My Main Microsoft account got hacked and deleted.

aaa aaa 0 Reputation points
2026-05-23T12:40:00.3166667+00:00

It was about 2 years ago when my Microsoft account got hacked and i've been trying to recover it ever since on and off. When I try to sign in it says the following "Try entering your Microsoft account again. We don't recognise this one.".
Obviously this means they either changed the email or just deleted it. I am not signed into this email on any devices but, I am getting frequent 2fa codes regarding this email address to my authenticator app on my phone. I'm not sure if that helps but it's the only thing I have now. If someone could help me out it would be greatly appreciated just because all the other times I've tried to reach support I've just hit a dead end. Thanks

Microsoft Security | Microsoft Authenticator
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  1. AI answer

    2026-05-23T12:40:16.0866667+00:00

    Because sign-in now shows “We don't recognise this one” and this has been happening for about two years, the account is almost certainly no longer recoverable.

    From the documented behavior:

    1. If an account isn’t used for more than two years, it may be deleted and cannot be reopened. When that happens, trying to sign in typically shows errors like “We couldn't find an account with that username” or that the account doesn’t exist.
    2. When the username or password stops working, the only supported recovery paths are:
      • Use the Recover your account flow at https://account.live.com/password/reset as described in My username and password have stopped working.
      • If that fails and the system still reports the account as not found, support cannot restore it.
    3. For hacked or compromised accounts, the official and only recovery route is the automated Sign-in Helper and account recovery form. If the form and helper cannot validate ownership, there is no alternate manual override, even for hacked accounts.
    4. The 2FA prompts still appearing in Microsoft Authenticator do not prove the account still exists or is recoverable. Authenticator can retain stale entries and still show sign-in requests or codes even after the underlying account has been deleted or renamed. These cannot be used as an alternate recovery method beyond the standard recovery flows.

    The only actions still available are:

    1. Try the official recovery flows one last time
      • Follow the guidance in I can't sign in to my Microsoft account:
        • If the password is just “stopped working,” use the Sign-in Helper tool.
        • If the username is not recognized, follow My username has stopped working and then use Recover your account as described in My username and password have stopped working.
      • If you see “We couldn't find an account with that username” or similar, that aligns with a deleted or non-existent account.
    2. If the account is confirmed deleted or the recovery form fails repeatedly
      • Documentation and Q&A guidance state that when the recovery form and helper cannot validate ownership, or the account has been deleted after long inactivity or takeover, the account cannot be recovered and Microsoft Support cannot restore it.
    3. Clean up Authenticator
      • Remove the old/stale account entry from Microsoft Authenticator so that unrequested 2FA prompts stop appearing.
      • If unrequested codes or prompts appear for current accounts, follow Common problems with two-step verification for a work or school account and do not approve any prompts or codes that were not initiated.

    If access is required to Microsoft services going forward, a new Microsoft account must be created and secured with strong authentication and up-to-date security info.


    References:

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

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