Joining the Community

You can explore the community and search for solutions without joining. But if you want to post or receive email notifications, you'll need to sign up.

1. Click Sign in at the top of any Microsoft Community page. You are taken to the Sign in page.
2. Select how you would like to sign in to the community.
   
   • Sign in with a Microsoft account: If you already have an Outlook.com account, a Hotmail account, a Messenger account, or an Xbox Live account, you already have a Microsoft account. Just sign in with your account name and password.
   • Sign in with an Office 365 account: If you have an Office 365 account provided by your work or school, you may select this option. Just sign in with your account name and password.

3. If you do not already have a Microsoft account, click Sign up now . You are taken to the Create an account page.
4. On the Create an account page, complete all required fields to create an account.
5. If you agree, click Create account . You are now a member of Microsoft Community!

Searching the Community

Search first. There's a good chance that someone has already written about the topic you have in mind.

1. In the search box, type your question, keyword, or topic.

   

2. Click the search button , and then look through the results for your solution.

Absolutely. There are a number of ways to narrow your search:

• At the top of the screen, click Categories, and then select a product or technology to search in that category.
• Use the drop-down menu on the Search button to refine your search by product or category.

  

• Go to any category list page, and select a version and or topic in the dropdowns, and then click Apply. You can also select a content type: questions, discussions, or wikis. You'll be searching with those filters. If you don't find what you need, you can remove the filters in the search results window to widen your search.

  

If you find the same question you wanted to ask in the forum, but it hasn't been answered yet, click the Me Too button. That way you'll be notified via email when your question has been answered.

Note: You can click Me Too even if the question is answered, to get updates on that thread.

Posts that contain the correct answer to the question will be marked "answer" by the original poster or a moderator.

You can also look for posts with a high number of Helpful votes, even if they haven't been marked as answers yet. These may appear with the designation "Most Helpful Reply."

Asking a Question or Starting a Discussion

If you've searched the community and you can't find a question or topic that is the same or similar to yours, it's time to post your own.

1. Click the Participate menu and then click Ask a Question or Start a Discussion.

2. Type in any details about your question or discussion topic that you think would be useful. Include details like what you are trying to do, what you have already tried, and your computer type if you are asking a question.

   

3. From the Category dropdown list, select the product or service you're asking about. This may generate other dropdowns. Use these to make your post as specific as you can.
4. Select the Post a question or Post a discussion radio button as appropriate.
5. Select "Notify me when someone replies to this post," in order to get an email notification when others respond to your question or discussion.
6. Click Submit. Your question or discussion has been posted.

Note: You have to be signed in to post.

Question posts are used to get an answer or solution to a specific question or issue.

Discussion posts are used to share opinions, discuss tips and tricks, and chat about Microsoft technologies.

Both types of posts have the same formatting and similar options. The most noticeable exception is that no answer-marking is needed or available on discussion posts.

1. Go to your post.
2. Click the Edit option and make your changes.
3. Click Submit when you are done.

Yes, if no one has replied to it.

1. Go to your post and click the Edit button. The "Edit" screen opens.
2. Click the Delete button. The "Are you sure you want to delete your post?" window opens.
3. Click OK.

If other users have replied to your post, you can't delete the post unless the other users delete all of their replies first.

No. Posting the same question or discussion multiple times creates distraction. Just wait--someone will reply, and you'll be notified when it happens.

Yes. Just click the Subscribe to updates option on any post. If you didn't provide an email address at sign-in, you'll have the opportunity to provide one when you click Subscribe to updates.

If you clicked Me Too, Subscribe to updates, or checked the Notify me when someone responds to this post box, a Stop emails option will appear at the bottom of the post. Just click the Stop emails option.

If you posted the original question, you can mark the question as answered yourself. Just click the Mark as Answer button.

If you didn't post the original question, you can still mark the post as Helpful.

You can go to the response and click Unmark as Answer.

No one can mark their own post as an answer. Only the person who posted the original question (if it is someone else) or a moderator can mark as post as Answered.

You can follow the discussion and let others know it’s worthwhile by clicking Me Too on the Recommend button.

If you like a specific reply in a discussion, click Like.

Contributing to the Community

1. Click the Reply option.
2. Type in your reply.

   

3. Select "Notify me when someone replies to this post," in order to get an email notification when others respond to your reply.
4. Click the Submit button.

Note: You need to be signed in to post a reply.

When you click this link, your reply will be posted with the content of that post at the top of your reply window.

