How to Transfer an Xbox Live Account to a New Xbox

By Aaron Parson

Updated September 22, 2017

On both the Xbox 360 and Xbox One, your digital purchases are tied to your Xbox Live account. Anywhere you log in, you can download and play games and DLC you've bought, regardless of the console you use -- your home console, a friend's or a replacement. In order to play offline or let other local players run your games, however, your console needs to have the games' licenses, which are tied to your original console. To log in on another machine, just download your profile on a 360 or sign in on an Xbox One. To move the licenses as well, use the License Transfer tool on a 360 or the home Xbox option on an Xbox One.

Xbox 360

Download your Xbox Live profile onto the new system to transfer your account. While not signed in to an account, press the "Guide" button, choose "Download Profile" and log in. Stop after this step unless you also want to transfer the licenses for your purchases.

Scroll over to the "Settings" tab and select "Account."

Select "License Transfer." If you've already transferred your licenses within the past four months, an error message will display how soon you can move them again. Otherwise, press "A" to confirm the transfer.

Press "A" again after the transfer finishes to see a list of your purchases and redownload them. Even if you already downloaded a game on the new console using your old account, you need to redownload it after the license transfer for it to run offline or on another person's profile.

Xbox One

Select "Sign In" on the home screen, pick "Add New" and log in to transfer an account to a new Xbox One or a friend's console. Stop here to transfer only your account, or continue to move your licenses as well.

Open "Settings" from the My games & apps section or say "Xbox, go to settings" to your Kinect. Choose "My Xbox" on the settings menu.

Pick "My Home Xbox" and choose "Make This My Home Xbox" to transfer your licenses. You can only choose a new home Xbox One three times per year. After the transfer, your downloaded purchases work offline or while signed in to another account.

Tips

Because of the restrictions on license transfers -- once every four months on the 360 or three times per year on the One -- only move your licenses if you plan to use another console for a long time. If you're just visiting a friend, download your profile and play while connected to the Internet instead.

You can keep your profile, but not your licenses, on several systems at once.

Warnings

If you have a child Xbox Live account, you need a parent's Live account login to download your profile onto a new system.

In the early years of the Xbox 360, the only way to transfer licenses was with a tool on the Xbox website. This tool no longer exists, so you need to use the Settings menu on the new console instead.

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