If you don’t plan on keeping your Outlook account, you can easily delete it. Just remember that means your emails, contacts, Xbox, Skype, and all other data stored on your account is taken down from Microsoft’s servers — permanently. If you still want to get rid of your data anyway, here’s how to delete your Outlook account.
Difficulty
Easy
Duration
10 minutes
What You Need
-
Desktop PC, laptop, tablet, or phone with web browser
How to delete an Outlook account
Step 1: Go to support.microsoft.com from your web browser.
Step 2: On the page that loads, click on the profile icon at the top-right corner of the window.
Step 3: This will lead you to a prompt to sign in where you can enter your credentials and log in to the account that you want to delete.
Step 4: Once you are logged in, go to the Account and Billing tab in the menu bar at the top of the page. Click on Account in the drop-down menu that appears.
Step 5: Once the page loads, scroll down to the section that says Other Microsoft Products and Services and click on Outlook.com help.
Step 6: Click on Account under the section that says Outlook.com Support Categories.
Step 7: Next, scroll down on the page that loads and click on Close Your Outlook.com Account under the Manage Your Account section.
Step 8: Click on the button that says Close Your Account. Microsoft may ask you to sign in to your account once again.
Step 9: You will then be taken to a page that will warn you of the consequences of deleting your account. Make sure to go through the page carefully. Just in case you change your mind in the future, Microsoft will ask you how many days it should keep your account before taking it off the grid permanently. It gives you the option of keeping it for 30 or 60 days only, so choose wisely. If you change your mind within this time, simply sign in to Microsoft to regain access to your account. Once you’ve chosen the number of days, click on Next.
Step 10: Microsoft will ask you to acknowledge the effects of the closure of your account. Review them and check all the boxes. Click on Select a Reason to let Microsoft know why you want to delete your account from the options available in the drop-down menu. Once you’ve done that, click on Mark Account for Closure.
You have now successfully listed your account for closure, and it will be removed permanently after the number of days you have specified in Step 9.
Check out our other articles if you want to learn how to remove a Microsoft account from Windows 11 and how to make emailing less burdensome.
