Published: July 30, 2023
Effective: September 30, 2023
Introduction to the Microsoft Services Agreement
The Microsoft Services Agreement is an agreement between you and Microsoft (or one of its affiliates) that governs your use of Microsoft consumer online products and services.
We understand that you may have questions about the Microsoft Services Agreement. We have an FAQ page (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/servicesagreement/faq) that provides more information, including what Microsoft products and services it covers. Whenever we make changes, we provide a summary of the most notable changes to the current Microsoft Services Agreement. We will also continue to provide a summary of the changes to the previous version, and a link to the previous version, of the Microsoft Services Agreement on the Summary of Changes (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/servicesagreement/updates) page.
Summary of Arbitration Provisions
The Microsoft Services Agreement contains binding arbitration and class action waiver terms that apply to U.S. residents. You and we agree to submit disputes to a neutral arbitrator and not to sue in court in front of a judge or jury, except in small claims court. Please see Section 15 for details.
ESTIMATED READING TIME: 55 Minutes; 14268 words
IF YOU LIVE IN (OR YOUR PRINCIPAL PLACE OF BUSINESS IS IN) THE UNITED STATES, PLEASE READ THE BINDING ARBITRATION CLAUSE AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER IN SECTION 15. IT AFFECTS HOW DISPUTES ARE RESOLVED.
These terms (“Terms”) cover the use of those Microsoft consumer products, websites, and services listed at the end of these Terms here (https://www.microsoft.com/servicesagreement#serviceslist) (the “Services”). You accept these Terms by creating a Microsoft account, through your use of the Services, or by continuing to use the Services after being notified of a change to these Terms.
1. Your Privacy. Your privacy is important to us. Please read the Microsoft Privacy Statement (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=521839) (the "Privacy Statement") as it describes the types of data we collect from you and your devices ("Data"), how we use your Data, and the legal bases we have to process your Data. The Privacy Statement also describes how Microsoft uses your content, which is your communications with others; postings submitted by you to Microsoft via the Services; and the files, photos, documents, audio, digital works, livestreams and videos that you upload, store, broadcast, create, generate, or share through the Services or inputs that you submit in order to generate content ("Your Content"). Where processing is based on consent and to the extent permitted by law, by agreeing to these Terms, you consent to Microsoft’s collection, use and disclosure of Your Content and Data as described in the Privacy Statement. In some cases, we will provide separate notice and request your consent as referenced in the Privacy Statement.
2. Your Content. Many of our Services allow you to create, store or share Your Content or receive material from others. We don’t claim ownership of Your Content. Your Content remains yours and you are responsible for it.
3. Code of Conduct. You are accountable for your conduct and content when using the Services.
4. Using the Services & Support.
5. Using Third-Party Apps and Services. The Services may allow you to access or acquire products, services, websites, links, content, material, games, skills, integrations, bots or applications from independent third parties (companies or people who aren’t Microsoft) ("Third-Party Apps and Services"). Many of our Services also help you find, make requests to, or interact with Third-Party Apps and Services or allow you to share Your Content or Data, and you understand that by using our Services you are directing them to make Third-Party Apps and Services available to you. The Third-Party Apps and Services may allow you to store Your Content or Data with the publisher, provider or operator of the Third-Party Apps and Services. The Third-Party Apps and Services may present you with a privacy policy or require you to accept their terms before you can install or use the Third-Party App or Service. See section 14.b for additional terms for applications acquired through certain Stores owned or operated by Microsoft or its affiliates (including, but not limited to, the Office Store, the Microsoft Store on Xbox and the Microsoft Store on Windows). You should review the third-party terms and privacy policies before acquiring, using, requesting, or linking your Microsoft Account to any Third-Party Apps and Services. Any third-party terms do not modify any of these Terms. You are responsible for your dealings with third parties. Microsoft does not license any intellectual property to you as part of any Third-Party Apps and Services and is not responsible or liable to you or others for information or services provided by any Third-Party Apps and Services.
6. Service Availability.
7. Updates to the Services or Software, and Changes to These Terms.
8. Software License. Unless accompanied by a separate Microsoft license agreement (for example, if you are using a Microsoft application that is included with and a part of Windows, then the Microsoft Software License Terms for the Windows Operating System govern such software), any software provided by us to you as part of the Services is subject to these Terms. Applications acquired through certain Stores owned or operated by Microsoft or its affiliates (including, but not limited to the Office Store, Microsoft Store on Windows and Microsoft Store on Xbox) are subject to section 14.b.i below.
