HELP STATION
What happens to Microsoft accounts when you die?
My Microsoft 365 Family subscription allows me to install the Office suite on my wife’s and daughter’s computers as well as my own, so we can all use Word, Excel, Outlook and various other Microsoft apps and services. I’ve been trying to find out what would happen to their Office software if I died, but I can’t find an answer. Our 365 subscription is tied to my Microsoft account, and I understand that if it’s left dormant for a certain period, Microsoft closes it. Presumably, my 365 subscription would end too. So, if I were to die unexpectedly, and my wife had to open her own 365 subscription, would she have to reinstall Office all over again? And if so, what would happen to all her Office files and Outlook emails?
I can’t find any information about these issues on Microsoft’s website, so can you advise please? John Price
TechLife responds: What a marvellous, if rather morbid, question. Now that lots of well-known companies are moving their products and services to a similar ‘rolling subscription’ business model, this is a situation many of us will face in the future.
You asked specifically about Microsoft 365, so we’ll give you a specific answer. However, as you’ve raised the topic, this is a good opportunity for us to offer some general advice on the matter, too.
Every company will have its own procedure. So the first step for the deceased’s next of kin is to contact the provider to find out what they need to do. Typically, the provider will cancel any ongoing subscriptions and won’t take any more payments. The executor (or personal representative) can also contact the deceased’s bank to cancel any direct debits.
Returning to your question about Microsoft 365, according to Microsoft’s own advice (at www. snipca.com/40926 – see screenshot above), your wife wouldn’t need to do anything if you died. Your account would close automatically after two years of inactivity, and any associated data would be deleted.
If you have given your wife your Microsoft credentials, she can log in and speed up the process by cancelling your subscription and closing the account. If not, she (or your personal representative) should contact your bank to cancel the direct debit. Any associated data will be stored for one year and then deleted. Data stored in your account is considered private, even after your death. If your wife or anyone else wants access to it, they need a good reason – and must apply through the court system.
That just leaves your wife’s and daughter’s access to Microsoft 365. This would cease when you stopped paying your subscription. However, your wife or daughter could sign up for their own Microsoft 365 Family account and take the reins. Their Microsoft accounts won’t be affected by the deletion of your account. Once they have a new account with a paid subscription, they can log in and continue to access Microsoft 365’s tools and services. They won’t need to reinstall the apps, and their data won’t be affected.
Can I install software on an external drive?
The SSD in my laptop is completely full. I understand I can use an external drive, or ‘slave’, to load new programs on to my laptop. However, I don’t know how to do it. Do you have you any advice? I’ve only just started my subscription to TechLife, so it’s possible you have published an article on this in the past.
Eddie McCoy
TechLife responds: We’ve certainly covered this topic a few times over the years but we’re happy to recap. You simply have to tell Windows where you want it to install (or ‘save’) any new apps.
To do this in Windows 10 and 11, click the Start button followed by the Settings cog. Next, click System, then Storage. In Windows 10, under the ‘More storage settings’ heading, click ‘Change where new content is saved’ (see screenshot 1 ). In Windows 11, you need to take a slightly different route to reach same place. Under the ‘Storage management’ heading, click ‘Advanced storage settings’ followed by ‘Where new content is saved’.
Finally, in either Windows 10 or 11, under the heading ‘New apps will save to:’, click to open the menu, then choose the drive to which you’d like Windows to install new programs (see screenshot 2 ).
Why can’t I create lines automatically in Writer?
Thanks for a great magazine. I recently bought my son-in-law a gift subscription to TechLife so we can share tips and experiences. Speaking of which, my son-in-law recently explained a simple way to draw a horizontal line in Microsoft Word. LibreOffice Writer appears to offer the same feature – at least, according to the Help file. It’s called ‘Automatic lines in Writer’ but it doesn’t seem to work. I’m running the latest version of LibreOffice, 7.2.5.2. Any suggestions?
Alan Rich
TechLife responds: What a lucky son-in-law! And yes, a similar feature does exist in Writer. However, for reasons we can’t fathom, it doesn’t seem to be enabled by default – at least not on the handful of test machines we tried with recent copies of LibreOffice.
Fortunately, this is easy to rectify when you know how. Open the Tools menu, then point to AutoCorrect and click AutoCorrect Options. Next, in the AutoCorrect box, click to select the Options tab. Look for the ‘Apply border’ option (see screenshot 3 ). Click to tick the box in the column headed ‘T’ – which stands for ‘AutoCorrect while typing’ – then click OK.
You can now create lines of varying styles by typing three hyphens, underscores or asterisks on a new line, then pressing Enter, just as in Word.