A Microsoft account is an email address and password that you use with Outlook.com, Hotmail, Office, OneDrive, Skype, Xbox, and Windows. When you create a Microsoft account, you can use any email address as the user name, including addresses from Outlook.com, Yahoo! or Gmail.

What is an example of a Microsoft account?

A Microsoft account (Formerly Windows Live ID) is the email address used along with a password to sign in to any Microsoft program or service such as Outlook.com, Hotmail, Messenger, OneDrive, Xbox LIVE, or Office Live. Some examples of Microsoft accounts end in @live, @hotmail, @outlook.com.

How do I know if I have a Microsoft account?

If your email address is displayed under your name, then you are using a Microsoft account. If you do not see any email address listed, but you see "Local Account" written right under your user name, then you are using an offline local account.