Microsoft 365

Microsoft collects telemetry and can scan content for policy enforcement, and subscriptions auto-renew. You retain ownership but grant a broad license to operate the services.

🚨 Key things to watch out for

The clauses that could affect you the most. Read these even if you skip everything else.

Microsoft can change any terms at any time and your continued use counts as agreement — your only recourse is to leave the service entirely.

US users are forced into binding arbitration and waive their right to class action lawsuits, severely limiting legal options against Microsoft.

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📋 Every clause, explained

Browse what the terms actually say — filter by severity or by topic.

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Showing 36 clauses

1Your Privacy1 clause

⚠️

Blanket consent to data collection via Privacy Statement

📥Data collection

1-A

💬 By using Microsoft services, you automatically consent to all data collection, use, and disclosure practices described in a separate Privacy Statement document — meaning you're agreeing to terms you may not have fully read.

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“By agreeing to these Terms, you consent to Microsoft's collection, use, and disclosure of your content and data as described in the Privacy Statement.”

2Your Content4 clauses

⚠️

Broad royalty-free license to your content

📄Claims your content

2-A

💬 You give Microsoft a free, worldwide license to copy, store, reformat, and display your content. While intended to run the service, this is a very broad grant of rights over your personal files and creations.

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“To provide Services and improve products, you grant Microsoft a worldwide, royalty-free license to use your content, including making copies, retaining, transmitting, reformatting, and displaying it.”

⚠️

Shared content can be used by anyone worldwide without compensation

📄Claims your content

2-B

💬 Anything you share through Microsoft services can be used by recipients in virtually any way, anywhere in the world, and you won't be paid for it.

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“When sharing content with others, you understand they may use, save, record, reproduce, broadcast, transmit, share, and display it worldwide without compensation”

⚠️

Content may appear in promotional materials

📄Claims your content

2-C

💬 If you post content publicly on Microsoft services, Microsoft may use it in their advertising and promotional materials without asking you first.

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“Content published in broad online areas may appear in promotional materials for the Service.”

⚠️

Microsoft may restrict data export

🗄️Data retention

2-D

💬 Microsoft can prevent you from exporting your own data if they decide it could affect their security or intellectual property, which could limit your ability to take your data elsewhere.

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“Microsoft reserves the right to restrict data export that may compromise service security or intellectual property.”

3Code of Conduct1 clause

ℹ️

Broad prohibition on circumventing restrictions including AI jailbreaking

⛔Account termination

3-A

💬 Attempting to bypass any restrictions on Microsoft services — including trying to get around AI safety limits (jailbreaking) or scraping data — is a violation that could get your account terminated.

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“Circumvent Restrictions - Bypass access, usage, or availability restrictions (including "jailbreaking" AI systems or impermissible scraping)”

4Using the Services & Support5 clauses

ℹ️

Inactive accounts automatically closed after 2 years

⛔Account termination

4-A

💬 If you don't sign in for two years, Microsoft will close your account and you could lose all your data and purchased content.

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“You must sign in at least once in a two-year period to keep your Microsoft account active unless a longer period is specified. The system will close inactive accounts.”

⚠️

OneDrive and Outlook require yearly sign-in or face closure

⛔Account termination

4-B

💬 Even if you use your Microsoft account, your email and cloud storage can be separately closed if you don't specifically sign into Outlook.com and OneDrive at least once a year — you could lose emails and files.

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“Outlook.com inboxes and OneDrive require separate sign-ins at least once yearly, otherwise they will be closed.”

🔴

Microsoft can immediately close accounts and forfeit content

⛔Account termination

4-C

💬 Microsoft can shut down your account immediately if they believe you violated their terms, and you could lose everything — your purchased content, subscriptions, account balances, and all stored data — with no recourse.

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“If you violate Terms or Policies, Microsoft may: Limit access to certain features or Services; Stop providing Services; Close your account immediately; Block delivery of communications. Account closure may result in forfeiture of content licenses, associated content, memberships, and account balances.”

⚠️

Content deleted upon account closure with no recovery

🗄️Data retention

4-D

💬 When your account is closed — whether by you or by Microsoft — your data is deleted permanently and cannot be recovered. Any digital products you bought may also be lost.

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“When an account closes: Microsoft deletes Data/Content or disassociates it from your account (unless legally required to retain it). You may lose access to acquired products. Maintain regular backups as Microsoft cannot retrieve content after closure.”

⚠️

Work/school domain owners can access all your data

🔗Shares with third parties

4-E

💬 If you use a work or school email, your employer or school can fully control your account and read all your communications and files, including personal content.

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“The domain owner may control and administer your account. The domain owner may access and process your Data, including communications and files.”

5Third-Party Apps and Services1 clause

ℹ️

No liability for third-party offerings

🛡️Limits their liability

5-A

💬 If a third-party app or service accessed through Microsoft causes you problems, Microsoft takes no responsibility — you're entirely on your own.

