Let’s talk about what happens to your Outlook.com account when you die. No one likes talking or even thinking about death, but it will happen to all of us.
If you were logged on to Outlook.com and had accidentally closed the tab before reading any further, that’s okay. The good news is that it can be recovered from your browser history (which is usually a bookmark). But what will happen to my outlook.com when I die? If you’re worried about your account when you’re gone, continue reading for the answers.
What happens to your outlook.com account when you die depends on several factors.
- If you’ve left a plan
- If somebody tries to access your account
- The policies of Microsoft about accounts of deceased people
Accessibility
If you want to ensure that your outlook.com inbox and other information are available to your loved ones after you die, leave instructions about:
1) how to log in to the account and,
2) what should be done with it.
Microsoft’s “next of kin” process lets survivors access an account’s data by sending them a DVD containing all of the account’s stored information.
Microsoft will transfer the content from your family member’s account to a DVD and mail it to you. To request that we close your family member’s bill, please email msrecord@microsoft.com
If you have the email address and password, there’s no need to go through the family member process. You already have access to everything.
Keep Your Account Secure
Here are some things you can do to ensure your account is kept private after your death.
Deactivate your account: It’s not always practical to permanently delete your account data, but it works. Keep in mind that Microsoft will take a while to purge all of the information associated with your account after you close it. Microsoft’s Account Closure policy gives you 60 days to change your mind about closing your account.
Ask someone you trust to delete your account after your death: You can leave login information with someone you trust, who will then be able to delete your account after your death. Or, you can notify Microsoft of your death and request that it terminate your account.
You can ask Microsoft to send account data on a DVD to your family or executor as a final request. However, if you want to keep your account private and don’t want this information sent to anyone, please tell the person wrapping up your estate not to expect this DVD – and trust that person to follow your request.
Microsoft deletes inactive accounts automatically: Microsoft will delete your outlook.com account if you don’t log in for 12 months. Log in at least once every year if you don’t want to lose your emails, calendar, and contacts.
Hopefully, the solution mentioned above will soon come to fruition: Microsoft has already taken a step in this direction by offering an Outlook.com feature that allows you to preview your email before it’s sent.
It’s something of an advance notification system that alerts you if you’ve said something untoward or unkind—which is a great way to avoid creating problems before they happen.
And who knows? Maybe we’ll see a solution to the issue of digital death in the coming years, as well. Everybody should have an easy time disposing of their passwords and other valuable information on the Internet while maintaining their privacy rights.
Conclusion
There are a few ways to deal with an Outlook.com account after someone passes away. It all depends on what you want to happen to the account.
For example, if you’d like the account kept up and running, there’s an option. If you’d like the account deleted or closed, there’s an option for that.
And finally, if you’d like a copy of the mailbox stored, there’s even an option. In short, Microsoft has made it easy to deal with your accounts properly should something unfortunate happen.
