Inability to Recover of 8 year-old Account due to lost password and phone number

Jericho Lastimosa 0 Reputation points
2026-09-04T04:34:42.59+00:00

I have been accessing my 8-year old account (created probably around 2014-2017) and the phone number linked to that account is not updated and already unused. I have clicked "I dont have any of these" and it prompts to answer many questions. I tried remembering even a slightest idea of any password as accurate as possible. I put all of the information there as far as I could remember but it doesn't work sadly. I tried multiple times, desperately, to recover my account to use it for my work emails but they locked it up because I reached the attempt limits.

I haven’t accessed the account for a long time, so I no longer remember the password, recent contacts, email subject lines, and other details.

I badly need to recover my account. Can someome help me? :( Please

Outlook | Web | Outlook.com | Account management, security, and privacy
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  1. AI answer

    2026-09-04T04:35:02.1966667+00:00

    For this scenario, the only supported recovery paths are the standard Microsoft account recovery flows.

    1. Start with the Sign-in Helper. It is the recommended first step for most Microsoft account sign-in problems.
    2. If the account still exists but the password and old phone number no longer work, use Recover your account and complete the verification flow with the account email, phone number, or Skype name.
    3. If the account asks for verification methods that are no longer available, select I don't have any of these and follow the prompts to replace security info.
    4. If all security info is lost, replacing it triggers a 30-day wait before sign-in is allowed again.
    5. If the password is unknown and there is no access to any security info, submit the account recovery form. Use a device and location previously used with that account if possible, and provide as much detail as possible. Microsoft reviews the answers and responds within 24 hours.
    6. For Outlook.com or Hotmail.com accounts, the recovery form may ask for exact email subject lines, contacts, older passwords, and country-specific domains such as .com or .co.uk.
    7. If two-step verification was enabled and none of the alternate verification methods are accessible, support agents cannot reset the password or change account details.
    8. If the account is temporarily locked after too many attempts, there is no alternate manual bypass in the provided guidance. The supported path remains the Sign-in Helper, security info replacement, or the account recovery form.
    9. Microsoft support cannot grant direct access to the account, send password reset links, or change account details for account recovery cases.

    Key limitation for this case: if recent passwords, contacts, subject lines, and other account details are no longer remembered, the recovery form may continue to fail because it depends on matching information only the account owner would know.

    References:

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

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