Separate Microsoft 365 Personal account from old Microsoft 365 Family account

Switch the Office license on ARCIDIACO to the Gmail-based Microsoft 365 Personal subscription before removing the SBC account from Office, OneDrive, Outlook, or Windows.

1. Identify which account currently licenses Office

On ARCIDIACO:

1. Open Word and create or open a document.
2. Select File > Account.
3. Under Product Information, find the email address shown after Belongs to.

That Belongs to address identifies the account associated with the Office license; merely seeing both accounts elsewhere on the page does not mean both are licensing the installation.^1^

• If it shows the Gmail account, Office is already using Microsoft 365 Personal. Continue to section 3.
• If it shows the SBC account, switch the license first.

Also sign in to Services & subscriptions with the Gmail account and confirm that Microsoft 365 Personal is active. An account can activate Office only when the corresponding product or subscription is associated with it.^2^

2. Switch ARCIDIACO to Microsoft 365 Personal

In Word on ARCIDIACO:

1. Select File > Account.
2. Under Product Information, select Switch License.
3. Sign in with the Gmail Microsoft account if requested.
4. If several eligible licenses appear, select the Microsoft 365 Personal license associated with Gmail.
5. Close every Office application to complete the change.
6. Reopen Word and verify that File > Account > Product Information > Belongs to now shows Gmail.

This is Microsoft’s supported Windows procedure for changing the product used by the current Office installation.^3^

If Switch License is unavailable, do not remove the SBC account yet. Update Office first, then check again. If switching still fails, the documented fallback is to sign out, uninstall Office, reinstall it, and use only the Gmail account during activation.^3^

3. Remove the SBC sign-in from Office on ARCIDIACO

After Gmail appears under Belongs to:

1. In Word, select File > Account.
2. Under User Information, select the SBC account and choose Sign out.
3. Close all Office applications.
4. Reopen Word and confirm:
   • Gmail remains signed in.
   • Belongs to still shows Gmail.
   • A document can be edited and saved.

Signing out can remove that account’s recent-file list, Office personalization, and access to its OneDrive locations, but it does not uninstall Office or cancel a Microsoft 365 subscription.^4^

If the SBC Family dashboard still lists ARCIDIACO, the SBC account owner can open its Microsoft 365 Installs page and select Sign out of Office specifically beside ARCIDIACO. Remote detection can take up to 72 hours, and this does not uninstall Office, delete documents, or cancel the subscription.^5^

Do not select ARCIDIACO2; signing out ARCIDIACO specifically does not sign out the other laptop.

4. Handle OneDrive separately

Office activation and OneDrive synchronization are separate account connections. Check the OneDrive cloud icon in the taskbar:

• If OneDrive already shows Gmail, leave it connected.
• If it shows SBC and you no longer want SBC files synchronized:
  1. Ensure any needed cloud-only SBC files are available online or copied to a safe location.
  2. Select OneDrive cloud icon > Help & Settings > Settings > Account.
  3. Select Unlink this PC > Unlink account.
  4. Start OneDrive and sign in with Gmail.

Unlinking does not delete the cloud files. Files marked Available on this device remain locally, while online-only files remain accessible through the SBC OneDrive on the web.^6^

5. Remove the SBC mailbox from Outlook only if wanted

Removing an Office sign-in does not necessarily remove an Outlook mailbox.

For classic Outlook:

1. Select File > Account Settings > Account Settings.
2. Select the SBC mailbox.
3. Select Remove, then Yes.

This stops that mailbox from sending and receiving in Outlook and deletes its offline cached copy from this PC; it does not deactivate the email account itself.^7^

If you still use the SBC email address, leave that mailbox configured. An email account can remain in Outlook without being the account that licenses Office.

6. Remove it from Windows only after checking the Windows sign-in

Open Settings > Accounts and determine where SBC appears:

• Under Email & accounts / Accounts used by other apps: remove it there if Windows offers that option.
• Under Other users: removing it also removes that Windows profile’s sign-in information and local data from ARCIDIACO. Back up that profile first.^8^
• If SBC is the account shown under Your info as the account used to sign in to Windows, do not delete that profile as an Office-cleanup step. Office licensing should be separated using the earlier steps.

Expected effects

• ARCIDIACO2: Unaffected if only ARCIDIACO is signed out or unlinked.
• Word and Excel: Continue working under Gmail Microsoft 365 Personal after the license switch.
• Outlook: Unaffected unless the SBC mailbox is separately removed.
• OneDrive: Gmail OneDrive remains unaffected; SBC synchronization stops only if it is explicitly unlinked.
• Microsoft 365 Personal: Remains owned and managed by the Gmail account; removing the SBC sign-in does not cancel or merge either subscription.

References

1. Using product keys with Microsoft 365 | Microsoft Support
2. Unlicensed Product and activation errors in Office | Microsoft Support
3. Switch your Office license
4. What happens when you sign out of Office | Microsoft Support
5. [Microsoft 365](https://support.microsoft.com/microsoft-365-activation-licensing/office-install/deactivate-an-installation-of-office)
6. How to remove an account in OneDrive | Microsoft Support
7. Remove or delete an email account from classic Outlook for Windows | Microsoft Support
8. Manage User Accounts in Windows | Microsoft Support