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“You assume all risk and liability from third-party use. Microsoft is not responsible for issues arising from third-party offerings or information they provide.”

6Service Availability1 clause

⚠️

No liability for service disruptions or data loss

🛡️Limits their liability

6-A

💬 Microsoft accepts zero responsibility if their services go down and you lose data or suffer other losses as a result, even if the outage is prolonged or causes significant harm.

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“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 outages, you may not retrieve stored content or data.”

7Updates and Changes to Terms3 clauses

🔴

Microsoft can change terms at any time — continued use equals acceptance

📝Can change terms anytime

7-A

💬 Microsoft can change any part of this agreement whenever they want. If you keep using the service after changes, you're deemed to have agreed — your only option to disagree is to quit the service entirely and close your account.

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“Microsoft may change these Terms at any time and will notify you. Using Services after changes take effect means you agree to new terms. If you disagree, stop using Services, close your account, and help any minor child close their account.”

⚠️

Features can be removed or services discontinued at any time

📝Can change terms anytime

7-B

💬 Microsoft can remove features you rely on or shut down entire services without obligation to compensate you or provide alternatives, even for content you've already paid for.

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“There may be times when Microsoft needs 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 as required by law, Microsoft has no obligation to provide re-downloads or replacements of previously purchased material, Digital Goods, or applications.”

ℹ️

Automatic software updates without consent

📌Other

7-C

💬 Microsoft can automatically download and install updates or change your software configuration without asking your permission first.

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“Microsoft may automatically check your software version and download updates or configuration changes.”

8Software License2 clauses

ℹ️

📌Other

8-A

💬 You don't own the software — you're renting it. Microsoft keeps all rights they haven't explicitly given you, meaning they can revoke access under certain conditions.

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“The software is licensed, not sold, and Microsoft reserves all rights to the software not expressly granted.”

ℹ️

Prohibition on reverse engineering

📌Other

8-B

💬 You cannot examine how the software works under the hood, which limits security research and interoperability efforts (except where local law overrides this restriction).

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“You may not: Disassemble, decompile, decrypt, hack, emulate, exploit, or reverse engineer software or Services (except where copyright law expressly permits)”

9Payment Terms5 clauses

⚠️

Automatic recurring payments until you cancel

🔄Auto-renews

9-A

💬 Subscriptions auto-renew and charge your payment method automatically until you specifically cancel. If you forget, you keep getting billed.

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“When purchasing Services on a subscription basis (monthly, quarterly, or annually), you authorize recurring payments at agreed intervals until you or Microsoft terminate the subscription. Cancel before the next billing date to stop charges.”

⚠️

All purchases are final and non-refundable

📌Other

9-B

💬 Once you pay for something, you generally can't get your money back — Microsoft's default policy is no refunds.

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“Unless otherwise provided by law or by a particular Service offer, all purchases are final and non-refundable.”

⚠️

Only 90 days to dispute billing errors

📌Other

9-C

💬 You have only 90 days to catch and report billing mistakes. After that window, Microsoft won't refund you even if they made the error.

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“If Microsoft makes an error on your bill, you must tell Microsoft within 90 days after the error first appears on your bill. Refunds will not be given for charges older than 90 days.”

⚠️

Price changes with only 15 days notice

📌Other

9-D

💬 Microsoft can raise prices on your subscription with only 15 days' notice, giving you very little time to decide whether to cancel before being charged the new rate.

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“Microsoft may change the price of the Services at any time and if you have a recurring purchase, Microsoft will notify you by email, or other reasonable manner, at least 15 days before the price change.”

ℹ️

Microsoft can use updated payment info from banks

📌Other

9-E

💬 Microsoft can automatically get your new card numbers or payment details from your bank without you providing them, making it harder to stop charges by simply letting a card expire.

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“You authorize Microsoft to use updated account information from your bank or payment network.”

12Warranties1 clause

🔴

Services provided 'as is' with no warranties

🛡️Limits their liability

12-A

💬 Microsoft makes absolutely no guarantees that their services will work properly, be accurate, or be available when you need them. You use everything at your own risk.

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“MICROSOFT, AND OUR AFFILIATES, RESELLERS, DISTRIBUTORS, AND VENDORS, MAKE NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, GUARANTEES OR CONDITIONS WITH RESPECT TO YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES. USE OF THE SERVICES IS AT YOUR OWN RISK AND MICROSOFT PROVIDES THE SERVICES ON AN "AS IS" BASIS "WITH ALL FAULTS" AND "AS AVAILABLE."”

13Limitation of Liability1 clause

🔴

Liability capped at one month's fees or $10

🛡️Limits their liability

13-A

💬 If Microsoft causes you harm, the most you can recover is one month's subscription fee — or just $10 if the service is free. You can't sue for lost profits, indirect damages, or any other real-world losses no matter how severe.