1. Go to your response, click the Edit option and make your changes.
2. Click Submit when you are done.

1. Go to your response and click the Edit option. The "Edit" window opens.
2. Click the Delete button. The "Are you sure you want to delete your post?" window opens.
3. Click OK.

Yes. Please read our Code of Conduct for using the community.

If someone has posted content that is abusive, offensive, threatening, or otherwise violates the Microsoft Community Code of Conduct, you can report it.

1. Click any Report abuse link.
2. A drop down menu opens. Select the type of abuse you're reporting.
3. A pop-up menu opens. Briefly describe the abuse you saw.
4. Click Submit.

A Microsoft representative will review your report and decide how to proceed.

Note: You have to be signed in to report abuse.

Yes. Advanced user options can help you find and review threads more efficiently.

• Use the advanced search filters to find threads that were posted within a defined timeframe. Advanced search filters appear in addition to other forum filters.

  

  Advanced search filters must be activated through your user profile.
  1. Open your profile by clicking your screen name anywhere it appears in the community.
  2. Click Edit profile.
  3. Under Advanced user options, select Show advanced thread list filters.
  4. Click Save.
• Use thread preview to read posts without leaving the thread list. To open thread preview, click the arrow to the side of the thread name. The full question, up to two answers, and up to five recent replies appear, along with the option to reply or open the full version of the thread. Click the arrow again to close the preview.

  

  Thread preview must be activated through your user profile.
  1. Open your profile by clicking your screen name anywhere it appears in the community.
  2. Click Edit profile.
  3. Under Thread Preview, select Show thread preview in the thread list and select the number of replies to display.
  4. Click Save.

     

Only a Microsoft moderator can start a private message. If you receive a private message, it means that the moderator needs to address your question or issue in private or requires information that may be more personal (such as an email address or account details). Only you and Microsoft moderators can see the contents of the private message—other community members cannot see it.

1. Open the private message.
   • From an email notification, click the link provided.
   • From a thread, click You have a private reply to this message. Click here to read it on our secure private messages section.
   • From anywhere else on the community, click Messages in the top navigation. Your Private Messages inbox appears. Click the appropriate subject line.

     

2. If the moderator has asked for a response to the private message, click Reply above the private message box.
3. Type your response and click Send.

Participating in Wiki Articles

Yes, wiki articles accept comments so that you can share your thoughts on the article.

1. Click Comment on this article.
2. Type your comments.
3. Click Submit.

You can suggest edits to wiki articles. Your suggestion may be as small as a simple grammar fix or as broad as a set of steps that you think would add value to the article. Community members whose suggestions are approved earn points toward community badges.

1. Click Suggest edits to this article.
2. Type your suggestion.
3. Click Submit.

Yes. Just click Subscribe to updates. If you didn't provide an email address at sign-in, you'll have the opportunity to provide one when you click Subscribe to updates.

You can follow the discussion and let others know it’s worthwhile by clicking Me Too on the Found this helpful button.

You can also recommend a specific comment by clicking Like.

Note: You have to be signed in to participate.

Your Profile

Click your screen name anywhere it appears in the community (for example, in one of your posts or questions, or at the top of any page) to get to your profile page.

The personal profile information that you choose to share will appear to all users on the Profile tab.

• Your username
• Your picture (if you decide to upload one)
• Your title, if you have one (for example, Community Moderator)
• Your introduction (if you decide to write one for your profile)
• Bonus links (if you are eligible)
• Your accomplishments and badges
• Any weekly awards you may have won

All of the threads and wiki articles that you participated in, voted for, or are subscribed to appear on your Activity tab.

• Click Applied Filters to filter by types of content or by products and services.
• Use the sort options to put your content in a desired order.
  • Questions
    • Helpful Votes: Sort posts by the most "helpful" votes
    • Me Too Votes: Sort posts by the most "me too" votes
    • Replies: Sort posts by the highest number of replies to a thread
    • Latest: Sort posts by most recently posted
    • Views: Sort posts by the number of times a thread has been viewed
  • Discussions
    • Recommended: Sort posts by the most "recommended" votes
    • Replies: Sort posts by the highest number of replies to a thread
    • Latest: Sort posts by the most recently posted
    • Views: Sort posts by the number of times a thread has been viewed
  • Wikis
    • Helpful votes: Sort wiki articles by the most "helpful" votes
    • Comments: Sort wiki articles by the highest number of comments
    • Latest: Sort wiki articles by the most recently posted
    • Views: Sort wiki articles by the number of times the article has been viewed

The totals displayed on your Statistics tab represent the actual number of actions you performed since you joined the community.

