2. Your Content. Many of our Services allow you to create, store or share Your Content or receive material from others. We don’t claim ownership of Your Content. Your Content remains yours and you are responsible for it.

• a. When you share Your Content with other people, you understand that they may be able to, on a worldwide basis, use, save, record, reproduce, broadcast, transmit, share and display Your Content for the purpose that you made Your Content available on the Services without compensating you. If you do not want others to have that ability, do not use the Services to share Your Content. You represent and warrant that for the duration of these Terms, you have (and will have) all the rights necessary for Your Content that is uploaded, stored, or shared on or through the Services and that the collection, use, and retention of Your Content will not violate any law or rights of others. Microsoft cannot be held responsible for Your Content or the material others upload, store or share using the Services.
• b. To the extent necessary to provide the Services to you and others, to protect you and the Services, and to improve Microsoft products and services, you grant to Microsoft a worldwide and royalty-free intellectual property license to use Your Content, for example, to make copies of, retain, transmit, reformat, display, and distribute via communication tools Your Content on the Services. If you publish Your Content in areas of the Service where it is available broadly online without restrictions, Your Content may appear in demonstrations or materials that promote the Service. Some of the Services are supported by advertising. Controls for how Microsoft personalizes advertising are available at https://choice.live.com (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=286759). We do not use what you say in email, chat, video calls or voice mail, or your documents, photos or other personal files, to target advertising to you. Our advertising policies are covered in detail in the Privacy Statement.
• c. Microsoft provides you with the ability to access your exportable data through the Microsoft privacy dashboard (https://account.microsoft.com/privacy) or the product user interface, when authenticated with your Microsoft account. This exportable data can be used to switch to third-party provider services. Microsoft reserves the right to restrict the export of data that may compromise the security of the services or Microsoft's intellectual property. If you are unable to export your data through these mechanisms, contact Microsoft at the address in the How to contact us section (https://privacy.microsoft.com/privacystatement#mainhowtocontactusmodule) or by using our web form (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2126612).

3. Code of Conduct. You are accountable for your conduct and content when using the Services.

• a. By agreeing to these Terms, you’re agreeing that, when using the Services, including AI services that make decisions, or take actions, autonomously or with varying levels of human intervention, you will follow these rules:
  • i. Don’t do anything illegal, or try to generate or share content that is illegal.
  • ii. Don’t engage in any activity that exploits, harms, or threatens to harm children.
  • iii. Don’t send spam or engage in phishing, or try to generate or distribute malware. Spam is unwanted or unsolicited bulk email, postings, contact requests, SMS (text messages), instant messages, or similar electronic communications. Phishing is sending emails or other electronic communications to fraudulently or unlawfully induce recipients to reveal personal or sensitive information, such as passwords, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, passport numbers, credit card information, financial information, or other sensitive information, or to gain access to accounts or records, exfiltration of documents or other sensitive information, payment and/or financial benefit. Malware includes any activity designed to cause technical harm, such as delivering malicious executables, organizing denial of service attacks or managing command and control servers.
  • iv. Don’t publicly display or use the Services to generate or share inappropriate content or material (involving, for example, nudity, bestiality, pornography, offensive language, graphic violence, self-harm, or criminal activity).
  • v. Don’t engage in activity that is fraudulent, false or misleading (e.g., asking for money under false pretenses, impersonating someone else, creating fake accounts, automating inauthentic activity, generating or sharing content that is intentionally deceptive, manipulating the Services to increase play count, or affect rankings, ratings, or comments).
  • vi. Don’t circumvent any restrictions on access to, usage, or availability of the Services (e.g., attempting to “jailbreak” an AI system or impermissible scraping).
  • vii. Don’t engage in activity that is harmful to you, the Services, or others (e.g., transmitting viruses, stalking, trying to generate or sharing content that harasses, bullies or threatens others, posting terrorist or violent extremist content, communicating hate speech, or advocating violence against others).
  • viii. Don’t violate or infringe upon the rights of others (e.g., unauthorized sharing of copyrighted music or other copyrighted material, resale or other distribution of Bing maps, or taking photographs or video/audio recordings of others without their consent for processing of an individual’s biometric identifiers/information or any other purpose using any of the Services).
  • ix. Don’t engage in activity that violates the privacy of others.
  • x. Don’t help others break these rules.
• More information about our policies, moderation and enforcement processes and service specific terms is available at aka.ms/trustandsafety.

