How to Refund a Game on Xbox?


While they're mostly associated with their subscription service these days; there is a lot more to Xbox than just Game Pass with many gamers still choosing to purchase the games they want regardless of their status as a subscriber.

As is the case with all purchases, however, there will be the odd occasion where you regret what you buy and decide to chase a refund. Here's how you do it for Xbox.

How to Get a Refund on Xbox?

Getting a refund for Xbox is a little vaguer than the PC platforms of Steam and the Epic Games Store but their refund policy still follows a lot of the same basic rules.

A screenshot of the eligibility section of Xbox's refund policy.
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To work on getting a refund from Xbox, first you should head to their dedicated page on the process, where you will need to sign in with the Microsoft account you use for your Xbox profile. This process cannot be done directly from an Xbox console!

As is the standard for all return and refund policies, products are eligible within 14 days of the initial purchase. While games outside of this range aren't a guaranteed rejection from the refund process, it is a lot less likely for your request to be approved.

A screenshot of Xbox's refund page.
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Xbox also takes a drastically different approach than PlayStation do, aligning themselves with the Steam and Epic Games Store approaches of considering the amount of time spent playing any given product, whereas a PlayStation game is ineligible for a refund as soon as it is downloaded or streamed for the first time.

The only exception to the rule is for pre-orders which can be cancelled up to 10 days before release, after which point a refund request will need to be submitted as normal but should be accepted should it meet the aforementioned requirements.

For more articles like this, take a look at our Xbox and More page.