• Thread statistics. This is summary of thread activity in Question and Answer threads and Discussion threads combined.
• Wiki statistics. Wiki Authors and wiki contributors each see their wiki-related activity accumulate under wiki statistics.

Note: Totals do not reflect any posts that were deleted by you or by a moderator.

From the Edit profile tab, you can:

• Change your profile picture
• Change your display name
• Write or edit your bio
• Add a signature that will be displayed with your posts
• Update your email address
• Choose to get email notifications or not
• Select advanced user options

Click the Edit profile tab on your profile page. Change your publicly-facing profile information, subscribe to email notifications, and select advanced user options as desired. When you've finished editing your profile, click Save.

You can delete your profile from this community, but keep in mind that it will also be deleted on all communities that use this profile. The communities that use this profile are Microsoft Community, Microsoft Partner Support Community, and Microsoft Training, Certification, and Program Support Community.

When you delete your profile, all of your posts, awards, votes, and subscriptions will be permanently disassociated from your profile. The profile name will become “A.User” and the profile details and signature line will be removed.

Note: Once a profile has been deleted, it cannot be restored.

1. Click the Edit profile button on your profile page.
2. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click Delete My Profile.
3. Confirm that you want to delete your profile and click OK.

No. You can use a picture that you own (for example, a picture of your cat or dog) or a picture in the public domain, like license-free clip-art or photographs.

Please read our Code of Conduct to make sure your profile picture is appropriate.

They will appear automatically as they are earned. To learn about the badges you can earn, see Building your reputation, below.

Yes. There are two ways to view another community member's profile.

• Browse to a profile page. Whenever a profile name appears as part of thread activity, wiki activity, or award recognition, you can click on it to open the profile page.
• Search for a profile page. Enter the exact profile name in the search box and select Search community member in the dropdown. Click the search icon. If an exact match is found, the profile page will appear.

Building your Reputation

You can start earning badges with your very first answer and continue building your reputation every time you ask a question, post a reply, or vote for something helpful. All of your badges appear on your profile and help others understand your level of community involvement. Meet the community leaders who have earned their reputation as contributors within the community.

These badges are awarded to community members who have demonstrated a long-term commitment to helping build a community of high quality content in a safe, healthy environment.

This is an ongoing, dynamic process. Badges earned for accomplishments can be lost if your community activity no longer meets the badge criteria.

MCC: Content Creator badge

Each time one of your question and answer posts is marked as helpful or as an answer, you get a vote toward your Content Creator badge. When you have a high enough percentage of posts marked as "helpful" or "answers," you'll get your badge.

Benefits of being a Content Creator:

• Your profile will be featured in the Top Contributors rotator
• You'll be awarded space for 5 additional links in your profile
• A Content Creator badge is added to your profile

MCC: Content Curator badge

When you vote a question and answer post or a wiki article as helpful or you recommend a discussion post, you have started on the path to a Content Curator badge. If enough of the posts and articles (in any combination) that you have voted for end up as answers or as the most helpful or recommended post and articles in that category, you'll get your badge.

Benefits of being a Content Curator:

• Unlimited votes per day (ordinary users get up to five votes per day)
• Your profile will be featured in the Top Contributors rotator
• You'll be awarded space for 5 additional links in your profile
• A Content Curator badge is added to your profile

The Guardian badge

Every time you report legitimate abuse in the community, you get a vote toward your Guardian badge. When you have reported enough actual cases of abuse and accurately pointed out the type of abuse, you'll get your badge. Reporting content that is not actual abuse will not get you votes and will slow your progress toward earning this badge.

Benefits of being a Guardian:

• A Guardian badge will be added to your profile
• Content the Guardian reports as abusive is automatically hidden until moderated.

The Wiki Master badge

Wiki Masters are Wiki Authors who have published numerous articles, many of which the community has identified as especially helpful.

The Conversationalist badge

Conversationalists are community members who have consistently started and participated in discussion threads. Many of the discussion threads they’ve started are highly recommended by other members of the community.

Every week we recognize the contributions of our community members with badges awarded for the best content or noteworthy participation in each category. These award badges are yours to keep and cannot be lost.

The First Answer badge

The first time one of your question and answer posts is marked as an answer, a First Answer badge will appear in your profile.

The Quickest Answer badge

This badge is awarded to the person who posts to a question and answer thread in the shortest amount time after a user asks a question and which is marked as an Answer either by the person who asked the question or by a moderator in the past week.

The Helpful Post of the Week badge

This badge is awarded to the person whose question and answer post gets the most "Helpful" votes in a given week (minimum 5 votes). Every week this badge will be awarded to a poster in each category.

