Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. Guides

How to secure your Xbox account

Cody Perez
By

Xbox Live requires a lot of personal info if you want to play online and purchase games. Your email address, payment info, game purchases, and more are all stored online. As such, protecting that information is vital, as there are hackers out there with poor intentions who want nothing more than to find out those details.

Add security info to your account

How to Secure Xbox Account

While you can’t control what they do, you can control what you do to secure your Xbox account. The unfortunate part of playing games on Xbox One is that Microsoft hasn’t actually done the best job of offering you ways to protect your info. In the era of two-factor authentication for your phone, Twitter, and even the Nintendo Switch, it would seem like a no-brainer to have this on Xbox as well, but that isn’t the case.

Recommended Videos

The only thing Microsoft helps you do is add security info to your Xbox Live profile. Start by heading to the Microsoft login page to access your account management settings on a web browser. If you are on Xbox One, go to your Settings and then Account. From there, log in and scroll down to the security section. Select to update the Security contact info option.

Here, you can add either an email address, phone number, or both to your account. We highly recommend that you do both to best protect yourself, but even one of them is better than none. Add a new email address different from the one you created the account with and a new private phone number you have easy access to.

You will receive instructions for verifying each new contact method that you set up on your email or phone, so complete that task and you will be good to go. These methods are used for recovering your account, notifying you of unauthorized changes, and quickly addressing any issues. Both are recommended in case you ever lose access to either of them.

Never share your password

That is the extent of what Microsoft lets you do for your account. The rest is up to you, so there are some precautions that you should make. For starters, make sure you have a strong password on Xbox Live that contains no obvious info like dates or locations. You should never share this password with anyone for any reason, and it should be different from other passwords like for your email.

Avoid public Wi-Fi and devices

It is also best that you avoid signing in on your Xbox account at public Wi-Fi locations that anyone has access to, like a school or cafe. Hackers frequent these locations to attack devices directly or steal private information like email, phone number, and credit card info, without you even knowing.

What to do if you are hacked

If someone ever does hack your account, be sure to change your password immediately to something entirely different and contact Microsoft support, if necessary. Double-check any email addresses and credit cards you have on your Xbox Live account to ensure they aren’t affected, too. Contact your bank if something looks unusual.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Cody Perez
Cody Perez
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Cody is that stereotypical nerdy otaku guy. He loves everything Japanese from niche visual novels like 999 and Kara no Shoujo…
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’s arachnophobia toggle removes all spiders
Cal Kestis with BD-1 droid on his shoulder.

From endless hordes of Empire goons to hulking Rancors that can crush you in one or two hits, there are no doubt a lot of things to be afraid of in EA's new action-adventure sequel Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. However, if one of your fears happens to be spiders, developer Respawn has got you covered with an arachnophobia toggle that completely removes spiders from the game.

Survivor's Arachnophobia Safe Mode ensures that players who aren't particularly fond of eight-legged creepy-crawlies will never have to engage with any spiders that might crawl their way on-screen partway through the campaign. It's an unexpected addition to a game that is otherwise filled to the brim with strange and unsettling creatures to observe and fight, but spiders no doubt have a special way of freaking some of us out. Many folks are certain to appreciate seeing a choice to avoid arachnids altogether when they find themselves scrolling through the game's suite of accessibility options.

Read more
All cross-platform games (PS5, Xbox Series X, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC)
Two squads of heroes clash in an Overwatch 2 trailer.

Cross-platform support is becoming more important in the world of video games. Multiplayer hits like Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 and Fortnite have pushed crossplay into the limelight, and now most AAA multiplayer games release with at least partial cross-platform support. Finding every cross-platform game is no easy feat, though, so we did the hard work to bring you a comprehensive list of games that support crossplay.

Unfortunately, there aren't any rules when it comes to crossplay, so each game handles the feature a little differently. To make matters more confusing, certain backward-compatible games on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X still support crossplay on the most recent hardware, even if there isn't an official release for that hardware.

Read more
All mounts in Minecraft Legends and how to get them
Four players stand together in the 4v4 PvP mode of Minecraft Legends.

In yet another genre-mixup following Minecraft Dungeons, Minecraft Legends brings the open-world survival and building game to the RTS genre. Unlike most traditional RTS games, where you control the action from a detached, overhead perspective, this game keeps you in the action by giving you a character to control on the field itself. To keep the action fast-paced, and make sure you can easily control and order your mobs around, giving your character a mount is essential. Just like in the original game that inspired it, there are multiple creatures you can use as mounts, and they all behave and function differently. While the world in Minecraft Legends isn't randomly generated, it can still feel overwhelming trying to find what you're looking for. Here are all the mounts you can ride in Minecraft Legends, what they do, and where to find them.
How to get every mount in Minecraft Legends

There are four different mounts you can tame and ride throughout your quest in Minecraft Legends. These include the horse, bird, beetle, and tiger. All you have to do to ride a new one is find it and press Swap Mount when near it, but finding them is the tricky part. Here's where each of them resides in the world, plus what makes them special.
Where to find the horse
You won't have to go looking for the horse since you begin the game with one. This is the classic mount and is made for getting you around the map much faster than on foot. The horse's special ability is being able to sprint indefinitely at a high speed.
Where to find the bird
A bird may not sound like a creature you could ride, and yet here we are. These rainbow-colored birds are quite small, but not hard to find in the Jagged Peaks biome. Keep an eye on your map for a clue as to when you're close to one since they will automatically be marked for you. Once you've mounted a bird, you will be able to jump higher than any other mount, plus slowly glide from any height by holding the jump button.
Where to find the beetle
Perhaps an even stranger choice for a mount, the beetle is much bigger than their real-life counterparts. These insects are native to the Jungle biomes, so venture into the trees to snag one. The Beetle has two special attributes, the first it shares with the bird which is being able to glide by holding jump in the air. The beetle's unique skill is that it can climb up any surface. So, while slow, it is very versatile and strategic.
Where to find the tiger
Now we're talking! If you want to play He-Man and ride your very own tiger, get yourself on a safari to the Dry Savanna biome to track one down. The tiger has the most simple ability, which is that it is simply the fastest mount you can get. However, this speed does come with a downside. Unlike the Horse, the Tiger doesn't have infinite stamina, so you will need to slow down eventually.

Read more