Microsoft Admits Deleting 25-Year-Old Account Despite Owner Verification, Erasing Thousands in Games and Personal Photos

A Microsoft customer has accused the tech giant of deleting his 25-year-old account after it was hacked, despite the company confirming he was the legitimate owner. The incident, which has gone viral on social media, reportedly resulted in the permanent loss of thousands of pounds' worth of digital Xbox games, decades of emails and documents, and irreplaceable family photographs stored on OneDrive.

Dutch Twitch streamer Joshua Khane shared screenshots of Microsoft's response on X, claiming the company acknowledged that his account had been compromised but ultimately decided it could not be recovered because the hacker had changed the account's security information.

According to Khane, Microsoft's decision erased more than two decades of digital purchases and personal memories, reigniting debate over digital ownership and the risks of storing purchases and files exclusively in the cloud.

What Happened to the 25-Year-Old Microsoft Account?

According to Khane, his Microsoft account was compromised by a hacker who changed the recovery email address, phone number and other security details linked to the account.

After contacting Microsoft Support, Khane says the company investigated the incident and confirmed that unauthorised access had occurred. However, rather than restoring access, Microsoft informed him that its security policies prevented the company from reversing the changes once the account information had been altered. As a result, the account was permanently closed.

The account had reportedly been active since the launch of the original Xbox and contained thousands of pounds' worth of digitally purchased games, Outlook emails and files stored in Microsoft's OneDrive cloud storage service.

What Was Lost?

Khane said the deletion wiped out far more than his gaming library.

Among the data he claims to have lost were more than 25 years of personal documents, archived emails and photographs, including baby pictures of his son that had been backed up to OneDrive.

In a post shared on X, he wrote that Microsoft had acknowledged he was the rightful owner of the account and that it had been compromised, but that everything was nevertheless deleted.

The post quickly attracted hundreds of thousands of views and sparked widespread criticism of Microsoft's account recovery procedures.

Why Couldn't Microsoft Restore the Account?

A screenshot of Microsoft's response shared by Khane states that the company confirmed unauthorised access to the account during its investigation.

However, Microsoft said that because the account's security information had been changed, its policies prevented staff from modifying or restoring those settings. The message also explained that any files stored in OneDrive could not be recovered because of the company's encryption and privacy safeguards.

Instead, Microsoft recommended that Khane create a new account, adding that purchases linked to the deleted account, including games and cloud files, could not be transferred.

Story Sparks Concern About Digital Ownership

The incident has fuelled renewed debate about what consumers truly own when they purchase digital games, films and cloud storage rather than physical products.

Unlike physical discs or locally stored files, digital purchases are generally tied to online accounts. If access to those accounts is lost or permanently revoked, users may also lose access to their purchases unless companies are able to restore the account.

The controversy comes just days after another Microsoft account dispute in Brazil, where a court ordered the company to restore a hacked Xbox account and reinstate the customer's digital library after ruling in the user's favour under Brazilian consumer protection laws.

What Should Microsoft Users Do?

Cybersecurity experts generally recommend enabling multi-factor authentication, using unique passwords and keeping offline backups of irreplaceable files rather than relying solely on cloud storage.

The case has also prompted renewed calls for stronger consumer protections surrounding digital ownership, with many users arguing that purchased games and personal files should not become inaccessible because of account recovery failures.

Microsoft has not publicly commented on Khane's individual case beyond the support correspondence he shared online. As discussion continues, the incident has become another high-profile example of the challenges consumers face as more entertainment, purchases and personal memories move entirely into digital ecosystems.