How to Edit a Microsoft Account | Change Your Account Settings

To edit a Microsoft account, sign in at account.microsoft.com and use the Your info, Security, or Billing sections to change your name, email aliases, password, or address.

Needing to update the name on your Microsoft account, swap the email address you use to sign in, or change your billing details is more common than you might think. The good news is that Microsoft keeps all of these editing tools in one central place, and most changes take just a minute. This guide walks you through each editing option, from the simple login tweak to managing the account inside Windows itself.

Where to edit a Microsoft account

The hub for all personal Microsoft account edits is Microsoft’s account management page. Once you sign in, you land on a dashboard with several key sections:

• Your info — Change your name, add or remove email aliases, and update your birthdate.
• Security — Manage your password, turn on passwordless sign-in, and add verification methods.
• Billing & shipping addresses — Edit the addresses tied to your account for purchases.
• Privacy — Control what data Microsoft collects and how it’s used.

Which section you choose depends on what you want to edit. Below are the exact steps for the most common changes.

Change your Microsoft account email or alias

You can add a new email address to your account or remove an old one. Aliases share the same password and inbox, and you can sign in using any of them.

1. Sign in to your Microsoft account and go to the email alias management page.
2. Select Add email to create a new alias, or choose Remove next to an existing one.
3. Confirm the change if prompted. You may need to verify your identity with a security code.

If you want to make an alias your primary sign-in address, you’ll need to remove the old primary address first — Microsoft only allows one primary email at a time.

Change your name on the Microsoft account

Your legal name and display name both live under Your info. Microsoft may ask for verification before allowing certain name changes.

1. Sign in to account.microsoft.com and click Your info.
2. Click Edit name next to your current name.
3. Enter the corrected first and last name, then click Save.

This change updates how your name appears across Microsoft services, including Outlook, Xbox, and OneDrive. Frequent or suspicious name changes may be blocked for security reasons.

Update billing or shipping address

An outdated address can block a purchase or cause tax calculation errors. Editing it is straightforward.

1. Sign in and go to Your info, then click Billing & shipping addresses.
2. Click Edit next to the address you need to update.
3. Type the corrected street, city, state, and ZIP code, then click Save.

Microsoft stores separate addresses for billing and shipping, so check both if you make a move.

How to edit security options and password

Keeping your account secure is the most frequent reason people visit the account dashboard. You can change your password, set up a passwordless account, or add a recovery method.

1. Sign in, click the Security tab, then click Additional security options.
2. To go passwordless, click Turn on under the passwordless account option, verify your identity, and approve the request in the Microsoft Authenticator app.
3. To add a new sign-in method, scroll to Add a new way to sign in or verify and choose from options like a security key, text message, or authenticator app.

Once you enable passwordless sign-in, you’ll no longer enter a traditional password — instead, you approve sign-in requests from your phone or use biometrics.

Where each edit lives: a quick reference

Can you edit the account from Windows Settings?

Sort of. Windows itself doesn’t let you edit your Microsoft account’s name or email — it only manages local account connections on that specific PC. What you can do from Settings > Accounts is:

• Email & accounts — Add or remove the Microsoft account linked to the Windows sign-in.
• Other users — Add, remove, or change account types for other people who use this computer (requires administrator access).
• Access work or school — Manage organizational accounts, not personal ones.

If you change the Microsoft account linked to your Windows sign-in here, you’re unlinking and re-linking, not editing the account’s underlying data. The actual name, email, and password edits still happen at account.microsoft.com.

Common mistakes when editing a Microsoft account

A few slip-ups create unnecessary frustration:

• Mixing personal and work accounts. The steps above are for personal Microsoft accounts. Work or school accounts (provided by your employer) are managed in your organization’s admin portal, not at account.microsoft.com.
• Thinking a Windows change edits the account. Changing the email shown on the Windows login screen only changes what this PC displays — it doesn’t update the Microsoft account’s primary alias.
• Removing the only sign-in method. If you turn on passwordless sign-in and don’t set up a recovery phone or authenticator app, you can lock yourself out. Always keep at least two recovery options active.

Editing the account step by step: a quick checklist

Here is the order to follow for any edit:

1. Go to account.microsoft.com and sign in with your current email and password.
2. Navigate to the correct section: Your info for name and alias, Security for sign-in methods, Billing & shipping addresses for payment details.
3. Make the change and click Save. If a verification prompt appears, approve it using your authenticator app or a text code.
4. If the edit doesn’t take effect immediately, sign out and sign back in to force the sync.

That’s all it takes. Whether you’re cleaning up an old alias or locking down your account with passwordless sign-in, everything runs through the same dashboard.