Changing from business account to personal account

Question

Changing from business account to personal account

MrsAnna 20

I currently have a business subscription to MS365 but I have closed my business. We already have a home account here in my husband's name. I want to check about moving across from my business account to our home account. Can I transfer my cloud documents or do I will I need to upload them from backup? Will my Outlook inboxes remain intact? What can't happen is for everything to be lost if and when my business account lapses.

I logged in and contacted Microsoft to ask for help and they said they couldn't help from business support and to go to personal support (without providing any links or contacts). A week after I asked them how I was supposed to do that when personal support wasn't an option offered when signed in on my business account, they provided me with a link that led here. Someone please help! Thanks.

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Answer accepted by question author

EmilyS726 265.1K Independent Advisor

Hello

Microsoft's business and personal account are two separate ecosystems, so there's no way to simly transfer. As the AI suggested, it has to be manually done.

The email export instruction can be found here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/export-emails-contacts-and-calendar-items-to-outlook-using-a-pst-file-14252b52-3075-4e9b-be4e-ff9ef1068f91#picktab=classic_outlook

As for OneDrive files, on your computer, you actually can set up your OneDrive app to sign into both personal Microsoft account and business account at the same time. If you already have OneDrive set up with one account, just go to the cloud on the lower right, click on it to go to Settings > Accounts tab, add another account, and log into the account. This should then give you two cloud icons on the taskbar, one gray for personal and one blue for business.

Then in the File Explorer, you can go to the business OneDrive folder, copy and paste your files out of there and paste into the personal OneDrive folder.

MrsAnna 20 Reputation points

2025-11-11T14:54:48.7533333+00:00

Thanks Emily, that's helpful. I will see what I can do. It sounds like I have to look at stuff through the web apps rather than the apps already on my laptop. Last time I tried to get the iCloud app (on my phone) I ended up with a non-MS app, so that left me a bit nervous about getting it right. I'll try again :-)

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MrsAnna 20 Reputation points

2025-11-11T14:54:48.7533333+00:00

Thanks Emily, that's helpful. I will see what I can do. It sounds like I have to look at stuff through the web apps rather than the apps already on my laptop. Last time I tried to get the iCloud app (on my phone) I ended up with a non-MS app, so that left me a bit nervous about getting it right. I'll try again :-)

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Answer 3

Transferring data from a business account to a personal account in Microsoft 365 is a manual process. You will need to transfer your cloud documents manually, as there is no automated way to do this. This means you may need to upload them from a backup if you do not have them stored elsewhere.

Regarding your Outlook inboxes, they should remain intact as long as you follow the correct procedures for transferring your data. However, it is crucial to ensure that you back up your emails and any other important data before making the transition to avoid any potential loss.

To summarize:

You will need to manually transfer your cloud documents.
Your Outlook inboxes should remain intact if properly managed.
Always back up your data to prevent loss during the transition.

For further assistance, you may want to contact Microsoft support specifically for personal accounts after you have transitioned your subscription.