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“Your exclusive remedy is to recover direct damages up to an amount equal to your Services fee for the month during which the loss or breach occurred (or up to $10.00 if the Services are free). You cannot recover other damages or losses, including consequential, lost profits, special, indirect, incidental, or punitive damages.”

14-aXbox Service-Specific Terms2 clauses

⚠️

Xbox gameplay data shared with third parties

🔗Shares with third parties

14-A

💬 Your gaming activity, play habits, and usage data are automatically tracked and shared with game developers and publishers — and you can't opt out by using the service.

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“When you sign up to receive Xbox Services, information about your game play, activities and usage of games and Xbox Services will be tracked and shared with applicable third parties, including game developers and publishers.”

⚠️

Broad license to Xbox content including name and avatar

📄Claims your content

14-B

💬 Microsoft gets a worldwide right to use anything you create on Xbox — including your gamertag, avatar, and any content — and can sublicense these rights to others.

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“you grant Microsoft, its affiliates, and sublicensees a worldwide right to use, modify, reproduce, distribute, broadcast, share, and display Your Content or your name, gamertag, motto, or avatar posted for Xbox Services.”

14-jDigital Goods1 clause

⚠️

Digital goods can be removed without notice

📌Other

14-A

💬 Digital content you've purchased can be taken away at any time without warning. You don't actually own your digital purchases — you have a license that can be revoked.

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“Digital Goods are owned by Microsoft or third parties. Microsoft or Digital Goods owners may remove them from Services without notice.”

14-kMicrosoft Storage1 clause

⚠️

OneDrive account closure for exceeding storage

⛔Account termination

14-A

💬 If your storage exceeds your quota (e.g., after a plan downgrade) and you don't respond to Microsoft's notice, they can close your account and delete all your files.

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“If you have more content stored in your OneDrive than is provided to you and you do not respond to notice from Microsoft, Microsoft reserves the right to close your account and delete or disable access to Your Content.”

14-mMicrosoft Rewards1 clause

ℹ️

Rewards points expire and program can be cancelled anytime

📌Other

14-A

💬 Your reward points expire after 12 months of inactivity, and Microsoft can change or cancel the entire rewards program at any time without telling you first.

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“Unredeemed Points associated with your Rewards Account expire if you do not earn or redeem any Points in your Rewards Account for 12 consecutive months. Microsoft reserves the right to change, modify, discontinue, or cancel the Rewards Program or parts thereof at any time at its sole discretion without prior notice.”

14-sAI Services3 clauses

⚠️

AI inputs and outputs stored and monitored

🤖AI training on your data

14-A

💬 Everything you type into and receive from Microsoft's AI services is stored and monitored by Microsoft. While stated as being for abuse prevention, your prompts and AI responses are retained.

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“Microsoft will process and store your inputs to the service as well as output from the service, for purposes of monitoring for and preventing abusive or harmful uses or outputs.”

ℹ️

Cannot use AI services to train competing AI

🤖AI training on your data

14-B

💬 You're prohibited from using Microsoft AI outputs to build or improve any AI system, even your own — this locks you into Microsoft's ecosystem for AI-related work.

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“You may not use the AI services, or data from the AI services, to create, train, or improve (directly or indirectly) any AI technology.”

ℹ️

AI is not professional advice — no liability for AI outputs

📌Other

14-C

💬 Microsoft disclaims responsibility for any AI-generated advice or information you rely on, even if it's wrong or harmful.

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“AI services are not designed, intended, or to be used as substitutes for professional advice.”

15Binding Arbitration and Class Action Waiver2 clauses

🔴

Mandatory binding arbitration for US users

⚖️Forced arbitration

15-A

💬 If you're in the US, you give up your right to sue Microsoft in court. Disputes must go through private arbitration instead of the public court system.

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“IF YOU LIVE IN (OR YOUR PRINCIPAL PLACE OF BUSINESS IS IN) THE UNITED STATES, PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY. IT AFFECTS HOW DISPUTES ARE RESOLVED. This section contains a binding arbitration clause and a class action waiver.”

🔴

Class action waiver for US users

🚫No class action

15-B

💬 You cannot join other consumers in a class action lawsuit against Microsoft. Even if millions of people are affected by the same issue, each person must file separately, making it much harder and more expensive to hold Microsoft accountable.

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“This section contains a binding arbitration clause and a class action waiver. If you live in the United States, these provisions affect your rights to resolve disputes with Microsoft.”

11Choice of Law and Jurisdiction1 clause

ℹ️

Disputes must be resolved in King County, Washington

📍Jurisdiction

11-A

💬 If your dispute goes to court (rather than arbitration), it must be in Microsoft's home turf of King County, Washington — regardless of where you live, which could make it costly and inconvenient to pursue legal action.

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“You and Microsoft irrevocably consent to exclusive jurisdiction and venue of state or federal courts in King County, Washington, for disputes not heard in arbitration or small claims court.”

Microsoft 365 terms of service, explained in plain English — TOSTLDR