4. Using the Services & Support.

• a. Microsoft account. You’ll need a Microsoft account to access many of the Services. Your Microsoft account lets you sign in to products, websites and services provided by Microsoft and some Microsoft partners.
  • i. Creating an Account. You can create a Microsoft account by signing up online. You agree not to use any false, inaccurate or misleading information when signing up for your Microsoft account. In some cases, a third party, like your Internet service provider, may have assigned a Microsoft account to you. If you received your Microsoft account from a third party, the third party may have additional rights over your account, like the ability to access or delete your Microsoft account. Please review any additional terms the third party provided you, as Microsoft has no responsibility regarding these additional terms. If you create a Microsoft account on behalf of an entity, such as your business or employer, you represent that you have the legal authority to bind that entity to these Terms. You cannot transfer your Microsoft account credentials to another user or entity. To protect your account, keep your account details and password confidential. You are responsible for all activity that occurs under your Microsoft account.
  • ii. Account Use. You must use your Microsoft account to keep it active. This means you must sign in at least once in a two-year period to keep your Microsoft account, and associated Services (unless specified otherwise), active, unless a longer period is provided in the Microsoft account activity policy at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?linkid=2086738 or in an offer for a paid portion of the Services. If you don’t sign in during this time, we will assume your Microsoft account is inactive and will close it for you. Please see section 4.a.iv.2 for the consequences of a closed Microsoft account. You must sign into your Outlook.com inbox and your OneDrive (separately) at least once in a one-year period, otherwise we will close your Outlook.com inbox and your OneDrive for you. If we reasonably suspect that your Microsoft account is at risk of being used by a third party fraudulently (for example, as a result of an account compromise), Microsoft may suspend your account until you can reclaim ownership. Based on the nature of the compromise, we may be required to disable access to some or all of Your Content. If you are having trouble accessing your Microsoft account, please visit this website: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=238656.
  • iii. Kids and Accounts. By creating a Microsoft account or using the Services, you accept and agree to be bound by these Terms and represent that you have either reached the age of "majority" where you live or your parent or legal guardian agrees to be bound by these Terms on your behalf. If you do not know whether you have reached the age of majority where you live, or do not understand this section, please ask your parent or legal guardian for help. If you are the parent or legal guardian of a minor, you and the minor accept and agree to be bound by these Terms and are responsible for all use of the Microsoft account or Services, including purchases, whether the minor’s account is now open or created later.
  • iv. Closing Your Account.
    • 1. You can cancel specific Services or close your Microsoft account at any time and for any reason. To close your Microsoft account, please visit https://account.live.com/closeaccount.aspx. When you ask us to close your Microsoft account, you can choose to put it in a suspended state for either 30 or 60 days just in case you change your mind. After that 30- or 60-day period, your Microsoft account will be closed. Please see section 4.a.iv.2 below for an explanation as to what happens when your Microsoft account is closed. Logging back in during the suspension period will reactivate your Microsoft account.
    • 2. If your Microsoft account is closed (whether by you or us), a few things happen. First, your right to use the Microsoft account to access the Services stops immediately. Second, we’ll delete Data or Your Content associated with your Microsoft account or will otherwise disassociate it from you and your Microsoft account (unless we are required by law to keep it, return it, or transfer it to you or a third party identified by you). You should have a regular backup plan as Microsoft won’t be able to retrieve Your Content or Data once your account is closed. Third, you may lose access to products you’ve acquired.
• b. Moderation and Enforcement. Many of our Services that allow you to interact, create, generate, and share content with others leverage safety systems to protect our Services and other users.
  • i. Policies. Our Code of Conduct identifies what’s prohibited when using our Services. Our content and conduct policies can be found here (https://www.microsoft.com/DigitalSafety/policies). Specific Services have additional policies and community standards applicable to their users, which are available here (https://www.microsoft.com/DigitalSafety/policies/additional-guidelines).
  • ii. Reporting a Concern. You can report concerning content or conduct that may violate our Code of Conduct here (https://aka.ms/reportconcerns).
  • iii. Review. Where applicable, we may use automated systems and humans to review content to identify suspected spam, viruses, fraud, phishing, malware, jailbreaking, or other illegal or harmful content or conduct.
  • iv. Enforcement. We reserve the right to deny content if it exceeds limits on storage or file size allowed by the Service. We may block, remove or decline to display content if it appears to violate our Code of Conduct or another Service policy or where required by law. If you violate these terms or Policies (https://aka.ms/trustandsafety), we may take action against your account. This could include limiting access to certain features or Services, stopping providing Services, closing your Microsoft account immediately or blocking delivery of a communication (like email, file sharing or instant message) to or from the Services. Closure of your access to a Service or your account may result in forfeiture of content licenses, associated content, memberships, and Microsoft account balances associated with the account. When reviewing alleged violations of these Terms, Microsoft reserves the right to review content to resolve the issue. However, we cannot monitor the entire Services and make no attempt to do so. For more information about the moderation and enforcement processes (https://www.microsoft.com/DigitalSafety/moderation-and-enforcement), Service specific terms, Additional policies and guidelines (https://www.microsoft.com/DigitalSafety/policies/additional-guidelines), and appeals (https://www.microsoft.com/DigitalSafety/moderation-and-enforcement/appeals), see https://aka.ms/trustandsafety. Information about our policy relating to claims of intellectual property infringement may be found at NOTICES.
• c. Work or School Accounts. You can sign into certain Microsoft services with a work or school email address. If you do, you agree that the owner of the domain associated with your email address may be notified of the existence of your Microsoft account and its associated subscriptions, control and administer your account, and access and process your Data, including the contents of your communications and files, and that Microsoft may notify the owner of the domain if the account or Data is compromised. You further agree that your use of the Microsoft services may be subject to the agreements Microsoft has with you or your organization and these Terms may not apply. If you already have a Microsoft account and you use a separate work or school email address to access Services covered under these Terms, you may be prompted to update the email address associated with your Microsoft account in order to continue accessing such Services.
• d. Additional Equipment/Data Plans. To use many of the Services, you’ll need an internet connection and/or data/cellular plan. You might also need additional equipment, like a headset, camera or microphone. You are responsible for providing all connections, plans, and equipment needed to use the Services and for paying the fees charged by the provider(s) of your connections, plans, and equipment. Those fees are in addition to any fees you pay us for the Services and we will not reimburse you for such fees. Check with your provider(s) to determine if there are any such fees that may apply to you.
• e. Service Notifications. When there’s something we need to tell you about a Service you use, we’ll send you Service notifications. If you gave us your email address or phone number in connection with your Microsoft account, then we may send Service notifications to you via email or via SMS (text message), including to verify your identity before registering your mobile phone number and verifying your purchases. We may also send you Service notifications by other means (for example by in-product messages). Data or messaging rates may apply when receiving notifications via SMS.
• f. Support. Support for some Services is available at https://support.microsoft.com and certain Services may offer separate or additional customer support, subject to additional terms. Support may not be available for preview or beta versions of features or Services. Availability of Support may vary based on the stage of the product lifecycle and you must have an eligible and validly licensed Service(s) that meet(s) the applicable minimum requirements for supportability described in the Microsoft Lifecyle (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/).
• g. Ending your Services. If your Services are canceled (whether by you or us), first your right to access the Services stops immediately and your license to the software related to the Services ends. Second, we’ll delete Data or Your Content associated with your Service or will otherwise disassociate it from you and your Microsoft account (unless we are required by law to keep it, return it, or transfer it to you or a third party identified by you). As a result you may no longer be able to access any of the Services (or Your Content that you’ve stored on those Services). You should have a regular backup plan. Third, you may lose access to products you’ve acquired. If you have canceled your Microsoft account and have no other account able to access the Services your Services may be canceled immediately.

