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How do I change my Windows Live Hotmail password?

I can’t figure out how to change my password since they changed MSN Hotmail
to that new Windows Live Hotmail. How do I change my password now?

This remains an extremely common question.

Let’s walk through, step by step.

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First login to your Windows Live Hotmail account, and then click the
Options link in the upper right:

Windows Live Hotmail options link

And then at the bottom of the resulting list, click on More
options…
:

Windows Live Hotmail More Options link

On the resulting page, click on View and edit your personal
information
:

Windows Live Hotmail more options highlighting View and edit your personal information link

At this point you may be prompted to re-enter your password. This is a
security measure to prevent just anyone from walking up to your computer and
changing your information.

There’s something interesting to note about the screen that you land on:

Windows Live Account setting page header

“When you change your password for Windows Live Hotmail,
you’re also changing it for all your Windows Live based services.”

Note that it stopped talking about Hotmail. This is your Windows Live
account.

Why does that matter?

Because your Windows Live account is used for all Windows Live services
including Hotmail, Messenger Spaces and more. When you change your password for
Windows Live Hotmail, you’re also changing it for all your Windows Live based
services.

Near the center of that page you’ll see a section labeled Password
reset information
:

Password reset information in the Windows Live account setting page

Click on Change on the Password: line and
you’ll get this box:

Windows Live Change Password dialog

Naturally you must type in your old password in order to prove that you are
who you say you are and are authorized to make changes.

As you type your new password the new Password Strength
indicator will show you just how strong your password is. Having a strong
password that’s difficult to guess is incredibly important to the security of
your account. Make sure you always have a strong password.

As an additional security measure you can instruct Windows Live to
automatically require you to change your password every so often. While this
can be seen as annoying, it’s actually another layer of security to protect
your account from theft.

Click on Save and you’re done.

Do this

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75 comments on “How do I change my Windows Live Hotmail password?”

  1. Very well explained article , Would like for the future a full story of How to back up all the info on the computer and reformat procedure for the re instalation of windows thank you

    Reply
  2. I often wonder why people can’t figure some of these questinos out themselves??? All it takes is a few mouse clicks. :)

    Reply
  3. at past i can change my password easily but now i can’t open the account summary page.i want to change my pass now but when i clicked to account summary, settings or services etc. it doesnt open, i can see only a turning ball and loading article, so how can i solve this problem

    Reply
  4. Heyy leo i hawe one question for u , i go step by step what ur pic’s show , but there always loading my personal information , can u explain me where is a problem i can’t change my current password , if u hawe any ide how to change it email me.. thank yuo , Agron

    Reply
  5. at past i can change my password easily but now i can’t open the account summary page.i want to change my pass now but when i clicked to account summary, settings or services etc. it doesnt open, i can see only a turning ball and loading article, so how can i solve this problem

    Reply
  6. Hi Leo
    in changing msn live section i have problem i cant change my pass i did like pics shown above
    but i found underneeth Security and the others there is (loding) it keeps shown loding by the way i have 1m internet speed.
    thanks…..
    alberto elaria

    Reply
  7. I go through your way for changing my Password but its not possible some new process is loading like LINKED Windows LIVE IDs and another is Security this both is looking like it is loading but after 15 mints also there is no changing password formate is appearing. IF U Can Help us Please show the way How to change the passoward?

    Reply
  8. at past i can change my password easily but now i can’t open the account summary page.i want to change my pass now but when i clicked to account summary, settings or services etc. it doesnt open, i can see only a turning ball and loading article, so how can i solve this problem

    Reply
  9. i cannot sign in to my hotmail acct. i have tried reseting my password but i cant get into my mail to retrieve it and i do not have an alternate acct. this is an acct i use for buisness and i need to check my mail. what can i do?

    Reply
  10. Windows Live is a pile of junk – trying to change some profile information, I get the turning ball “loading” and it sits there forever.

    Reply
  11. As every one else, my problem is also the same.. Whenever I open the Personal Info page, it doesn’y open and always there is a ball turning and loading message displayed.. What to do?

    Reply
  12. Regarding the eternal “loading” message: It just occurred to me to try using a different browser. I was able to change my hotmail password by logging in using Mozilla Firefox v.1.07. Previously I was attempting using Internet Explorer 6.0.

    Reply
  13. For people having problems changing passwords and so on. I agree with one of the comments posted previously, about using a different browser. I would also like to recommend clearing out your browsers ‘Temporary Files’. In IE, click on ‘Tools’, the ‘options’, and usually the first thing you see is the option to ‘Delete files’. In the past I’ve had people coming to me with problems about IE and MSN and clearing out these files sometimes helps.

