I keep getting an email saying I need to update Microsoft Tetms of Service & Privacy Policy before July 1 in order to access my mailbox. Is this legit? It wants me to click the link to Update

Steven Kotack 45

J P 0 Reputation points

2026-02-11T09:38:20.3033333+00:00

Stupid me clicked on link do I need to do anything to protect my email please? Thanks in advance for help

Answer accepted by question author

AI answer

If you are receiving an email asking you to update your Microsoft Terms of Service and Privacy Policy and it includes a link to click for updates, it is important to be cautious. Many such emails can be phishing attempts designed to steal your personal information or compromise your account.

To determine if the email is legitimate, check the sender's email address. Legitimate emails from Microsoft will come from domains like microsoft.com, microsoftsupport.com, or mail.support.microsoft.com. If the email is from a different domain, it is likely a scam.

Additionally, you should never click on links in emails that you are unsure about. Instead, visit the official Microsoft website directly to check for any notifications regarding updates to terms or policies.

If you suspect the email is a phishing attempt, do not reply to it, click on any links, or open any attachments. For more guidance on identifying phishing emails, you can refer to Microsoft's resources on protecting yourself from phishing scams.

AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

Answer accepted by question author

EmilyS726 266.1K Independent Advisor

Is the sender from an aol.com address? This is 100% scam because Microsoft doesn’t terminate account like that.

A leigitimate email from Microsoft regarding your account always comes from domains ending in @accountprotection.microsoft.com

J P 0 Reputation points

2026-02-11T09:51:43.22+00:00

Stupid me clicked on link do I need to do anything to protect my email please? Thanks in advance for help
J P 0 Reputation points

2026-02-11T09:53:00.53+00:00

Stupid me clicked on link do I need to do anything to protect my email please? Thanks in advance for help
EmilyS_726 28,655 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-02-11T16:30:56.87+00:00

@J P If you click on link, go through the following action items immediately:

Make sure you do this on a computer, not on smartphone or tablet. Go to https://www.outlook.com and log in, click on the gear icon on the top right to launch the settings.

Then, on the Mail tab, go to Rules. Are there any rules set up here? If yes, delete them all.

Then check the conditional format, again, if it's there, delete it.

Then, check Forwarding and IMAP, If any items are present, delete them as well.

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Then go to https://account.live.com > Your info > Sign in Preferences. Make sure to check all the aliases here. If you don't recognize any there, delete it.

Then go to Security > Manage How I sign in, make sure all contact info is yours. Then scroll down on the same page, look under App Password, click on remove existing app passwords as well.

Please make sure you change your password and enable two-step verficiation.

Go to your account online, go to Devices, remove any devices you don't recognize.

Then go to Security, click on Sign out everywhere. This is meant to kill any session that's still connected. Unfortunately, this one will take 24 hours to take effect.

Then, take one step further - Go to your Microsoft account online https://account.live.com> Sign in > Your info > Sign in preference. Add an alias - You have two options here:

Create new: this will allow you to use the native domain outlook.com to create a new alias.

Add existing: this will allow you to add a 3rd party email address, such as yahoo, gmail, as long as they are not already associated with another Microsoft account.

Once added, make this new alias your primary alias, do NOT delete the old alias. Then at the bottom, click on "Change sign in preference". On the next page, uncheck the box for the old alias. This means, from now one, the old alias cannot be used to sign into your Microsoft account, but it can be still used to receive emails, etc.

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Marc Beringer 0 Reputation points

2026-08-14T04:18:15.0966667+00:00

Carefully look at the context of the email look for the logo see if the it is similar to others that you know are legit. Be careful when children or older people access your computer by accident. Do screenshots to be able to send to tech-support and they’ll verify validity. Try not to spend too much time sometimes just not an answer.. check to see if the images are identical. Send these great screenshots and screenshots of text to the MicroSoft help support and see what they say.
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Marc Beringer 0 Reputation points

2026-08-14T04:25:47.8033333+00:00
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I keep getting an email saying I need to update Microsoft Tetms of Service & Privacy Policy before July 1 in order to access my mailbox. Is this legit? It wants me to click the link to Update

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