Lost access to Outlook

Question

Lost access to Outlook

Hiorns, Neil 26

Hello,

I have had an Outlook / Hotmail account since 1998/99. A year or so ago I switched to a passwordless account and used Microsoft Authenticator. However, I had to switch mobile phone, I can no longer gain access. I tried to send code to alternative email address, this works fine, but when I send text message to my mobile number it says this method is no available.

I have a M365 Family account and cannot get through to a human. I filled in a form with details about emails I recently send, email subject, XBOX gamer name tag and credit card details. I received a email saying that as I use passwordless authentication it will be ignored.

As a paying customer of many years I find the support not fit for purpose. Does anyone have any suggestions as this is my main personal email account and need access to it.

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Answer 1

Because the account is passwordless and Microsoft Authenticator is no longer accessible, normal self-service recovery paths are limited, but there are still a few supported options to try.

Try all remaining sign-in / verification methods

Go to the Microsoft account sign-in page and enter the Outlook/Hotmail address.
When prompted to verify, use any other available method under “Ways to prove who you are” (for example, alternate email) and complete sign-in if possible.
If sign-in succeeds, immediately go to Security → Advanced security options and:
- Under “Ways to prove who you are”, add at least one new method: Add a new way to sign in or verify (another phone, email, or app).
- Remove the old phone / Authenticator entry that is no longer accessible.

If some security info still works, but SMS does not If the password is known (or sign-in is possible via another method) and at least one verification method still works:
Sign in to Advanced security options for the Microsoft account.
Select Add a new way to sign in or verify and set up a new phone number or email.
After confirming the new method, expand the old phone/App entry and select Remove.
Avoid removing all security info at once to prevent a 30‑day restriction on the account.

Reference steps: see “I’ve lost access to my Microsoft account security info – If you know your password, but have lost access to some, but not all, of your security info”.

If all security info is effectively lost If no verification method (Authenticator, SMS, or email) can be used to complete sign-in, and the account is passwordless with two-step verification enabled, recovery is very restricted:

For accounts with two-step verification turned on, if none of the alternate methods are accessible, support agents cannot reset the password or bypass verification for security reasons. This is explicitly stated in the guidance for the Microsoft account recovery form.
In that case, the automated systems (Sign-in Helper and recovery form) are the only supported paths. If they reject the request because the account is passwordless and no verification method is available, the account may not be recoverable.

Use the Sign-in Helper and recovery guidance where possible

Use the Sign-in Helper if the username or password is not being recognized or if normal reset flows fail.
If the account is not using two-step verification (or if it was turned off), and the usual verification options are unfamiliar or unavailable, follow Help with the Microsoft account recovery form and submit the Account recovery form from a familiar device and location.

When support and forms say they cannot help The documentation for the recovery form states:

If two-step verification is on and none of the verification methods are available, support agents are not allowed to send reset links or change account details.
In such cases, if the Sign-in Helper and recovery form both fail, there is no further escalation path documented for consumer Microsoft accounts, even for long-time or paying customers.

Outlook.com-specific lock or block If the issue is that the Outlook.com account is blocked (rather than just MFA-locked), try the Sign-in Helper path for Unblock my Outlook.com account. If that still requires a verification method that is no longer available, it falls back to the same limitations above.

In summary, the only viable options are:

Use any remaining working verification method to sign in, then add new methods and remove the old phone/Authenticator.
If that is impossible and two-step verification is enabled with no accessible methods, the documented guidance indicates that neither support nor the recovery form can override the protection.

References: