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46 comments on “What Are My Hotmail and Outlook.com Account Recovery Options?”

  1. You have an article named “I’ve forgotten the answer to my MSN Hotmail secret question, and my password, what do I do?”. I have a question, what if i know my password, but from unknown reasons it didn’t work when i input it and my account was blocked, and i don’t have alternate e-mail and i forgot the answer to secret question….but i know the password, i was using it everyday.
    I have followed the steps for recovery and submitted the form with information, but were not enough, so it was rejected, because i don’t remember most of the data i input when i created my account years ago.
    All i need is my account to be unblocked, i repeat, i know the password, i just don;t know the other details, and i know is my fault i never paid attention to all those, but is too late now to change that

    99 out of 100 people who swear to me that they KNOW THE CORRECT PASSWORD – don’t. It’s not because they were wrong, but it’s because the account has been hacked and the password changed. If you can’t provide the backup information that Hotmail (or any email service) requests then there’s no way that they have to know you’re not trying to scam them into gaining access to someone else’s account. They MUST have some kind of reasonable proof that you really are the account holder. If not, you’re just not going to get the account back. Sorry.

    Leo
    08-Dec-2010

    Reply
  2. Hotmail keeps telling me to update my acc. but I think it cd. be a hacker trying to get my password, What sd I do? tyvm Marvin

    Depends on how they’re “telling you”. If it’s an email message, I’d ignore it. Simply make sure that your account is secure with a good strong password and appropriate recovery options like secrete answers you know, and an alternate email address that works.

    Leo
    15-Dec-2010

    Reply
  3. Have done all the hoops possible. Our company has 6 years of information stored on this account. (HOTMAIL) I filled our all the recovery information until it got to asking for a 25 digit number and my credit card information. ??? Maybe they want me to pay to unlock my hotmail, at this point I would gladly pay, however who do I pay, I cannot go forward unless I provide a 25 digit number??? I called windows live, real bad experience, rude and not at all helpful. Can’t believe no phone support for hotmail or at least live help on line. I’v gotten 6 codes none of which helped. My business depends on this account totally. I’m lost need help.

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  4. RE: Have done all the hoops possible. Our company has 6 years of information stored on this account. (HOTMAIL) …

    This is such a pity. I’ve never used Hotmail, but in gmail this is easily avoided by using a pop3 connection and Outlook. This will download all your data locally, and you can set Outlook to archive it regularly. I use gmail, but I’ve got years of history in my local archives. Of course, you need to then make sure that you backup your archive. I keep my email data and archives in a My Documents folder. Then its just a matter of backing up My Documents…

    LB

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  5. I used my computer last night no problems now i have been trying for 3 hrs. can not sign in windows live is blocking me the e-mail they have hasn’t been used since 2008 when I was compromised badly now because of it not working how is it possible to fix my problem

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  6. O.k., I’ll try to make myself clear. I DO have access to my main Hotmail account but a while back, I was hacked and lost the ability to log in. So, I had to reset the password and here is where the problem is!

    My backup email address is another Hotmail email address, which I had at one time but I never use, so Hotmail canceled it. So when Hotmail sends me confirmations of any kind, they go to to the old, now defunct email address, so I can not get to the notices/emails.

    I ended up emailing Hotmail and begged for help and regained access to my account but now that I want to delete the old backup address and add a different one, Hotmail is sending the notice to the old address for confirmation! BRILLIANT!!!! Now what do I do???

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  7. is there any way that I can retrieve my old contacts
    under my old hotmail account before they
    switch to hotmail live tks.

    The switch to Windows Live Hotmail was a name change only. If it’s the same account (i.e. same email address) then you should already have them. If it’s another account (i.e. different email address) then you would have to login to that old account to export your contacts.

    Leo
    02-Dec-2011
    Reply
  8. Leo,
    When trying to reset my password, I tell it to send me an email. The site informs me that it has sent an email to the following addresses, and gives me something like… “hot****@hotmail.com”. Where is it sending these emails?

    It’s sending it to the alternate address you configured as part of your account. If you didn’t configure it, then perhaps a hacker did.

    Leo
    08-Dec-2011
    Reply
  9. Hi! How do I change my phone number in Hotmail? When I try, it wants to send a verification text to my old number. I don’t have that number anymore so I can’t get the text.
    Thanks!

