If you see a screen asking "Which account do you want to use?" when you sign in, it means that you have two accounts with Microsoft using the same email address:
- A “Work or school” account, which was probably created by your IT department
- A “personal” account, which you probably created yourself
If you’re tired of seeing this prompt, you can rename your personal account, which means using a different email address to sign in to it. Doing this changes the way you sign in to your account, but it won’t impact any of the data associated with it.
Renaming your personal Microsoft account can help simplify your interactions with Microsoft applications, products, and services by separating your work activities from your personal activities. However, this process cannot be undone. In some scenarios, renaming your personal account may not be helpful.
- You use a Windows phone running Windows 8. You will have to reset your phone.
- You are part of our Xbox Developer community. You could lose access to some developer tools.
- Your Visual Studio or MSDN subscriptions are linked to your Microsoft account.
To rename your personal Microsoft account, follow the steps below:
- Sign in to the Your Info page of your Microsoft account.
- Select Manage how you sign in to Microsoft.
- Look under the Account alias section.
- If you already have a personal email address listed there, you can skip this step.
- If your work or school email address is the only one listed, enter your personal email address, or get a new one from Microsoft, and select Add email or Add phone number.
- If your personal email address does not have (primary alias) listed next to it, select Make primary to set it as your primary alias.
- Select Remove next to your work email address to remove it from your account.
Going forward, you’ll sign in to your personal Microsoft account with your personal email address. You might need to sign in again to some apps and Windows devices.