An Xbox refund comes down to one number: two hours. As long as you’ve played a digital game for less than two hours in total across all devices, Microsoft treats it as refundable and you request the refund yourself in your order history. Above that threshold, the sentence from Microsoft’s terms applies: digital goods are not refundable unless the offer or the law provides otherwise. And that “unless the law provides otherwise” is the other half of the whole topic in the Czech Republic, as covered below.
When you can refund a game
A self-service refund depends on four conditions, and all of them have to be met at once. If one is missing, the refund button either doesn’t show up on the order, or the request ends in a rejection.
| Condition | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Playtime | less than two hours in total across all devices, not on each one separately |
| Privacy settings | must be set to “Full” – otherwise Microsoft can’t count your playtime |
| Standalone purchase | a single item bought as part of a bundle can’t be refunded |
| Correct account | the request is submitted from the account used for the purchase |
Playtime adding up across devices is the condition that trips people up most often. An hour on the console and an hour and a half on PC means two and a half hours, even if it didn’t feel like much on either of them. The privacy condition, in turn, is why the same request goes through for one person and not for another: without the “Full” setting, Microsoft has no way to verify your playtime.
How to submit the request
- Sign in with the Microsoft account you bought the game with.
- Open Order history.
- Find the specific item and select Request a refund.
- Give a reason and confirm the request.
There’s no other way; Microsoft doesn’t offer any form outside the order history. A gift card behaves differently from a game – it’s redeemed as account balance and has its own rules, which we cover in the guide on how to redeem a code on Xbox.
How long you wait for the money
Processing the request itself can take up to 72 hours. If Microsoft approves the refund, the money is usually processed within three to five business days and goes back to the original payment method. You can track the status of the request in your Xbox order history on the “Refund status” tab, so there’s no need to chase support while that period is running.
Why Microsoft rejects a request
- More than two hours have been played. This is the main filter, and it counts all devices together.
- The account’s privacy isn’t set to “Full”. That leaves Microsoft without the data to calculate playtime.
- The game came as part of a bundle. A single item from a bundle can’t be refunded, even if the rest of the conditions fit.
- The request comes from a different account. The purchase and the request must be under the same Microsoft account.
Microsoft adds a general rule in its terms: digital goods, meaning apps, games, add-on content, subscriptions, movies, TV shows and books, are not refundable unless the offer or applicable law provides otherwise. The two-hour policy is therefore goodwill beyond the terms, not an entitlement.
What Czech consumer law says
For distance purchases in the Czech Republic there is a 14-day right of withdrawal, and it also applies to digital content. The Czech Trade Inspection Authority, however, adds a condition that almost always ends it for downloaded games: once the digital content has been made available, the right of withdrawal lapses.
It only lapses, though, if the seller asked in advance for explicit consent to delivery before the 14-day period runs out and informed the buyer that this means losing the right. According to the Czech Trade Inspection Authority, explicit consent means an active step, such as ticking a box during the order. If the seller makes the content available without that consent or without informing the buyer, the buyer keeps the right to withdraw and the seller isn’t entitled to payment of the price. The authority relies on Act No. 89/2012 Coll., the Civil Code, and for digital content specifically on Section 1837.
For an ordinary game purchase, this leads to one conclusion: if you click buy and download the game, you usually don’t have the 14-day withdrawal right. A refund is then Microsoft’s goodwill under its own policy, not a legal entitlement – which is why it pays to keep an eye on that two-hour limit.
When there’s no point requesting a refund
- You got bored of the game after a few evenings. The refund policy doesn’t cover this, and the request will just sit for up to 72 hours before being rejected.
- You bought it in a bundle. For refund purposes a bundle is one item and can’t be split up.
- You won’t finish a game before it leaves the subscription. That has nothing to do with refunds, it’s about keeping track of the library – we explain how in the article what’s in Game Pass and how to keep track of it.
- You’re dealing with an old subscription that has since been renamed. Then it’s not about a refund but about making sense of the names: where Xbox Live Gold went is covered separately.
A cheaper route than buying blind
Two hours is too little to form an opinion on a big game, but enough to check the controls, performance and whether the game supports your language. If you know you’ll be trying more games like this, a subscription works out cheaper than a series of purchases and refund requests. Compare the Game Pass tiers and what’s in them and figure out whether Game Pass is worth it for you. Games from the library can also be streamed straight away without downloading, as described in the guide Xbox Cloud Gaming: how to get started.
The second most common reason people request refunds at all is purchases made by children. You can stop those in advance with purchase approval and a spending limit, as explained in the article on parental controls on Xbox.
FAQ
The condition Microsoft states for self-service refunds is playtime, not a number of days: less than two hours in total across all devices. You then submit the request in your order history, and processing can take up to 72 hours. The sooner after the purchase you submit it, the better.
Most often because of one of three things. Either you’ve played more than two hours in total, or your account’s privacy isn’t set to u0022Fullu0022 so Microsoft can’t count your playtime, or the item was bought in a bundle. Also check that you’re signed in with the account used for the purchase.
Processing the request takes up to 72 hours. Once approved, the refund is usually processed within three to five business days and goes to the original payment method, meaning the card or account the payment came from. You can track progress on the u0022Refund statusu0022 tab in your order history.
According to the Czech Trade Inspection Authority, the right of withdrawal for digital content lapses once the content is made available, but only if you gave explicit consent in advance and were informed that you would lose the right. Without that consent or information, the right remains and the seller isn’t entitled to payment of the price.
No. Microsoft doesn’t allow refunds of a single item bought as part of a bundle, regardless of playtime. If you’re unsure about a bundle, treat it as a non-refundable purchase and think it over just as you would buying a console or accessories.
The refund policy changes without notice, so go through the conditions again before submitting a request. More guides and news on Xbox are in the Xbox hub on Gamers Together, and if you haven’t bought a console yet, start with the comparison Xbox Series X vs S and the overview of how much an Xbox costs and what’s included. Information verified as of 16 August 2026.
Featured image photo: Kim Kwan, CC BY 2.0.