5. Using Third-Party Apps and Services. The Services may allow you to access or acquire products, services, websites, links, content, material, games, skills, integrations, bots or applications from independent third parties (companies or people who aren’t Microsoft) ("Third-Party Apps and Services"). Many of our Services also help you find, make requests to, or interact with Third-Party Apps and Services and may allow or require you to share Your Content or Data with such Third-Party Apps and Services, and you understand that by using our Services you are directing them to make Third-Party Apps and Services available to you. The Third-Party Apps and Services may allow or require you to store Your Content or Data with the publisher, provider or operator of the Third-Party Apps and Services. The Third-Party Apps and Services may present you with a privacy policy or require you to accept their terms before you can install or use the Third-Party App or Service. See section 13.b for additional terms for applications acquired through certain Stores owned or operated by Microsoft or its affiliates (including, but not limited to, the Office Store, the Microsoft Store on Xbox and the Microsoft Store on Windows. You should review the third-party terms and privacy policies before acquiring, using, requesting, or linking your Microsoft Account to any Third-Party Apps and Services. Any third-party terms do not modify these Terms. Microsoft does not license any intellectual property to you as part of any Third-Party Apps and Services. You agree to assume all risk and liability arising from your use of these Third-Party Apps and Services and that Microsoft is not responsible for any issues arising out of your use of them. Microsoft is not responsible or liable to you or others for information or services provided by any Third-Party Apps and Services.

