| title | description | ms.date | ms.topic | ms.localizationpriority |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Steps to open a Windows developer account in Partner Center |
Here's an overview of how to open a Windows developer account for Microsoft Store in Partner Center. |
11/3/2022 |
article |
medium |
There are 2 types of developer accounts available in Partner Center: Individual and Company. Select a developer account below to understand the account creation process:
- Independent developers whose distribution of apps through the Store is not in relation to their business, trade, or profession
- Small scale creators producing content for non-commercial purposes
- Individuals creating digital content as a hobbyist, amateur, school, or personal project
You can watch the following video to understand how to open individual developer account:
[!VIDEO https://learn-video.azurefd.net/vod/player?id=663fa063-4205-4b88-a473-4a2782d49197]
For more details, you can refer to the steps below:
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Navigate to the registration page.
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Now, sign in with your Microsoft account. If you do not have a Microsoft account, click on Create One. The Microsoft account you use here is what you'll use to sign in to your developer account. If you want to know what is a Microsoft account, click here.
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Next step is to join a partner program. Partner Center is home to partner programs for multiple marketplaces including Windows. For submitting apps to Microsoft Store, join the Windows and Xbox program.
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Select the country or region where you live or where your business is located. You won't be able to change this later.
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Select your developer account type as Individual.
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Enter the publisher display name that you want to use (50 characters or fewer). Select this carefully, as customers will see this name when browsing and will come to know your apps by this name.
[!NOTE] Make sure you have the rights to use the name you enter here. If someone else has trademarked or copyrighted the name you picked, your account could be closed. See App Developer Agreement for more info. If someone else is using a publisher display name for which you hold the trademark or other legal right, contact Microsoft.
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Enter the contact info you want to use for your developer account.
[!NOTE] We'll use this info to contact you about account-related matters. For example, you'll receive an email confirmation 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. We may also send informational emails as described earlier, unless you opt out of receiving non-transactional emails.
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Then, read and accept the terms and conditions of the App Developer Agreement.
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Select Accept and Continue to move on to the Payment section.
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Enter your payment info for the one-time registration fee. The individual account costs approximately $19 USD. (The fees varies depending on your country or region). If you have a promo code that covers the cost of registration, you can enter that here. Otherwise, provide your credit card info (or PayPal info in supported markets). Note that prepaid credit cards can't be used for this purchase. When you're finished, select Pay and Register to complete the registration.
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After payment you will receive an email to confirm your email address. Once confirmed, start your app submission process.
- Independent developers and freelancers whose distribution of apps through the Store is in relation to their business, trade, or profession
- Businesses and Organizations such as corporations, LLCs, partnerships, non-profits, or government organizations
- Teams or Groups within a company or organization
You can watch the following video to understand how to open company developer account:
[!VIDEO https://learn-video.azurefd.net/vod/player?id=2125b1c6-20d4-47da-ba76-d1ff17b89cc2]
For more details, you can refer to the steps below:
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Navigate to the registration page.
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Now, sign in with your Microsoft account. If you do not have a Microsoft account, click on Create One. The Microsoft account you use here is what you'll use to sign in to your developer account. If you want to know what is a Microsoft account, click here.
Note: If you have an AAD, you can link it to the developer account in Partner Center after successful developer account creation, and then use the AAD for future sign-ins. Here are the steps to associate an existing Azure AD tenant with your developer account in Partner Center.
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Next step is to join a partner program. Partner Center is home to partner programs for multiple marketplaces including Windows. For submitting apps to Microsoft Store, join the Windows and Xbox program.
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Select the country or region where your business is located. You won't be able to change this later.
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Select your developer account type as Company.
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Next, if your company is registered with Dun & Bradstreet, use the DUNS number to access company information. Otherwise select I don't have a DUNS number to manually provide details like company name, address, company registration number etc.
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Enter the contact info you want to use for your developer account and also provide the company website.
[!NOTE] We'll use this info to contact you about account-related matters. For example, you'll receive an email confirmation 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. We may also send informational emails as described earlier, unless you opt out of receiving non-transactional emails.
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Next, enter the name, email address, and phone number of the person who will approve your company's account.
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Enter the publisher display name that you want to use (50 characters or fewer). Select this carefully, as customers will see this name when browsing and will come to know your apps by this name. Be sure to use your organization's registered business name or trade name. If you enter a name that someone else has already selected, or if someone else has the rights to use that name, we won't permit you to use it.
[!NOTE] Make sure you have the rights to use the name you enter here. If someone else has trademarked or copyrighted the name you picked, your account could be closed. See App Developer Agreement for more info. If someone else is using a publisher display name for which you hold the trademark or other legal right, contact Microsoft.
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Upload a legal document with your company address and name details such as formation documents, government issued letter/license etc.
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Then, read and accept the terms and conditions of the App Developer Agreement.
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Select Accept and Continue to move on to the Payment section.
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Enter your payment info for the one-time registration fee. The company account costs approximately $99 USD. (The fees varies depending on your country or region). If you have a promo code that covers the cost of registration, you can enter that here. Otherwise, provide your credit card info (or PayPal info in supported markets). Note that prepaid credit cards can't be used for this purchase. When you're finished, select Pay and Register to complete the registration.
After you've completed the signup process, your account will go through the verification process. For company accounts, we check to make sure another individual or company isn't already using your publisher display name. Our verification process also needs to confirm whether you’re associated with the company that you’re representing. This process can take from a few days to a couple of weeks, and often includes a phone call to your company (so make sure all of your contact information is up to date when you fill out the registration forms). You can't submit apps from a company account until it's been verified, but while you're waiting, you can reserve an app name continue building and testing apps, and work on getting your submissions ready.
You can check your verification status on the Account settings page.
Note
In some cases, the screens and fields you see when you register for a developer account may vary slightly from what's outlined in the above steps. But the basic information and process will match what these steps describe.
Note
There is a known issue where users in some locales might be unable to finish completing their registration. Until we can confirm that it is resolved, we recommend that you manually change your browser's locale tag to en-us once you begin the sign-up process on partner.microsoft.com.