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You can connect your Microsoft account to your domain account and sync your settings and preferences
between them. For more info, see Connect your Microsoft account to your domain account on Windows.com.
What is a Microsoft account?
A Microsoft account—an email address and password—is a new way to sign in to any PC running Windows 8 or
Windows RT. When you sign in to your Surface with a Microsoft account, you’re connected to the cloud. What’s
the cloud, you might ask? The “cloud” in technology terms means network-based services or storage, provided
via the Internet. Many of the settings, preferences, and apps associated with your Microsoft account can "follow"
you between different PCs.
You might already have a Microsoft account. A Microsoft account (formerly known as a Windows Live ID) is the
email address and password that you use to sign in to Microsoft services such as Outlook.com, SkyDrive, Xbox,
or your Windows Phone. If you've used these services, then you already have a Microsoft account.
If you don’t have a Microsoft account, see What is a Microsoft account? on Windows.com.
Benefits of using a Microsoft account
How a Microsoft account lights up your Surface:
See your friends’ contact info and status updates from places like Outlook.com, Facebook, Twitter, and
LinkedIn in one place—the People app.
You get 7 GB of free file storage in the cloud with SkyDrive, a place to see, store, and share your
documents and photos. Your Microsoft account links your PC to SkyDrive, so you can store and get to
your files in the cloud. To learn more, see SkyDrive in this guide.
See your Flickr, SkyDrive, and Facebook photos all from the app, and photos other people have shared
with you, too. For more info, see Photos in this guide.
Get apps from the Windows Store and use them on up to five PCs running Windows 8 or Windows RT.
Learn more about this in the Windows Store section of this guide.
Your personal settings are automatically synced online and between the Windows 8 and Windows RT
PCs you use. For more info, see the Sync your settings section.
You need a Microsoft account to purchase apps, music, videos, and games for your Surface. If you're not using a
Microsoft account, that's okay—you can set up a Microsoft account at any time. To find out how to switch from
a local account to a Microsoft account, see What is a local account? in this guide.
Change your Microsoft account settings
To edit your profile or change your Microsoft account settings, go to the Microsoft account overview webpage
and sign in. Also see the following topics on Windows.com:
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