6. Service Availability.

• a. The Services, Third-Party Apps and Services, or material or products offered through the Services may be unavailable from time to time, may be offered for a limited time, or may vary depending on your region or device. If you change the location associated with your Microsoft account, you may need to re-acquire the material or applications that were available to you and paid for in your previous region.
• b. We strive to keep the Services up and running; however, all online services suffer occasional disruptions and outages, and Microsoft is not liable for any disruption or loss you may suffer as a result. In the event of an outage, you may not be able to retrieve Your Content or Data that you’ve stored. We recommend that you regularly backup Your Content and Data that you store on the Services or store using Third-Party Apps and Services.

7. Updates to the Services or Software, and Changes to These Terms.

• a. We may change these Terms at any time, and we’ll tell you when we do. Using the Services after the changes become effective means you agree to the new terms. If you don’t agree to the new terms, you must stop using the Services, close your Microsoft account and, if you are a parent or guardian, help your minor child close his or her Microsoft account.
• b. Sometimes you’ll need software updates to keep using the Services. We may automatically check your version of the software and download software updates or configuration changes. You may also be required to update the software to continue using the Services. Such updates are subject to these Terms unless other terms accompany the updates, in which case, those other terms apply. Microsoft isn’t obligated to make any updates available and we don’t guarantee that we will support the version of the system or device for which you purchased or licensed the software, apps, content or other products.
• c. Additionally, there may be times when we need to remove or change features or functionality of the Service or stop providing a Service or access to Third-Party Apps and Services altogether. Except to the extent required by applicable law, we have no obligation to provide a re-download or replacement of any material, Digital Goods (defined in section 14.j), or applications previously purchased. We may release the Services or their features in a preview or beta version, which may not work correctly or in the same way the final version may work.
• d. So that you can use material protected with digital rights management (DRM), like some music, games, movies, books and more, DRM software may automatically contact an online rights server and download and install DRM updates.

8. Software License. Unless accompanied by a separate Microsoft license agreement (for example, if you are using a Microsoft application that is included with and a part of Windows, then the Microsoft Software License Terms for the Windows Operating System govern such software), any software provided by us to you as part of the Services is subject to these Terms. Applications acquired through certain Stores owned or operated by Microsoft or its affiliates (including, but not limited to the Office Store, Microsoft Store on Windows and Microsoft Store on Xbox) are subject to section 14.b.i below.

• a. If you comply with these Terms, we grant you the right to install and use one copy of the software per device on a worldwide basis for use by only one person at a time as part of your use of the Services. For certain devices, such software may be pre-installed for your personal, non-commercial use of the Services. The software or website that is part of the Services may include third-party code. Any third-party scripts or code, linked to or referenced from the software or website, are licensed to you by the third parties that own such code, not by Microsoft. Notices, if any, for the third-party code are included for your information only.
• b. The software is licensed, not sold, and Microsoft reserves all rights to the software not expressly granted by Microsoft, whether by implication, estoppel, or otherwise. This license does not give you any right to, and you may not:
  • i. circumvent or bypass any technological protection measures in or relating to the software or Services;
  • ii. disassemble, decompile, decrypt, hack, emulate, exploit, or reverse engineer any software or other aspect of the Services that is included in or accessible through the Services, except and only to the extent that the applicable copyright law expressly permits doing so;
  • iii. separate components of the software or Services for use on different devices;
  • iv. publish, copy, rent, lease, sell, export, import, distribute, or lend the software or the Services, unless Microsoft expressly authorizes you to do so;
  • v. transfer the software, any software licenses, or any rights to access or use the Services;
  • vi. use the Services in any unauthorized way that could interfere with anyone else’s use of them or gain access to any service, data, account, or network;
  • vii. enable access to the Services or modify any Microsoft-authorized device (e.g., Xbox consoles, Microsoft Surface, etc.) by unauthorized third-party applications.

