Get the research letter
Companies change their terms quietly. We read every version and catch what actually changed. One email a week on the changes that matter and what they mean.
This page describes what the document states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability may vary by jurisdiction. Methodology
This agreement sets the rules for using Microsoft's Services, including what happens to your account, content, and money if something goes wrong. If you stop signing in for two years, Microsoft will close your account and delete your data. All purchases are generally final, chargebacks trigger immediate cancellation, and your maximum financial recovery from Microsoft is capped at one month's fee or $10.00 for free Services.
The Microsoft Services Agreement establishes the terms under which Microsoft provides its Services to users, defining key rights and obligations across account management, content, payments, and dispute resolution. Microsoft acquires a worldwide, royalty-free intellectual property license over user-uploaded content, and prohibits users from leveraging Microsoft's AI services or their outputs to create, train, or improve any AI technology. The agreement caps user recovery for damages at one month's Services fee or $10.00 for free Services, disclaims all warranties on an as-is basis, and bars class actions, class-wide arbitrations, private attorney-general actions, and all other representative proceedings. Microsoft may change the Terms at any time with notice, and continued use constitutes acceptance; accounts inactive for two years are closed with associated data deleted absent a legal retention obligation.
As a user, you grant Microsoft a worldwide, royalty-free license to copy, transmit, reformat, display, and distribute your content across the Services. Your account will be closed and your data deleted if you do not sign in at least once every two years, so signing in regularly protects against permanent data loss. If you initiate a bank chargeback, Microsoft treats it as cancellation from the original payment date and can immediately revoke your Service access and content. You cannot bring or join a class action or any representative proceeding against Microsoft, and your financial recovery in any individual dispute is capped at one month's fee or $10.00 for free Services. You are also prohibited from using Microsoft's AI services to make consequential decisions affecting anyone's legal, financial, employment, or human rights without appropriate human oversight, and from using those services or their outputs to build or improve any AI technology.
Which mapped governance frameworks each document engages, tied to the specific provisions that engage them.
Every distinct legal provision identified in this document. Featured provisions appear above with analysis.
Microsoft has updated this document before. Monitor includes same-day alerts, structured change summaries, and monitoring for up to 20 platforms.
Need provision-level monitoring and regulatory mapping? Insight includes governance timelines, drift analysis, and full provision tracking.
Cross-platform context
See how other platforms handle Account closed after two years of inactivity and similar clauses.
Compare across platforms →Governance Monitoring
Structured alerts for policy changes, governance events, and provision updates across 352+ platforms.