The Most Important Answer of the Week badge

This badge is awarded to the person whose question and answer post gets the most "Me Too" votes in a given week, and is subsequently marked as an answer. Every week this badge will be awarded to a poster in each category.

The Most Answers for the Week badge

This badge is awarded to the person who creates the greatest number of question and answer posts marked as answers in a given week. This badge cannot be lost.

The Most Recommended Discussion badge

This badge is awarded to the person whose discussion thread gets the most “Recommended” votes in a given week. Every week this badge will be awarded in each category.

The Wiki Contributor badge

This badge is awarded to community members who have suggested the most wiki article updates that are accepted and result in updated wiki articles. Every week this badge will be awarded in each category.

The Completed Training badge

This badge is awarded to community members who have voluntarily completed training courses and learning opportunities provided through the community. This badge can be earned more than once for completing training in different categories.

The Launch Expert badge

This badge is awarded to community members who have made significant contributions to the community during the launch of a Microsoft product or service. This badge can be earned more than once for contributions to multiple launches.

We appreciate the contributions of community members from integrated Microsoft communities. The following badges were achieved on previous Microsoft communities and are no longer active. Microsoft Mobile Community

• Mobile Contributor
• Mobile Advisor
• Mobile Counsellor
• Mobile Sage
• Mobile Professor
• Mobile Visionary
• Mobile Guru
• Mobile Sensei
• Mobile Legend
• Mobile Contributor of the Month

Office 365 for Business Community

• Bronze, Silver, and Gold Answerer
• Bronze, Silver, and Gold Curator
• Bronze, Silver, and Gold Discussion Starter
• Bronze, Silver, and Gold Helpful
• Community Contributor

Who's Who in the Community

These are volunteers who are here to help the community. Community Moderators answer questions, and work to keep the community healthy and fun. Community moderators are members of the community, not Microsoft employees. People who make extraordinary contributions to the community may be asked to be Community Moderators. Meet our Community Moderators.

Support Engineers are experts who are engaged by Microsoft to answer your questions.

Forum Moderators are experts engaged by Microsoft to mark the best answers, manage abuse, and maintain community health.

Wiki Authors are community members who have demonstrated outstanding written and technical skills. Wiki Authors have the ability to create and manage their own wiki articles in Microsoft Community. Meet our Wiki Authors.

These are Microsoft employees in charge of a particular category. Forum Owners are ultimately responsible for the health of the category.

Most Valuable Professionals are independent experts who are offered a close connection with people at Microsoft. They can often answer your most challenging questions. Find out more about the MVP program.

Microsoft staff participating in the community have a badge that says Microsoft. These community members may work in the community, or they may be general employees who choose to participate.

Registered members of the Windows Insider Program are technology enthusiasts who have early access to releases in order to help improve the features and functionality of Windows. Learn what you can do as an Insider.

Supported Browsers

To take advantage of all Microsoft Community features, use a supported browser.

• Microsoft Edge
• Internet Explorer
• Firefox
• Chrome

In general, Microsoft Community supports the current and previous major releases of each browser. This enables us to provide new features made possible by modern browser technologies.

Yes, the community uses responsive web design to scale the webpage to the right size for your device. To expand a menu in the tablet or mobile device experience, simply tap on it. Some advanced features might not be available in the tablet or mobile device experience due to space constraints.

Microsoft Community Code of Conduct

This Code of Conduct applies to all users of the Microsoft Community.

The Community includes forums, blogs and other community features.

The Microsoft Community is designed for individuals 13 years of age or older.

As a participant of these forums you agree that you will uphold this Code of Conduct, and are responsible for all activities and content you post/upload.

In addition to upholding this Code of Conduct, you are responsible for adhering to all applicable local and national laws.

This is your community. Help us to keep it safe, friendly, fun and helpful.

• Be polite and respectful in your posts, and in your replies to other people.
• Keep conversation threads on track. It's okay to disagree with another user's post, but don't take the thread off track to do so.
• Always address your comments to the person who asked the initial question, not the other posters.
• Cite the source of anything you post or upload, if it isn't your own original content. Be honest about your sources.
• Keep it clean. No profanity, obscenity, insulting or bigoted comments please. No name-calling.
• Search to see if a question you'd like answered has already been posted by somebody else. Posting the same question repeatedly and starting multiple threads on the same subject can be confusing.
• Report any kind of abuse you find in the community. You will find "Report abuse" links in every post and in every profile.