9. Payment Terms. If you purchase a Service, then these payment terms apply to your purchase and you agree to them.

• a. Charges. If there is a charge associated with a portion of the Services, you agree to pay that charge. The price stated for the Services excludes all applicable taxes and currency exchange settlements, unless stated otherwise. The price for Skype paid products includes a charge for the product and a charge for taxes. You are solely responsible for paying such taxes or other charges. Taxes are calculated based on your location at the time your Microsoft account was registered. We may suspend or cancel the Services if we do not receive an on time, full payment from you. Suspension or cancellation of the Services for non-payment could result in a loss of access to and use of your account and its content. Connecting to the Internet via a corporate or other private network that masks your location may cause charges to be different from those displayed for your actual location.
• b. Your Billing Account. To pay the charges for a Service, you will be asked to provide a payment method at the time you sign up for that Service. You can access and change your billing information and payment method on the Microsoft account management website (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?linkid=618281) and for Skype by signing into your account portal at https://skype.com/go/myaccount. Additionally, you agree to permit Microsoft to use any updated account information regarding your selected payment method provided by your issuing bank or the applicable payment network. You agree to promptly update your account and other information, including your email address and payment method details, so we can complete your transactions and contact you as needed in connection with your transactions. Changes made to your billing account will not affect charges we submit to your billing account before we could reasonably act on your changes to your billing account.
• c. Billing. By providing Microsoft with a payment method, you (i) represent that you are authorized to use the payment method you provided and that any payment information you provide is true and accurate; (ii) authorize Microsoft to charge you for the Services or available content using your payment method; and (iii) authorize Microsoft to charge you for any paid feature of the Services you choose to sign up for or use while these Terms are in force. We may bill you (a) in advance; (b) at the time of purchase; (c) shortly after purchase; or (d) on a recurring basis for subscription Services. Also, we may charge you up to the amount you have approved, and we will notify you in advance of any change in the amount to be charged for recurring subscription Services. We may bill you at the same time for more than one of your prior billing periods for amounts that haven't previously been processed.
• d. Recurring Payments. When you purchase the Services on a subscription basis (e.g., monthly, every 3 months or annually), you agree that you are authorizing recurring payments, and payments will be made to Microsoft by the method and at the recurring intervals you have agreed to, until the subscription for that Service is terminated by you or by Microsoft. You must cancel your Services before the next billing date to stop being charged to continue your Services. We will provide you with instructions on how you may cancel the Services. By authorizing recurring payments, you are authorizing Microsoft to store your payment instrument and process such payments as either electronic debits or fund transfers, or as electronic drafts from your designated account (for Automated Clearing House or similar payments), or as charges to your designated account (for credit card or similar payments) (collectively, "Electronic Payments"). Subscription fees are generally charged in advance of the applicable subscription period. If any payment is returned unpaid or if any credit card or similar transaction is rejected or denied, Microsoft or its service providers reserve the right to collect any applicable return item, rejection or insufficient funds fee and process any such payment as an Electronic Payment.
• e. Online Statement and Errors. Microsoft will provide you with an online billing statement on the Microsoft account management website (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?linkid=618282), where you can view and print your statement. For Skype, you can access your online statement by signing into your account at www.skype.com (https://www.skype.com). This is the only billing statement that we provide. If we make an error on your bill, you must tell us within 90 days after the error first appears on your bill. We will then promptly investigate the charge. If you do not tell us within that time, you release us from all liability and claims of loss resulting from the error and we won't be required to correct the error or provide a refund. If Microsoft has identified a billing error, we will correct that error within 90 days.
• f. Refund Policy. Unless otherwise provided by law or by a particular Service offer, all purchases are final and non-refundable. If you believe that Microsoft has charged you in error, you must contact us within 90 days of such charge. No refunds will be given for any charges more than 90 days old. We reserve the right to issue refunds or credits at our sole discretion. If we issue a refund or credit, we are under no obligation to issue the same or similar refund in the future. This refund policy does not affect any statutory rights that may apply. For more refund information, please visit our help topic (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?linkid=618283).
• g. Canceling the Services. You may cancel a Service at any time, with or without cause. Cancelling paid Services stops future charges to continue the Service. To cancel a Service and request a refund, if you are entitled to one, visit the Microsoft account management website. You can request a refund from Skype using the Cancellation and Refund form (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?linkid=618286). You should refer back to the offer describing the Services as (i) you may not receive a refund at the time of cancellation; (ii) you may be obligated to pay cancellation charges; (iii) you may be obligated to pay all charges made to your billing account for the Services before the date of cancellation; and (iv) you may lose access to and use of your account when you cancel the Services. We will process your Data as described above in section 4. If you cancel, your access to the Services ends at the end of your current Service period or, if we bill your account on a periodic basis, at the end of the period in which you canceled. If you initiate a chargeback or reversal with your bank for your payment of Services, we will deem you to have canceled as of the date that the original payment was made, and you authorize us to immediately cancel your service and/or revoke any content that was provided to you in exchange for such payment.
• h. Trial-Period Offers. If you are taking part in any trial-period o