How to add my second "LIVE" account to my Family account. The second account has my XBOX subscription.

Question

How to add my second "LIVE" account to my Family account. The second account has my XBOX subscription.

S C Morgan 0

I have a Microsoft Family 365 account. that is account my main account. I also have a LIVE email account that has my XBOX subscription included. I am paying for three separate: Family 365 (which has only one account); The second $9.99 account for the LIVE email, and the XBOX Game Pass subscription that is on the LIVE account. I am trying to add the LIVE account on the Family 365 account, which has the Hotmail address. The "join" links are not working when I click. And I can't register the LIVE account. I get the message that "LINK IS NOT WORKING".

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Answer 1

Xavier-D 12,600 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hello S C Morgan

You can add your LIVE Microsoft account to the family group and share your Microsoft 365 Family benefits with it. However, the Hotmail and LIVE accounts will remain separate accounts, and the Xbox subscription will remain attached to the LIVE account.

Please try these steps:

Sign in to the Microsoft account that owns Microsoft 365 Family: Manage Microsoft 365 sharing
Remove any pending invitation for the LIVE account.
Select Share, create a new invitation link, and send it to the LIVE email address.
Sign out of all Microsoft accounts in the browser.
Open an InPrivate or Incognito window, open the new invitation link, and sign in only with the LIVE account.
Select Join now to join the family group and complete the subscription sharing.

Also check whether the LIVE account already belongs to another Microsoft family group. A Microsoft account must leave its existing family group before it can join another one.

Please note that joining Microsoft 365 Family will not automatically cancel the separate $9.99 subscription or the Xbox Game Pass subscription. Check the LIVE account’s Services & subscriptions page to identify what the $9.99 charge covers before canceling anything: View services and subscriptions

I hope this helps you add the LIVE account without affecting its Xbox subscription.

Feel free reply back to this post if you need further assistance.

Xavier-D 12,600 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-09-04T00:03:21.4133333+00:00

Hi S C Morgan

I’m following up to check on the status of this issue.

Have you had an opportunity to review the answer shared earlier?

Any update you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
S C Morgan 0 Reputation points

2026-09-05T16:48:05.04+00:00

Thank you for answering. I will try this.

After three separate tries, I had went back and enabled the $9.99 subscription.

I did notice Microsoft not accepting the email address for the “live” ($9.99) account maybe because it was still active. And by “active” I mean it wouldn’t have expired until later this month.

Also, will the change affect the XBox account?
Xavier-D 12,600 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-09-06T01:17:30.4133333+00:00

Hi S C Morgan

If the $9.99 subscription is Microsoft 365 Personal and is still active, that may be why the LIVE account cannot receive the Microsoft 365 Family benefits. Renewing it may keep that conflict in place, so first check the subscription name and expiration date under Services & subscriptions.

The Xbox Game Pass subscription should remain with the LIVE account and should not be canceled or transferred simply because that account joins your Microsoft family group. Continue signing in to Xbox with the same LIVE account.

If the $9.99 plan is Microsoft 365 Personal, turn off recurring billing and allow it to expire before trying the Family invitation again.

I hope this clears things up.