    Reply
  10. dear leo finding this tab again i thought was deleted problems with hot and live mail unfortunately after reset password i comment a sin by trying further passwords as i though no mention on computer about my reset password confusion on my part now apparently banned no more reset password on hotmail live g mail get in not out as it is livemail worked ok then refused error my fault received ok for first one not seen for a few days by then confused hotmail placed ban understand there annoyance and what is done slow in arriving caused panic by me now were do i stand livemail same problem no more filling application form until ban lifted malcolm clark not not asking to clear comment your view constructive criticism

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  11. Leo, is there any way possible to change the alternate email address if it is not existent right now. I have deleted my current alternate address (yahoo). Is there any way to setup a new alternate address?

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  12. @Ramesh,
    It’s easy to change the alternate email address if you can access your account. And if so, do it right away. If you can’t access your account, unfortunately, you are going to have to follow the different options outlined in “Losing and Regaining Account Access” above.

    Reply
  13. I entered into the recovery screen of Microsoft but when I try to process the request I get the message that the account that was last used on 2011 no longer exists.
    I have important data to retrieve, how should I proceed?
    ——
    Sign in
    Recover your Microsoft account
    Please fix the errors below.
    What Microsoft account are you trying to get back into?
    ******** The Microsoft account you’ve entered does not exist. *******************

    Email address Where should we contact you? Enter an email address that’s different from the one you’re trying to recover.

    Reply
  14. computer vs cell phone !!!!! I had to change password on computer Microsoft did that My cell phone flashing can not sign in login failure username or password incorrect. I removed the account then clicked to add account (same Hotmail address entered ) did not work still says incorrect username or password, I want to recover Hotmail password or change it and please I have tried Microsoft support online /phone/forum/ NOT helpful MSN not helpful ( hours then days I have researched Results headache stiff neck and ready to throw any tech product I have into the lake ; not working can’t not use it why continue to pay for product that no one can resolve and useless

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  15. Hi! i am trying to get back an important email from a hotmail account i no longer use and dont remember. is there a way i can find my old email address? btw i know my password and security question.

    Reply
    • You deleted your Hotmail account? Depends on how long ago, but the short answer is typically: no. You’ll need to create a new account.

      Reply
  16. my wife had an hotmail account that she may have used sometimes ago that begin with the letter C…..@hotmail.com. She used as her Apple ID and now she needs it in order to trade the phone at the Apple store she cannot remember what it was. Please help.

    Reply
  17. I have this statement when I try to log in ” someone has tried to reach your account with a wrong password many times”.
    Now, as I submit the account recovery information, its not accepted. After how many times of submission with wrong account recovery information, my account status will be PERMANENTLY CLOSED from being BLOCKED ?

    Reply
  18. Hi Leo,
    I just wanted to ask that if I know the password for the email that I wrote on my hotmail account that can help me reset my password, but suddenly I don’t have any idea how but when I wanted to reset my password with that I erased the email from my account and now I can’t reset my password because of that, I was wonder if I can undo and do something to put back that email on my outlook account
    Thank you

    Reply
    • Are you referring to a password reset email that was sent from your Hotmail account to your recovery email address? If you have lost that you can look in your deleted folder (perhaps spam) and may find it there. If it’s not there then just go to the Hotmail recovery page and have a new one sent.

      Reply
  19. I had a reoccurring “unable to send or receive” error with Hotmail. So I decided to uninstall then reinstall Windows Essentials. However, email won’t install with the rest of Windows Essentials 2012. An error message comes up saying that “evidently another program is preventing it”. And now Hotmail is completely gone from my laptop. Not even a restore point. However, I can still access Hotmail on my tablet. But not all of the folders are visible on my Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 tablet. I will be taking your advice and getting a paid for service. But until I decide which one…is there an easy way for me to transfer all folders from the tablet to Outlook? Or must I do it manually?

    Thank you.

    Scott

    Reply
  20. Hi Leo

    I am having a problem accessing my hotmail account and onedrive at work – it says the password is wrong. However, when I access it at home, it is fine. It happens on different work computers, not just mine. It doesn’t fill in automatically, I fully type it in. What could be the problem? The IT guy isn’t sure what to investigate.
    Thanks

    Reply
    • Ask your IT person to check whether there have been any recent changes or adjustments to your company’s firewall, or to its white- or blacklists. In a company setting, those would be the likeliest culprits in the situation you describe.

