Changing your Microsoft account username starts with a distinction: the name people see and the email address you use to sign in have separate controls. The name editor updates your display name, while an email alias gives you another sign-in address for the same account. Here are the steps for both, plus how to stop using your old email and handle a work or school account.
Change the name shown on your Microsoft account
Sign in at account.microsoft.com with the personal Microsoft account you want to update, then open Your info. Select Edit name and enter your replacement name.
Complete the CAPTCHA if prompted, then select Save. Allow up to 24 hours for the new name to appear everywhere, including Windows devices linked to your Microsoft account.
Add a new or existing email address for sign-in
Adding an alias gives your existing account a new sign-in username while preserving its contacts, storage, subscriptions, settings, and licenses.
Sign in at account.live.com/names/manage, then select Add email. Choose either the option to create a new Outlook.com address or the option to add an address you already own, such as an eligible Gmail or Yahoo address. An address already associated as an alias with another Microsoft account cannot be added.
Enter the email address, then select Add alias. For an existing external address, open the verification email Microsoft sends automatically and follow its link. If the address still shows Verify beside it in the alias list, select Verify, then Send email to get a new verification message.
Complete the verification prompts shown for your address. Use the new alias to sign in to the same Microsoft account.
Choose your primary sign-in address
Adding an alias lets you sign in with it. Making that address primary is a separate change, available to eligible personal Microsoft accounts.
Open Manage how you sign in to Microsoft at account.live.com/names/manage after adding and verifying your replacement address. Select Make primary beside the replacement address when that option is available for your account. Complete the prompts to make the change.
Stop accepting the old email as a login
Sign in at account.microsoft.com, then open Your info. Select Sign-in preferences and disable sign-in for the unwanted alias among the aliases your account permits you to change. Select Save. Use this option to stop accepting the old sign-in address while retaining it as an account alias.
Remove an address you no longer want
Removing an alias keeps your Microsoft account and its licenses, but permanently deletes an Outlook.com, Hotmail.com, or Live.com address with no option to reclaim it.
Sign in at account.live.com/names/manage. If the unwanted address is your primary alias, select Make primary beside another verified alias first. Complete the primary-alias change prompts, then select Remove beside the unwanted address.
Ask your organization to change a work or school name
Your organization's settings control whether you can edit your work or school account name yourself.
Sign in at myaccount.microsoft.com using that account. Change your name in the editable name field if your organization provides one. Contact IT if the name cannot be edited.
Ask IT to change your organizational sign-in username if that is the detail you need updated. Work and school accounts use a separate management process from personal Microsoft accounts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this change my Xbox gamertag or Windows local account name?
No. Xbox gamertags and Windows local account names are separate identities. Each has its own name-change process.
What should I do if Teams on my phone still uses my old email?
After changing your email through Microsoft account alias management, uninstall Teams, reinstall it from Google Play Store or the iOS App Store, and sign in with the new email. Microsoft recommends this refresh for Teams personal users on mobile; reinstalling does not change the account email itself.
Can I change my Microsoft account name inside Teams?
Yes. In Teams for personal use on Android or iOS, tap your profile picture, then Settings, Profile, and the Pencil button to edit your account name. This updates the Microsoft account name.
Is an Outlook sender name the same as my Microsoft account username?
No. An Outlook sender name is a separate setting. Classic Outlook for Windows supports editing it for eligible non-Exchange accounts. That recipient-display-name option is not available in new Outlook for Windows.