Microsoft purchasing issue

Question

Microsoft purchasing issue

Ibrahim Hijazi 0

I have $30 USD already redeemed in my Microsoft account balance. I friend of mine gifted me Microsoft gift card with US region my laptop setting is US region. However, my Microsoft account region is Lebanon, but I want to purchase Minecraft for PC. The Store gives me PI-InternalError and I cannot add a preferred billing address. Can you tell me whether my existing balance can be used to purchase Minecraft, or what I need to do? Did i lose the 30$ and wont be able to use them?

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Answer 1

You did not lose the $30. Once redeemed, the balance stays in your Microsoft account and normally does not expire.

The issue here is the region mismatch. Your $30 balance is in USD/US region, while your Microsoft account is set to Lebanon. Changing the Windows region to US does not change the billing region of your Microsoft account.

Microsoft account balance is region-specific and cannot be transferred or converted to another region. This is why you are getting PI-InternalError and cannot add the billing address.

If you actually live in the US now, you can change your Microsoft account country/region to the US and add a valid US billing address:

If you are still located in Lebanon, I would not change the region simply to use the US balance.