Managing personal Outlook.com account settings, security, and privacy
The alias and primary-alias changes described cannot be reversed directly in this channel. Only self-service tools and official Microsoft support can modify aliases on a personal Microsoft account.
To address an unauthorized alias change and removal:
- Check for a pending security-info or alias change
- Sign in to the Microsoft account security pages and look for any notice such as “Your security info change is still pending” or similar. If present, use only the options shown there:
- Cancel this request if the change was initiated from the account and the previous security proofs are still accessible.
- Let us know if the change was not made by the account owner; this routes through the unauthorized-change flow.
- Sign in to the Microsoft account security pages and look for any notice such as “Your security info change is still pending” or similar. If present, use only the options shown there:
- Verify and correct aliases on the account
- Go to Manage how you sign in to your account (also reachable from the Your info page) and review the Account aliases section.
- If the university alias still appears, select Make primary if needed, or ensure it is listed as an alias.
- Remove any alias that is not recognized by selecting Remove next to that alias.
- If the university alias was removed and is still eligible, re-add it:
- Go to Add a username.
- Under Add a username, choose Add an existing email address as a Microsoft account username.
- Enter the university email and select Add username.
- If the alias cannot be re-added
- Some addresses (for example, work or school accounts, or aliases already associated with another Microsoft account) cannot be added as aliases on a personal Microsoft account. If the university address is managed by the institution as a work/school account, it may no longer be eligible to be used as a personal-account alias.
- If the alias was a Microsoft-domain address and was removed, note that removing an alias that is an email address from a Microsoft domain (like @hotmail.com, @live.com, @outlook.com, or @msn.com) permanently deletes that alias and it cannot be associated with any Microsoft account again.
- Secure the account after suspected compromise
- Change the account password and ensure it is unique.
- Review and remove any attacker-added aliases or verification methods once access is restored.
- Add secure verification methods (such as another trusted email or phone) using the security info management page so that verification codes no longer go to any untrusted address.
- If self-service steps fail
- Use the Microsoft account recovery and support flows referenced in the Microsoft Q&A guidance to request investigation of an unauthorized change and to regain full control of the account.
Because alias restoration and account ownership validation require access to internal systems and identity checks, only Microsoft’s official support and recovery tools can complete those actions.
References:
- Add or remove an email alias in Outlook.com
- Change the email address or phone number for your Microsoft account
- How to add an email address or phone number to your Microsoft account
- "Something went wrong" with error ADDriverStoreAccessNonLocalException
- Help with "phone number is already used" in a Microsoft account
- Block an email address from signing in
- My account got hacked. - Microsoft Q&A
- How do I send an email to Microsoft about my account being hacked and taken over by <removed> ? - Microsoft Q&A
- Please confirm my e mail address as <removed PII>@outlook.com - Microsoft Q&A
- Lock or block login attempts - Microsoft Q&A
- What can I change on my Microsoft account?
- Is this legit email also? - Microsoft Q&A