9. Payment Terms. If you purchase a Service, then these payment terms apply to your purchase and you agree to them.
10. Contracting Entity. For use of free and paid consumer Skype-branded Services, you're contracting with, and all references to “Microsoft” in these Terms mean, Skype Communications S.à.r.l, 23 – 29 Rives de Clausen, L-2165 Luxembourg. For all other Services, you're contracting with Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052, U.S.A.
11. Choice of Law and Place to Resolve Disputes. If you live in (or, if a business, your principal place of business is in) the United States, the laws of the state where you live (or, if a business, where your principal place of business is located) govern all claims, regardless of conflict of laws principles, except that the Federal Arbitration Act governs all provisions relating to arbitration. You and we irrevocably consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the state or federal courts in King County, Washington, for all disputes arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Services that are not heard in arbitration or small claims court.
12. Warranties. MICROSOFT, AND OUR AFFILIATES, RESELLERS, DISTRIBUTORS, AND VENDORS, MAKE NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, GUARANTEES OR CONDITIONS WITH RESPECT TO YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES. YOU UNDERSTAND THAT USE OF THE SERVICES IS AT YOUR OWN RISK AND THAT WE PROVIDE THE SERVICES ON AN "AS IS" BASIS "WITH ALL FAULTS" AND "AS AVAILABLE." YOU BEAR THE ENTIRE RISK OF USING THE SERVICES. MICROSOFT DOESN'T GUARANTEE THE ACCURACY OR TIMELINESS OF THE SERVICES. TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED UNDER YOUR LOCAL LAW, WE EXCLUDE ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING FOR MERCHANTABILITY, SATISFACTORY QUALITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WORKMANLIKE EFFORT, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. YOU MAY HAVE CERTAIN RIGHTS UNDER YOUR LOCAL LAW. NOTHING IN THESE TERMS IS INTENDED TO AFFECT THOSE RIGHTS, IF THEY ARE APPLICABLE. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT COMPUTER AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS ARE NOT FAULT-FREE AND OCCASIONAL PERIODS OF DOWNTIME OCCUR. WE DO NOT GUARANTEE THE SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE OR THAT CONTENT LOSS WON'T OCCUR, NOR DO WE GUARANTEE ANY CONNECTION TO OR TRANSMISSION FROM THE COMPUTER NETWORKS.
13. Limitation of Liability. If you have any basis for recovering damages (including breach of these Terms), you agree that your exclusive remedy is to recover, from Microsoft or any affiliates, resellers, distributors, Third-Party Apps and Services providers, and vendors, direct damages up to an amount equal to your Services fee for the month during which the loss or breach occurred (or up to $10.00 if the Services are free). You can't recover any other damages or losses, including direct, consequential, lost profits, special, indirect, incidental, or punitive. These limitations and exclusions apply even if this remedy doesn't fully compensate you for any losses or fails of its essential purpose or if we knew or should have known about the possibility of the damages. To the maximum extent permitted by law, these limitations and exclusions apply to anything or any claims related to these Terms, the Services, or the software related to the Services.
14. Service-Specific Terms. The terms before and after section 14 apply generally to all Services. This section contains service-specific terms that are in addition to the general terms. These service-specific terms govern if there are any conflicts with the general terms.
15. Binding Arbitration and Class Action Waiver If You Live In (or, If a Business, Your Principal Place of Business Is In) the United States. We hope we never have a dispute, but if we do, you and we agree to try for 60 days, upon receipt of a Notice of Dispute, to resolve it informally. If we can’t, you and we agree to binding individual arbitration before the American Arbitration Association ("AAA") under the Federal Arbitration Act ("FAA"), and not to sue in court in front of a judge or jury. Instead, a neutral arbitrator will decide and the arbitrator’s decision will be final except for a limited right of review under the FAA. Class action lawsuits, class-wide arbitrations, private attorney-general actions, requests for public injunctions, and any other proceeding or request for relief where someone acts in a representative capacity aren’t allowed. Nor is combining individual proceedings without the consent of all parties. "We," "our," and "us" includes Microsoft and Microsoft’s affiliates.
The arbitrator rules on all issues except that a court has exclusive authority: (i) to decide arbitrability, as well as formation, existence, scope, validity, and enforceability of this arbitration agreement; (ii) to decide whether the parties have complied with the pre-arbitration requirements (including the individualized Notice of Dispute and Demand for Arbitration forms); (iii) to enforce the prohibition on class, representative, private attorney-general, or combined actions or proceedings, or public injunctive relief; and (iv) to enjoin an arbitration from proceeding if it does not comply with this section 15.
