How to change the name of a Microsoft Account in Windows 8

[Halcyon.]

When you are logged into Windows 8, Windows will display your full name next to your account picture on the Start Screen. Normally you can use the User Accounts control panel to change the full name that is displayed for an account in Windows. If you are using a Microsoft Account in Windows 8, though, you will no longer be able to change your full name in Windows as it synchronizes it with the settings for your account on live.com. In order to change the name that is displayed for a Microsoft Account in Windows 8, you will instead need to logon to live.com and modify your name there. For example, if I had created a Microsoft Account but misspelled my name as Lawrence Abras, my account would look like this in Windows 8.

To change my account name so that it is using the correct spelling, you would need to do this at the account maintenance page of Live.com by going to this address: https://account.live.com Once you are at the above web page, enter your login information and you will be at the account summary page for your Microsoft account as shown below.

Click on the Edit name link and change your name to the correct spelling. When you are finished making the changes click on the Save button. You can now close the site and web browser. Now reboot Windows 8 and login to the account whose name we just changed. Once you login, Windows should synchronize your name with the changes you just made and display it on the Start Screen.

If you find that your name is not being updated to the new display name, please be patient as it may take some time for Windows to synchronize the changes.