Opening a developer account

This overview of how to register for a Windows Store developer account will help you make the right choices as you set up your account.

Note  Some fields in the sign-up forms have restrictions on what characters you can enter.

Sign up steps

Note  Before you sign up, be sure to have a credit card handy. The Windows Store requires a credit card to open a developer account, even if you have a registration code that offsets the registration fee.

1. Open your Windows Store Dashboard.

2. Sign in with your existing Microsoft account, or sign up for a new Microsoft account. See Picking a Microsoft account for more info.

3. If you already have a Microsoft Developer Services account associated with the Microsoft account you used in the previous step, you have two options:
   • If you choose to link your accounts, your Windows Store developer account will be linked to your other developer account and both accounts will use the same publisher display name. This means that changes you make to the account info in one account will be copied to the other.
   • If you don't want to link the accounts, sign out of the Microsoft account that is associated with the existing developer account, then sign in with a different Microsoft account.

   If you don't have a Microsoft Developer Services account associated with this Microsoft account, you can create one now.

   1. Select your Windows Store developer account type (individual or company).
   2. Enter the contact info you want to use for your Windows Store developer account.

      Note  We'll only use this to contact you about account-related matters. For example, you'll receive an email confirmation message after you complete your registration. After that, we'll send messages when we pay you, or if you need to fix something with your account.

      If you are registering as a company, you'll also need to enter the name, email address, and phone number of the person who will approve your company's account.

   3. Fill out the info in the form. Note the following items in particular:
      • For the website, enter the URL for the website that you want to associate with your developer account. Customers don't see what you enter in this field (though when you submit an app, you can use the same URL in the app's description if you want to provide it to customers).

      • For the publisher display name, enter the name under which your apps should be listed in the Store. You will not be able to change this name until your account verification is complete. Pick this carefully, as customers will see this name when browsing and will come to know your apps by this name.

        Note   If someone else has trademarked or copyrighted the name you picked, your account could be closed. See your App Developer Agreement for more info.

   4. Review the terms of use. If you'd like to read these terms before you register, see the App Developer Agreement.

4. Enter your registration code, if applicable.

5. Enter your payment info. We need you provide this even if you are part of a program that waives your developer account sign up fee.

   Note  You cannot use prepaid credit cards to pay for your developer account, because we use your payment method to help confirm your identity.

6. Review your order, then click Purchase to confirm your account registration and charge applicable fees to your payment account. We'll send a confirmation message to your developer e-mail address.

7. After you click Continue, you'll be taken to your Dashboard.

   We need to verify your account before you will be able to submit apps. While you wait for verification to be complete, you can reserve an app name, access your Dashboard, and work on building your app.

Character sets and restrictions

Due to international commerce and developer authentication requirements, certain fields in the developer account sign-up forms might not support characters in your native language character set. Some of the values in these forms can only be entered in alphanumeric characters included in the Western European alphabet.

The following values in the developer account sign-up forms need to be inputted as Western European alphanumeric characters:

• Developer Account Info: postal code, phone number, email address
• Payment: credit card number, name on card, card verification code, postal code (billing address), phone number (billing address)
• Payout Account: All values on this form
• Tax Profile: All values on this form

Build date: 3/14/2013