• Divert or change a thread for your own purposes; just start a new thread with the subject you want to discuss.
• Post questions that are the same or similar to questions you have already posted. When someone has an answer or a reply, that person will respond to you.
• Threaten, stalk, insult, victimize or intimidate anyone or any group of people for any reason; including on the basis of age, gender, disability, ethnicity, sexual orientation, race or religion.
• Incite other users to threaten, stalk, insult, victimize, or intimidate another person or group of people.
• Harass, insult, tease, or correct other users about the grammar used in their posts. Good or bad grammar isn't the point-the community is about getting questions answered and technical discussions.
• Post content depicting nudity of any sort, including full or partial photographic human nudity, or nudity in cartoons, fantasy art or manga.
• Post chain letters.
• Link to websites that require payment to access information.
• Post links to external sites that violate this Code of Conduct.

• Posting content that is intended to harm or exploit minors in any way, including collecting the personally identifiable information (PII) of any minor (anyone under18 years old), including, but not limited to: name, email address, home address, phone number, or the name of the minor's school.
• Invading anyone's privacy by attempting to harvest, collect, store, or publish private or personally identifiable information, such as passwords, account information, credit card numbers, addresses, or other contact information without that person's knowledge and willing consent.
• Posting content or links to content that is illegal or violates any applicable local or national laws.
• Posting or spreading viruses, worms, malware, or other software intended to harm another user's computer.
• Impersonating a Microsoft employee, agent, manager, host, administrator, moderator, another user, MVP, or any other person through any means.
• Pirating Microsoft software or products, or offering pirated software or products for sale, including posting product keys.
• Specifically violating Microsoft licensing or terms, such as posting content or links that will install a 3rd party kernel, or evade security measures built into the software.
• Promoting or otherwise facilitating the purchase and sale of ammunition or firearms.
• Posting 'spam,' 'pyramid schemes,' 'affiliate marketing,' or unsolicited commercial advertisements of any kind, including advertising for money making schemes, discount cards, credit counseling, online surveys or online contests.
• Attempting to manipulate the forums, or other community features, including ranking and reputation systems, by violating any of the provisions of this Code of Conduct, colluding with others onvoting, or using multiple profiles.
• Offering to make international money transfers for amounts exceeding the asking price of an item, with intent to request a refund of any portion of the payment.
• Using any form of automated device or computer program that enables the submission of postings without the express written consent of Microsoft Corporation.

• Be very cautious about accepting direct help from another user. If that user suggest he use Remote Assistance to help you, be aware that he will have access to your computer, and that your computer could be hacked.
• If you volunteer to help another user through Remote Access, be very careful not to harm their computer in any way, or to access information that is not openly made available to you. Abuse of Remote Access will not be tolerated, and will result in your being banned from the community.
• Please be careful with your personal information. If you post your email address in a post, it may be used for any purpose by the general public, as this is a public community.
• Don't post information that could be used by others to steal your identity, like your street address, your phone number, your social security number, or your credit card number.

Microsoft reserves the right, at its sole discretion, and without any obligation to do so, to review and remove user-created services and content at will and without notice, and delete content and accounts. Microsoft reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to permanently ban participants or terminate access to the community.

• We encourage you to not share information that others could use to harm you. We encourage parents to be aware of and help exercise control over content posted by and activities of their children to keep them safe online.
• Microsoft is not responsible for the content of any user-created posting, listing or message. The decision to view content or engage with others is yours. We advise you to use your judgment.
• You are responsible for protecting your computer against interference, spyware or viruses that may be encountered. We recommend you install a virus protection program on your computer and keep it up to date.
• You may use the Report abuse link to report violations of this Code of Conduct.
• Microsoft reserves the right to amend or change the Code of Conduct or any service at any time without notice. We encourage you to periodically review these guidelines to ensure you are in compliance.
• Some information you provide or upload to the service may be stored outside of the country/region in which you reside.
• All activity on the service is also governed by the Microsoft Terms of Use and the Microsoft Privacy Policy.
• You acknowledge that you are a volunteer participant in the Microsoft Community and that you may discontinue your participation at any time. Nothing related to your participation will be construed as creating an employer-employee relationship, a partnership, joint venture, association, or agency relationship, or as a limitation upon Microsoft's right to terminate your access as foreseen above, or upon Microsoft's discretion, to terminate your access as provided herein. You assume all risk for your use.
• You understand that posting content or submitting material is voluntary, and you are under no obligation whatsoever to provide any submissions or contributions. You are solely responsible for your dealings with any third party that relates to your use of the community, or any information or materials you obtain from a third party.
• No Compensation. Microsoft shall not be obligated to provide, and you have no expectation of receiving, any compensation in any form for your voluntary participation in the community, or for your submissions or contributions.