    Reply
  14. at past i can change my password easily but now i can’t open the account summary page.i want to change my pass now but when i clicked to account summary, settings or services etc. it doesnt open, i can see only a turning ball and loading article, so how can i solve this problem

    Reply
  15. I tried to change my password on hotmail couldnt’ so I relogon on to hotmail, its been 6 days now without sucess…yesterday msn support.com set up the web site where I reset my new password, I did that, I also Retype my new password press continue.. I get a response sayin New password and Secret answer is not similar… Nowhere did it say Secret answer.. to bad I couldn’t cut and paste as I went type password…
    now msn support com won’t help me out saying too many errors….

    Reply
  16. I’m having the same problem others seem to – when I try to change my password my account summary won’t load. Instead I get the whirling loading signal for days.

    You gave another user the advice of changing from Internet Explorer to Mozilla Firefox, and I did that about a week ago before I discovered this problem as Hotmail wasn’t loading at all. Using Firefox I can use my hotmail as before, except for this. Any other advice?

    Reply
  17. I can’t change my security question because whenever i try to go on account summary theres just green dots in the shape of a circle turning as other people described it as a ball turning. But nothing is loading. Do you no how to solve this?

    Reply
  18. Same thing here…page never loads. Nice move, Microsoft. Another thing broken that never needed fixed in the first place. Gmail and Yahoo email still work fine. May I suggest everyone use those instead.

    Reply
  19. ok guys 4 those who have problem in loading the account summary page here is the solution just open the windows live account summary in (mozilla firefox)this is abrowser like internet explorer nd u can download the mozilla firefox by search in google nd it is free.
    i don know why this bloody explorer can`t open the account summary page but any way no problems just use the mozilla firefox that is it.
    have fun

    Reply
  20. I was using Firefox and had the stuck loading account summary page. Used IE and it loaded fine. Changed my password then switch back

    Reply
  21. I mistakenly went into the tools section and picked something I can’t even remember now. I clicked a line that said delete all passwords. Now when I try to get to Hotmail my password is gone, so I can’t log on. I thought I would have been able to set a new password. How do I get out of this mess? Thanks so much!

    Reply
  22. I thank you Ahmed. I was trying IE to change my passowrd for so many days. Its just loading …loading…..but never opens. And, as you recommended I used firefox…what to say….it just opened. I just want to thank you.
    Best regards,
    sa_me.

    Reply
  23. it is help full and thx 4 that but after i click account summary it start loading and the full day gone it never ends

    Reply
  24. Dear sir
    i am doing the same thing for last three months bust whenever i click on account summary page it just show loading for more than hour at the end it still loading. please help me out to solve this problem.

    Reply
  25. Same thing here. But happened only after I reinstalled my windows. I just cant change my password cos it keeps loading and loading like hell. Help Needed!

    Reply
  26. I have another problem that whenever i click the options than view and edit your personal information and then account summary its just doing loading. Can any one help to solve this problem?

    Reply
  27. I READ YOUR METHOD TO CHANGE THE PASSWORD BUT I WANT TO CHANGE THE HOTMAIL SECURITY QUESTION.AFTER GOING ON THAT SITE TO CHANGE THE SECURITY QUESTION ALL THE OPTIONS KEPT LOADING FOR A LONG TIME AND WERE NOT OPENING. I HOPE YOU UNDERSTAND. PLEASE HELP ME.

    Reply
  28. thanku so much sir. use firefox browser to change ur passward and put sum numeric numbers in it to make it strong
    regarDz

    Reply
  29. i have a problem to change password of windows live hotamil.whenever i have gone to option and then edit your personal information and when i have reached in account summary in account summary it has been just loading

    Reply
  30. i didn’t know yet how to change because when i get in the view personal all what i get is: linked something :S:S:S:S:(:(:((: help!

    Reply
  31. thank you sooo much for telling me how to change my password! i kept on getting logged off because i was signing in on another computer. now i know that wont happen!
    thanks!

    Reply
  32. at past i can change my password easily but now i can’t open the account summary page.i want to change my pass now but when i clicked to account summary, settings or services etc. it doesnt open, i can see only a turning ball and loading article, so how can i solve this problem

    Reply
  33. Just one question:

    Before I go ahead and change my password so I can
    access both my live account and my Hotmail account I just want to know once I create a new
    password will I still be able to see all my emails that are in both accounts or will they be gone and deleted as well?
    I would appreciate if you could reply to me on this matter before I make any changes.

    Changing only your password should not affect anything but your password.