      If it DOES turn out to be one of these, you can be fairly confident that your IT person isn’t particularly competent — in your situation, the above three items should be looked at immediately, and a competent IT person would know that!

      Good luck!

      Reply
  21. Hi, I know the steps to recover your account is for security purposes, but does it really have to be that extensive? Just get a code and log back on, do you really need, billing information, recent contacts, subject lines recently used, etc, do you really need all that? It’s just more of a hassle that people have to go through and don’t have time to go through. It’s an email! Come on. Most people who use hotmail are older and not tech savvy, seriously come up with an easy way, those questions really have no use to recover an account. It’s just a waste of time.

    Reply
      • I was logged on my ipad with my hotmail account. But I tried to logon with my laptop using the same username and password it recogizned unusual activity and wanted to verify if I was the person by asking me my recovery information. I entered the recovery info which was the yahoo.com address I had put some time ago and Microsoft was always sending an automated code there but now its not sending to yahoo.com or maybe yahoo.com does not want to accept anything from there. Anyways now my hotmail.com account on my ipad is also blocked. Why this security mess is being created and why these tech companies are suddenly doing that to each other and customers are being targeted like this. There seems to be no one able to explain this. I need my account back

        Reply
        • Can you log in on another device, like your computer, for example? If so, you should be able to update the recovery information there and possible get in on your iPad. If you can get in, ger a recovery code which you could use anywhere and on every device.

          Reply
  22. Hi Leo! I’m going round in circles, so please can you let me know if you think there’s anything else I could try about the following? Hotmail/Outlook has always worked well for me; I still have the same email address I set up back in the 90’s. I’m currently on vacation in the USA, so me trying to log in from here rather than the UK looks a bit dodgy to Microsoft. So, they sent an activation code to my other registered email address… which is also a Hotmail address! To get into that one they sent a code to the first address…. which I can’t log in to. I’ve filled in some security questionnaires, but I clearly didn’t give the right answers and they didn’t re-activate my accounts, asking over and over again to submit more of those forms. I also asked for a code to be sent to me by SMS, but that didn’t work either; I presume they don’t even have my telephone number. I can’t ask questions to the Outlook community either, because for that you need to log in as well! They whole system is just mad and not thought through whatsoever. Is there any hope for me…? Thanks!!

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  23. I have a current active Hotmail/Outlook account, but I want to retrieve files archived in 2013 and 2014 and find the folders are empty in Outlook. Is there some way to recover files which were archived under hotmail but not showing in outlook?

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  24. Hi Leo where is a good place to put passwords that I can access easily when I forget them? Loll its a problem I do have online. Paper is not good. Thanks for all your help

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  25. I need to get into my Hotmail account, but I couldn’t remember my exact password and my cellphone wasn’t available at that moment, so I had to go through the account recovery process. I kept getting the email on my other account that it had failed, although I put in accurate info. The last time I did the process, they sent me a final account recovery email suggesting that I create a new account, but I REALLY need to get into this account, as I must use it to find my iPhone. Is there any way I can get into my old Hotmail account?

    Thanks,
    Kashi

    Reply
    • Because of so much email hacking, Microsoft is very strict in their account recovery methods. If you don’t have a valid recovery cell phone number or email address, your account may be unrecoverable. One suggestion my colleague came up with is to phone your old phone number associated with your email account and ask them if they would help you out by receiving the SMS text for you.

      Reply
  26. When I go to outlook to sign in from my computer, I get the following message: [object ReadableByteStream] How do I get the sign in screen back? I am not computer savvy at all and will appreciate your help!

    Reply
  27. I visited your ‘site’ because I have no longer got access to my ‘old – unused for 5 years, Hotmail account and I need to find just one email. the one that contains my windows 10 security key. I was among the group of people that received a free update from Windows 7 to 10. At the time this happened I was very busy, I also had no idea that Microsoft would simply scrap Hotmail and dump all of my carefully preserved emails, evidencing my communication connected to my work as a foster parent/carer. (I kept this ‘evidence’ to protect myself should an allegation of impropriety occurred.) I have lost nearly 10 years of recordings. I am struggling- I am unable to find by ‘SECURITY KEY’ – No Product Key was given. The Hotmail containing this record was deleted by Microsoft. I can’t access it. my current email is included below –

    Reply

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