Using Classic Outlook on Windows for personal email, calendar, and contact management
The phone number or email used for verification cannot be removed or bypassed without first successfully verifying identity. Signing in with “password only” is not possible when security verification is required.
Use these supported options instead:
- Try standard account recovery
- If the username and password have stopped working or verification is being requested, start with the Recover your account flow:
- Go to the Microsoft account recovery page: Recover your account.
- Enter the Hotmail/Outlook address, phone number, or Skype name.
- Choose where to receive a security code and follow the prompts.
- If the username and password have stopped working or verification is being requested, start with the Recover your account flow:
- If the username or password is not recognized
- Follow the guidance in My username and password have stopped working:
- Make sure the correct domain is used (for example,
@hotmail.com,@outlook.com, correct country domain like.comor.co.uk). - Check for spelling differences in the name (for example,
rachelvsrachael). - If the email is not recognized and there is another alias or phone number on the account, try that instead.
- Make sure the correct domain is used (for example,
- If the message “We couldn't find an account with that username” still appears, use the Sign-in Helper tool linked from the article.
- Follow the guidance in My username and password have stopped working:
- If verification options (phone/email) are no longer accessible
- If two-step verification is not turned on and none of the verification options are recognized, use the Sign-in Helper tool as directed in Help with the Microsoft account recovery form.
- If two-step verification is turned on and none of the alternate methods (phone, email, authenticator) are accessible, support agents are not allowed to remove security info, turn off two-step verification, or reset the password. In that case, the only supported path is to complete the Microsoft account recovery form with as much accurate information as possible and wait for the review.
- If access is still not possible
- Use the guidance in Help with the Microsoft account recovery form to prepare and submit the form. A working email address (can be any active email, even temporary or belonging to a friend/relative) is required so Microsoft can send updates about the request.
- If recovery still fails, use the “Contact support” options provided in the articles (for example, Contact support in the “My username and password have stopped working” article, or the Outlook.com support links) to reach a support advocate. They cannot override security checks but can guide through the available options.
Security information (phone number, backup email) and two-step verification cannot be removed or disabled without successful verification. If none of the verification methods are available and the recovery form does not succeed, the account cannot be restored.
References:
- I can't sign in to my Microsoft account
- My username and password have stopped working
- Help with the Microsoft account recovery form
- Verify my backup email address for my Outlook.com account
- Unblock my Outlook.com account
- Add or remove an email alias in Outlook.com
- Outlook.com email account appears as "outlook_[long series of letters and numbers]@outlook.com" in Outlook for Windows
- MSN email issues - Microsoft Q&A
- Can't sign in to my email - 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
- I have issue signing in to my microsoft office account. - Microsoft Q&A