    – Leo
    01-Apr-2009
    Reply
  34. right my mam has hacked into my msn account [email address removed] so now i cant get on my facebook or bebo.. and i cant just make a new one coz that msn had important people on it get back to me asap

    Reply
  35. my computer goes to the reset page and asks to identify the characters i see in the box, but nothing ever pops up. just little blue boxes with question marks. also gives option to identify characters from an audio, but this doesnt play either. please help… i have been hacked and people are receiving insane advertisements from me and it is a bit overwhelming, THANKS!

    Reply
  36. I would like to locate a web page to bookmark that takes me to a Hotmail page where I will be required to enter my email account name and password. At the moment, when I click on the hotmail link, it takes me directly to my mail. I would perfer that option not be available to other members of my household without first using my account name and password.

    Reply
  37. Thank you, Leo. Excellent advice and much needed on my part. It amazes me that the Windows people still continue to make the procedure for getting to the “change password” page so incredibly obtuse. We are not all “geeks”, and the fact that we have to search the Internet to find advice from experts like yourself should surely be enough to make the Powers That Be within MS realize that changes are needed. It would be a relatively simple matter for them to have a tag on the main email page labeled “change password” that would take the user directly to the required screen. Seeing as how security should be priority #1, we have to wonder at their motivations, or at least their apparent lack of perception.

    Best regards,

    Mike

    Reply
  38. FireFox vs IE

    I only saw my solution mentioned once, so I’ll mention it again.

    I’ve been trying to update my Hotmail password for the last 2 months. In FireFox I could log in to Hotmail and look at my email, look at my preferences but every time I tried to change the password I got message that the “service was down”.

    Finally I tried logging in to Hotmail using Internet Explorer instead of FireFox. Tada, I had no problem changing my password. But at exactly the same time I couldn’t do it in FireFox.

    It seems that MS is doing it’s subtle best to discourage people from using FireFox.

    Reply
  39. I HAVE CHANGE MY PASSWORD MORE FIVE TIMES STILL IT REMAIN THE SAME, IT ALWAYS WRITE This task is temporarily unavailable because an incorrect password was entered too many times. A temporary delay helps prevent people from trying to guess your password. Please try again later.

    Reply
  40. Not helpful as I clicked my way all the way to the end only for there not to be the option to change my password (on Firefox and IE). What is up with this [edited]?

    Reply
  41. I have QWEST internet service and it has HYJACKED my ability to change my password. I have spent an hour following your directions. It is not working. I want to change my password. It is very important to me to change my password. It is not possible to change it.

    Reply
  42. I cannot change my password on Windows Live no matter what it says. Someone hacked all my email accounts and now I don’t know how to fix it.

    Reply
  43. As my acount loads up, I can see ‘options’ but when the page finishes loading, this is covered/plastered over by that annoying Bing search. tried to review the page as source and ‘options’ is till missing. This happens in bothe IE and Firefox.

    Reply
  44. ONE FURTHER STEP is necessary. Follow all the steps that Leo has outlined. Below “Password Reset”, you will see the heading “Other Options”. Click on “Windows Live options”, and you will find “Account” and then “Password” which is where you go to change the password.

    Tip: a good, secure password can be achieved by using an old address, say from your childhood. It’s got numbers and uppercase and it’s meaningful enough to be easily remembered.

    Reply
  45. I am trying to access my hotmail account @msn.com, i get a screen that says that it needs to verify me. The screen that pops up is the screen that you show above, current password, new password. However, no save option comes up and it ask that you “agree” to the terms. I click agree and the same screen appears. I think I am caught in a loop. This started yesterday, how do i access my msn account?

    Reply
  46. some one locked my pasword on a sheared computer with out me knowing

    someone locked my pasword in a computer with more than one user

    Reply
  47. thanks you given to me response my question is that to you sir if i wants to change my passward how is it possible not only an one second question is that how i am seccure my personel id

    Reply
  48. Thank you! This website was extremely useful and pointed out just how retarded MSN Hotmail is to have such important aspects of account management buried under layers of essentially unrelated options. Ugh! The location isn’t intuitive.
    Again, many thanks.
    Joe

    Reply
  49. I did try to change my password on Hotmail account, but it gives me an error: Wrong password where the original password is required. That’s teh only password I have, I do know it is correct. How come it says it is wrong? What should/can I do?

    —- Andy

    If Hotmail says the password you type in is wrong (and you’re certain you don’t have capslock on or spyware on your machine or anything like that) then the password you type in is wrong. Either you’ve missremembered it, or your account has been hacked and someone else changed it. What are my Lost Hotmail Account and Password Recovery Options?

    Leo
    11-May-2011

    Reply
  50. Thanks for your post, I followed all the instructions you gave and was able to change my password. Hopefully no more hackers will get into my computer.

    Reply
  51. @Caroline
    Try going to Options > More Options, and then reading the list there under “Managing Your Account.” You’ll find everything you need to change your password there.

    Reply

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