Microsoft Tech Community: Code of Conduct
Notice: This Code of Conduct applies exclusively to the Microsoft Tech Community. Welcome to the Microsoft Tech Community! We’re thrilled to have you here. Our community brings together people from all walks of life—different backgrounds, industries, countries, and cultures—united by a shared passion for Microsoft products and services. This is your go-to place for learning, sharing best practices, staying up to date on product news, and connecting through live events. Thanks for joining us! If you’re new, check out our Getting Started on the Tech Community guide to make the most of your experience. Our Goal We want the Microsoft Tech Community to be a safe, friendly, and welcoming space for everyone. To help us achieve this, please keep these guidelines in mind: Sharing Content Please avoid posting links to content that isn’t owned or managed by Microsoft, its suppliers, or vendors. Off topic discussions and general support topics will be removed. Attachments, scripts, and code can be super helpful for solving problems—but remember, you’re responsible for running any code shared here outside of official Microsoft channels. AI-Generated Content We welcome AI-generated content when it adds value to the discussion. Transparency is important, so if you share AI-generated content, please clearly state that it was created using AI as part of your post. We reserve the right to remove any content that does not follow this, at our sole discretion. Protecting Privacy Before uploading attachments, double-check that you’ve removed any personal information. Only share content you have the legal right and permission to post, as outlined in our Terms of Use. If we spot personally identifiable information (PII) or anything that looks like it, we may remove it to protect you and others. If your data appears in a post or attachment, you can request its removal by following the Contact Us or using the Report option in the message menu. We’ll review and respond within 10 business days. Your Profile Your profile is visible to other community members. Non-members can only see limited details like your image, rank, membership duration, and overall participation (messages, likes, solutions). Your bio and social links stay are only visible to community members. If you’d prefer not to have a public profile, you can close your account anytime by following the steps in our Privacy guide. Terms of Use If anything in this Code of Conduct conflicts with the Microsoft Terms of Use, the Terms of Use will always take priority. Your Voice Matters This is your community! Got feedback or ideas? Share them on our Tech Community Feedback —we’d love to hear from you. See Something Off? Our moderators do their best, but they can’t catch everything. If you spot something that doesn’t follow these guidelines, please report it by selecting Report Inappropriate Content from the message options menu and let us know why. Need Help? If you have questions about these guidelines, terms, or policies, feel free to Contact Us .Tagging users - etiquette
So, there’s been some discussion and confusion about tagging other users in forum posts. While we do not have any absolute rules about this, I’d like to clarify a few things about when and when it is not appropriate to tag a user. If you respond to a post, you will automatically tag the original poster. While you can remove this tag, it’s not the same as intentionally adding a tag and doesn’t really apply to this etiquette document. When you do decide to tag a user, think about why you are doing so. Here are a few tips along those lines: If you are responding to a thread that already includes that user, they will see the response regardless of a tag. If you are in a space managed by Microsoft employees, such as Edge Insiders, no need to tag them as they are already monitoring that space, and probably your post. If you need to reach members of our Tech Community team, it’s much more efficient to email us at mailto:techcommunity@microsoft.com which is our official support mechanism, than to tag us in posts. If the product has a support channel located elsewhere, better to reach out to that support channel as tagging a Microsoft employee will not guarantee you a timely answer. If a user indicates they would rather not be tagged, please respect their decision and don’t tag them in the future. We do not have a rule against tagging other users but we recommend doing so with caution, Give users the chance to respond, as a tag can come across as “poke, are you still there?” Think of tagging as a last resort or emergency mechanism if you have an inquiry without a response for a long period of time (over a week) or a time-sensitive emergency. If you have any questions or concerns about these guidelines, feel free to reach out to our team at mailto:techcommunity@microsoft.com.I'm having trouble with Microsoft Tech Community. What's the best way to reach out?
While our aim is to provide you with a perfect, trouble-free, smooth experience in the Microsoft Tech Community, realistically, we know that's not always possible. So what's the best way to reach out? Here are a few scenarios and the best way to handle each one. Someone posted a spam message. On the right side of the message, there's a drop-down arrow with options. Click "Report Inappropriate Content," and offer the context (indicating it's spam). Our team reviews these posts on a daily basis and will consider and remove any messages we confirm to be spam. Someone is being abusive or rude. Similarly as per above, "Report Inappropriate Content" is your best bet in this scenario. Please note we have a Code of Conduct if you have any doubt about whether content is appropriate. I'm having technical issues with the community. Reach out to mailto:techcommunity@microsoft.comand we'll be able to help you. I have general questions about Tech Community. If you have questions about the Tech Community or elements of it, we recommend posting in our Community Discussion space. I have some ideas on how to improve Tech Community. We have a Community Ideas board where we track suggestions and feedback. This is the best place to submit it as we'll take into consideration suggestions based on amount of upvotes and interest. What not to do: Please don't escalate any conflict. If someone is being abusive or rude, please report it and let us handle it. Please do not tag individual Microsoft employees in posts or comments. If a Tech Community thread has gone dormant for a significant period of time unanswered (a thread which requires one), feel free to reach out to mailto:techcommunity@microsoft.comand we can do our best to reach out to the appropriate team. Thanks! Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.