If your Notice of Dispute involves claims similar to those of at least 24 other customers, and if you and those other customers are represented by the same lawyers, or by lawyers who are coordinating with each other, you and we agree that these claims will be “Related Cases.” Related Cases may only be filed in batches of up to 50 individual arbitrations at a time, and those individual arbitrations will be resolved in the following manner: (i) for the first batch, each side may select up to 25 of these Related Cases to be filed and resolved in individual arbitrations under this section 15; (ii) none of the other Related Cases may be filed or prosecuted in arbitration until the first batch of up to 50 individual arbitrations is resolved; and (iii) if, after that first batch, the parties are unable to informally resolve the remaining Related Cases, a second batch of Related Cases may be filed, where each side may select up to 25 of the Related Cases to be resolved in individual arbitrations under this section 15. This process of batched individual arbitrations will continue until the parties resolve all Related Cases informally or through individual arbitrations. A court has exclusive authority to enforce this paragraph, including whether it applies to a given set of claims, and to enjoin the filing or prosecution of arbitrations that do not comply with this paragraph.
16. Miscellaneous. This section, and sections 1, 9 (for amounts incurred before the end of these Terms), 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18 and those that by their terms apply after the Terms end will survive any termination or cancellation of these Terms. We may assign these Terms, in whole or in part, at any time without notice to you. You may not assign your rights or obligations under these Terms or transfer any rights to use the Services. This is the entire agreement between you and Microsoft for your use of the Services. It supersedes any prior agreements between you and Microsoft regarding your use of the Services. All parts of these Terms apply to the maximum extent permitted by relevant law. If a court or arbitrator holds that we can't enforce a part of these Terms as written, we may replace those terms with similar terms to the extent enforceable under the relevant law, but the rest of these Terms won't change. Section 15.g says what happens if parts of section 15 (arbitration and class action waiver) are found to be unenforceable. Section 15.g prevails over this section if inconsistent with it. Except for section 15 (arbitration and class action waiver) these Terms are solely for your and our benefit; they aren’t for the benefit of any other person, except for Microsoft’s successors and assigns.
17. Export Laws. You must comply with all domestic and international export laws and regulations that apply to the software and/or Services, which include restrictions on destinations, end users, and end use. For further information on geographic and export restrictions, visit https://www.microsoft.com/exporting.
18. Reservation of Rights and Feedback. Except as expressly provided under these Terms, Microsoft does not grant you a license or any other rights of any type under any patents, know-how, copyrights, trade secrets, trademarks or other intellectual property owned or controlled by Microsoft or any related entity, including but not limited to any name, trade dress, logo or equivalents. If you give to Microsoft any idea, proposal, suggestion or feedback, including without limitation ideas for new products, technologies, promotions, product names, product feedback and product improvements ("Feedback"), you give to Microsoft, without charge, royalties or other obligation to you, the right to make, have made, create derivative works, use, share and commercialize your Feedback in any way and for any purpose. You will not give Feedback that is subject to a license that requires Microsoft to license its software, technologies or documentation to any third party because Microsoft includes your Feedback in them.
Notices and procedure for making claims of intellectual property infringement. Microsoft respects the intellectual property rights of third parties. If you wish to send a notice of intellectual property infringement, including claims of copyright infringement, please use our procedures for submitting Notices of Infringement (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/legal/intellectualproperty/infringement), which procedures form part of these Terms. ONLY INQUIRIES RELEVANT TO THIS PROCEDURE WILL RECEIVE A RESPONSE.
Microsoft uses the processes set out in Title 17, United States Code, Section 512, and, where applicable, Chapter III of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, to respond to notices of copyright infringement. In appropriate circumstances, Microsoft may also disable or terminate accounts of users of Microsoft services who may be repeat infringers. Furthermore, in appropriate circumstances, Microsoft may suspend processing notices by individuals or entities that frequently submit unfounded notices. A further explanation of the applicable procedures for a given Service, including possible redress for decisions taken by Microsoft as part of these procedures, may be found at Notices of Infringement (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/legal/intellectualproperty/infringement).
Notices and procedures regarding intellectual property concerns in advertising. Please review our Intellectual Property Guidelines (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=243207) regarding intellectual property concerns on our advertising network.
Copyright and trademark notices. The Services are copyright © Microsoft Corporation and/or its suppliers, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052, U.S.A. All rights reserved. The Terms incorporate Microsoft Trademark & Brand Guidelines (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/legal/intellectualproperty/trademarks/usage/general.aspx) (as amended from time to time). Microsoft and the names, logos, and icons of all Microsoft products, software, and services may be either unregistered or registered trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. The following is a non-exhaustive list of Microsoft’s trademarks (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/legal/intellectualproperty/trademarks/en-us.aspx). The names of actual companies and products may be the trademarks of their respective owners. Any rights not expressly granted in these Terms are reserved. Certain software used in certain Microsoft website servers is based in part on the work of the Independent JPEG Group. Copyright © 1991-1996 Thomas G. Lane. All rights reserved. "gnuplot" software used in certain Microsoft website servers is copyright © 1986-1993 Thomas Williams, Colin Kelley. All rights reserved.
