How to set up Microsoft account on Windows Phone

Setup of email account in  any smartphone helps the user not only in receiving emails directly to his phone, but it also includes all the other features like calenders, contacts and other tasks from the user’s mail account to be accessed from the phone. In this article, we will see how to setup Microsoft account on Windows Phone.

Microsoft account:

The windows phone user can add other email accounts on his phone but primarily a Microsoft account is required because using only this account, the user can get apps from the Windows phone store, access  Xbox and Xbox music, etc. Most of the Windows phone benefits require a Microsoft account.  An email account used to access any of the following can be treated as a Microsoft account:

Outlook.com,
Skype,
Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 PC,
OneDrive (previously SkyDrive),
Xbox live or Xbox music,
Office 365.

If the user does not have a Microsoft account, he can create one during the initial set up of the phone. During the setup of the phone, if the user has not provided any Microsoft account to sync with the Windows phone, he may create it by going to the Microsoft sign-in website later and add it to the phone after the Windows phone setup is completed.

Section I: To create/add a Microsoft account during the setup of the phone:

1. While following the instructions of setup of the Windows Phone, “Keep your life in sync”screen will appear.

2. Tap on Sign in if the user already has a Microsoft account, or otherwise, tap on Create one.

3. By following further instructions, the Microsoft account will be successfully added to the user’s Windows Phone.

Section II: To create a Microsoft account from the web:

If the user tapped on Sign in later  option during the setup of the phone, then he can create a Microsoft account later by going to the Microsoft Sign-in website.

(Click on the picture to have a better view)

Here, the procedure of creating a Microsoft account is similar to creating an email account in any of the email provider services. The user needs to enter his details like name, date of birth, gender, region and he would be asked to create a username and password for the Microsoft account that he wants to create.
To go to the Microsoft sign-in website, click here: Microsoft sign-in

After the Microsoft account is created successfully, the user has to follow the steps given in Section III below to sign-in into his windows phone using this account.

Section III: To add a Microsoft account after the Windows phone is setup:

After creating a Microsoft account successfully, then the user has to follow the steps given under to sync his windows phone with that Microsoft account.

1. Swipe the home screen to the left. In the menu that appears (this is called the App List), tap on  Settings -> Email+Accounts.

2. Tap on Add account -> Microsoft Account -> Sign in

3. Enter the email address and the  password of the Microsoft account and tap on Next.

4. If the user wishes to backup pictures, text messages, phone settings and app data into the Microsoft account provided, then tap on Yes.

NOTE:

• Once a Microsoft account is used to sign-in into the Windows Phone, it cannot be changed unless the phone is reset.
• After the user adds the Microsoft account to his windows phone, the email, contacts, calender, pictures, documents will be in sync with the phone.
• If the user sets up any other Microsoft email accounts like hotmail.com, outlook.com on his Windows phone after adding a Microsoft account, the photos or email or any other data from those accounts will not be in sync with the windows phone.

So, if the user has more than one Microsoft account, it is important to chose which account among those should the user add to his Windows phone for the first time.

• A tile with the email icon for this Microsoft account gets created on the Start screen of the phone. If this email account is not used by the user primarily, the tile can be removed from the Start screen.

Detailed steps on how to add email accounts from other email service providers to the Windows Phone is given in the next post : How to add email account in Windows Phone

For more tips on windows phone, click here: Windows phone tips

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