Microsoft Will Delete SwiftKey Accounts Soon: How to Save Data

If you rely on the SwiftKey keyboard app for your phone, you have a short window left to save your typing history and custom dictionaries. Microsoft is officially shutting down the original SwiftKey account system on March 31. The company wants to move all users over to its own login system. Anyone currently signing in with an Apple or Google account will lose cloud access very soon unless action is taken.

Microsoft sent out notices warning users that failure to migrate will result in permanently deleted cloud backups.

Here’s what happens to your data, and how to keep it

To protect your typing models, you just need to link a Microsoft account to your SwiftKey app. Once you finish this step, Microsoft will automatically back up your keyboard data into a specific folder in its OneDrive storage service. The company states this move will bring better security and easier access across all your devices. It is even giving out 1,000 Microsoft Reward points as a small bonus to users who make the switch before the deadline hits.

You can safely ignore this update if you only use the keyboard on one phone and do not care about cloud backups. The app will continue working normally, and your saved words will stay stored locally on that specific device. Just keep in mind that you will lose the ability to sync your custom dictionary across multiple phones or tablets.

If you prefer to walk away but want to download a copy of your old cloud data, you have until May 31 to grab it. You just need to visit the SwiftKey data portal to request your files before the system wipes them completely.

Microsoft bought SwiftKey ten years ago, back in 2016. The app has had a slightly strange journey since then. The company actually tried to kill off the iOS version of the keyboard in 2022 before bringing it back a few months later due to heavy user demand. Since that brief disappearance, the app has not seen many big feature updates.

Now, Microsoft is making this mandatory account migration its main focus, requiring anyone who wants cross-device syncing to officially join its software ecosystem.

Via @XenoPanther