What is a Microsoft account used for? You need a Microsoft account to sign in to your Windows pc, Xbox console, or any of Microsoft’s products and services, including Office, Outlook.com, OneDrive, Xbox Live, Microsoft 365, Family Safety, Skype, Bing, Microsoft Store and MSN.

Safe mode starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and services to help troubleshoot issues. If a problem doesn't reappear when you start your PC in safe mode, you can eliminate the default settings and basic device drivers and services as possible causes.

To install a 64-bit version of Windows, you need a CPU that's capable of running a 64-bit version of Windows. The benefits of using a 64-bit operating system are most apparent when you have a large amount of random access memory (RAM) installed on your computer, typically 4 GB of RAM or more.

The first time you use the DirectX Diagnostic Tool, you might be asked whether you want to check if your drivers are digitally signed. We recommend that you select Yes to help ensure that your drivers have been signed by a publisher that has verified their authenticity.

Note: Recovery drives created and used on machines with the April 9, 2024 security update and the revocation policy applied may be impacted.For more, see KB5025885: How to manage the Windows Boot Manager revocations for Secure Boot changes associated with CVE-2023-24932.

Find everything you need to manage your Xbox account, profile, and more.

Use the People app to see all your contacts in one place, listed alphabetically. To open the app, select the Start button, and then select People.Enter your account info if you’re asked to sign in.

If you can't find a file on your computer or you accidently modified or deleted a file, you can restore it from a backup (if you're using Windows backup) or you can try to restore it from a previous version.Previous versions are copies of files and folders that Windows automatically saves as part of a restore point.

Important: Bing doesn't control the content that websites publish or that appears in Bing search results.To make sure content is removed from search results, your best option is to contact the webmaster for the website that published the content and request that it be deleted or removed.

We're committed to delivering continuous innovation by releasing new features and enhancements into Windows 11 more frequently. Windows devices get new functionality at different times as Microsoft delivers non-security updates, fixes, improvements, and enhancements via several servicing technologies—including controlled feature rollout (CFR). ...