Xbox.com. Don't do anything to their account but just refresh the gamertags to give someone else a chance.

It isn't in use, but it is registered to me still - and that is why I was trying to transfer my gamertag to that account rather then just rename FUBAR PhD to something else. Like I said previously that was an old gamertag I had registered. I didn't renew
my XBOX live subscription, but did create a new account - as back then you couldn't simply rename a gamertag - the system forced you to create an entirely new gametag if you wanted to change names.

I'm hoping there is a way to transfer my account.

Zune

If its an "Original Gamertag" that is silver and looks inactive, it most likely belongs to a fanatic who collects these types of gamertags. Technically nothing can be done since it belongs to someone. Even if the account is inactive.