How to change an Xbox gamer tag
User names on any website, whether it’s social or otherwise, are normally permanent. Twitter lets you change your username or your handle as often as you want but it’s a rare exception. The Xbox service is similar in that up until recently, you could not change your gamer tag. You can now but there are limitations. You can change an Xbox gamer tag for free the first time you change it. After that, you will have to pay to make the change. The cost for subsequent changes, after you’ve used up the free one, is $9.99.
Change Xbox gamer tag
You can change an Xbox gamer tag from any device that has a web browser. Visit this link and sign in with either your Xbox account or your Microsoft account.
Once you’re signed in, enter the new gamer tag that you want to use, and click Next.
Confirm that you want to make the change. Once you switch over to the new gamer tag, your old gamer tag will be available for anyone to take over. Click Done to confirm the change. The tag will take some time to update across all devices that you use the Xbox service on. Make sure you sign out and then sign back into the service. It should force the change but if it doesn’t, wait a few hours.
With regards to the gamer tag, there are some shortcomings to this new system for changing your gamer tag. For one, when you enter a new gamer tag, it doesn’t tell you if it’s already taken. You’re simply given the tag with a # and some numbers added to it if someone else already has the same tag. You don’t even get to choose the number that’s added.
There is no limit to how many times you can change an Xbox gamer tag however, after the first free change that’s allowed, you have to pay the fee for each subsequent change. The $9.99 is for one change only and it’s safe to say that if you want to change your gamer tag often, it’s going to cost you.
Generally speaking, you can change the tag any time you want however, it’s probably not a good idea to change it while you’re playing game, and especially not if you’re broadcasting from your Xbox account. It may not interrupt the game or the broadcast but it might lead to the gamer tag taking much longer to change.