Medical notice. Microsoft does not provide medical or any other health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition, diet, fitness, or wellness program. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of information you accessed on or through the Services.
Stock quotes and index data (including index values). Financial information provided through the Services is for your personal, noncommercial use only. You may not use any of the finance data or marks of any third-party licensor in connection with the issuance, creation, sponsorship, trading, marketing, or promotion of any financial instruments or investment products (for example, indices, derivatives, structured products, investment funds, exchange-traded funds, investment portfolios, etc., where the price, return and/or performance of the instrument or investment product is based on, related to, or intended to track any of the finance data) without a separate written agreement with the third-party licensor.
Financial notice. Microsoft isn't a broker/dealer or registered investment advisor under United States federal securities law or securities laws of other jurisdictions and doesn't advise individuals as to the advisability of investing in, purchasing, or selling securities or other financial products or services. Nothing contained in the Services is an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security. Neither Microsoft nor its licensors of stock quotes or index data endorse or recommend any particular financial products or services. Nothing in the Services is intended to be professional advice, including without limitation, investment or tax advice.
Tax Notices. Please review our tax notification page (https://aka.ms/taxservice) for U.S. state and local sales/use tax information.
Notice about the H.264/AVC and VC-1 Video Standards. The software may include H.264/AVC and/or VC-1 codec technology that is licensed by MPEG LA, L.L.C. This technology is a format for data compression of video information. MPEG LA, L.L.C. requires this notice:
THIS PRODUCT IS LICENSED UNDER THE H.264/AVC, AND THE VC-1 PATENT PORTFOLIO LICENSES FOR THE PERSONAL AND NONCOMMERCIAL USE OF A CONSUMER TO (A) ENCODE VIDEO IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE STANDARDS ("VIDEO STANDARDS") AND/OR (B) DECODE H.264/AVC, AND VC-1 VIDEO THAT WAS ENCODED BY A CONSUMER ENGAGED IN A PERSONAL AND NONCOMMERCIAL ACTIVITY AND/OR WAS OBTAINED FROM A VIDEO PROVIDER LICENSED TO PROVIDE SUCH VIDEO. NO LICENSE IS GRANTED OR SHALL BE IMPLIED FOR ANY OTHER USE. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM MPEG LA, L.L.C. SEE THE MPEG LA WEBSITE (https://www.mpegla.com).
For clarification purposes only, this notice does not limit or inhibit the use of the software provided under these Terms for normal business uses that are personal to that business which do not include (i) redistribution of the software to third parties, or (ii) creation of material with the VIDEO STANDARDS compliant technologies for distribution to third parties.
Notice about the H.265/HEVC Video Standard. The software may include H.265/HEVC coding technology. Access Advance LLC requires this notice:
IF INCLUDED, THE H.265/HEVC TECHNOLOGY IN THIS SOFTWARE IS COVERED BY ONE OR MORE CLAIMS OF THE HEVC PATENTS LISTED AT: PATENTLIST.ACCESSADVANCE.COM. DEPENDING ON HOW YOU OBTAINED THE SOFTWARE, THIS PRODUCT MAY BE LICENSED UNDER THE HEVC ADVANCE PATENT PORTFOLIO.
If this software is installed on a Microsoft device, additional licensing information can be found at: aka.ms/HEVCVirtualPatentMarking.
STANDARD APPLICATION LICENSE TERMSFOR APPLICATIONS OFFERED IN THE UNITED STATES
MICROSOFT STORE, MICROSOFT STORE ON WINDOWS, AND MICROSOFT STORE ON XBOX
These license terms are an agreement between you and the application publisher. Please read them. They apply to the software applications you download from the Microsoft Store, the Microsoft Store on Windows or the Microsoft Store on Xbox (each of which is referred to in these license terms as the "Store"), including any updates or supplements for the application, unless the application comes with separate terms, in which case those terms apply.
BY DOWNLOADING OR USING THE APPLICATION, OR ATTEMPTING TO DO ANY OF THESE, YOU ACCEPT THESE TERMS. IF YOU DO NOT ACCEPT THEM, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO AND MUST NOT DOWNLOAD OR USE THE APPLICATION.
The application publisher means the entity licensing the application to you, as identified in the Store.
If you comply with these license terms, you have the rights below.
This limitation applies to:
It also applies even if:
The following products, apps and services are covered by the Microsoft Services Agreement, but may not be available in your market.