How to link a Fortnite account to PS5, Xbox, Switch or Steam — and the 365-day rule to check before you buy one

A Fortnite locker does not belong to a PlayStation or an Xbox. It belongs to an Epic Games account, and a console only shows it if that console's own account — PSN, Xbox, Nintendo or Steam — is linked to the Epic account. Get the link right and the same skins, V-Bucks and progress follow you everywhere; get it wrong and you open the game to an empty account. Everything below comes from Epic's own help pages.

The rules of linking

• One of each. An Epic account can hold one PlayStation account, one Xbox account, one Nintendo account and one Steam account at a time.
• And only one Epic account per platform account. The same PSN or Xbox account cannot be linked to two Epic accounts.
• Progress does not merge. If you have played on two platforms with different progress, you have to choose which one to keep. Epic is explicit that the two cannot be combined.
• PC and mobile need nothing. On a computer or a phone you sign in with the Epic account itself, so those devices are linked already.

How to link, platform by platform

The steps are the same for PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo and Steam, starting from the side that holds the progress you want:

1. Open Epic's sign-in page from a browser, signed out of any Epic session (Epic's help links to a page that signs you out first).
2. Pick the platform's icon on the sign-in page and sign in with that platform's own email and password.
3. Follow the on-screen steps exactly.

If the page asks you to sign in with an Epic account instead, Epic's help says you are probably using the wrong platform account — not the one where the progress is.

When the progress is on PC or mobile, go the other way: sign in to the Epic account you use there, open Linked accounts in the account settings and choose Link under the platform you want to add.

Children's accounts may be cabined accounts with fewer features until a parent sets them up, which can change what linking offers.

Changing or removing a linked console

To swap the console account on an Epic account, Epic suggests a private browser window: sign in to epicgames.com with the Epic account (or with the console login), open Linked accounts, choose the console account, select Unlink, tick every warning box and confirm.

Unlinking has consequences Epic spells out:

• The console loses access to the progress and purchases on that Epic account. Nothing is deleted — it stays on the Epic account.
• Start Fortnite on that console again and it is no longer tied to any Epic account, so Epic creates a new, empty one for it.
• For Rocket League, unlinking the platform where its progress is stored resets that inventory and XP.

The 365-day restriction

After an unlink, linking a different account of the same platform fails with: "You previously linked a different [platform] account to your Epic Games account." To link the new one you remove a linking restriction first — and Epic's caution is blunt: this can be done only once every 365 days and cannot be bypassed.

Before removing it, Epic asks you to unlink the old platform account if it is still linked, and to cancel any Fortnite Crew subscription running on it, since an unlinked account gets no further Crew rewards.

Why this is the first thing to check when you buy an account

If you buy a Fortnite account to play on your own PlayStation, Xbox or Switch, the rules above fix the order of events:

• If the account already has the seller's console linked, it has to be unlinked — and then the restriction on that Epic account has to be lifted before your console can be linked. If someone already used that once-a-year removal in the last 365 days, your console cannot join until the year runs out.
• Your own console account can only sit on one Epic account. If it is linked to your old Epic account, it has to leave that one first — and then your old progress stays on the old account, reachable from PC or mobile with its email and password.
• Different progress on two platforms never merges. You keep the bought account's progress or yours, not both.

So before paying, ask the seller three things: which platform accounts are linked now, whether the linking restriction has been removed in the past year, and whether a Fortnite Crew subscription runs on any linked platform.

After the purchase

1. Change the Epic account's email and password, and turn on two-factor authentication.
2. In Password and security, use Sign out everywhere: Epic sends a code to the account's email, and every other session ends.
3. Check Linked accounts. Unlink anything that isn't yours, then remove the restriction and link your console — remembering it is a once-a-year step.
4. Open Fortnite on your console and confirm the locker matches the listing before you confirm the order. On this site the payment stays in escrow until you do — the buying help page explains how.