Hi Alan,
It depends whether it is a personal Microsoft account or a Work or School account and how recently you used it.
For Personal Microsoft Accounts: You can reuse older passwords for personal accounts if it's not the recent one. Because if you try to change your password to a very recent one Microsoft Account security system will usually block it and display a message stating that you cannot use a recent password.
How to try changing it:
- Go to your Microsoft Account Security page.
- Select Change my password.
- Enter your current password, then type your preferred old password as your new password. If it has been long enough since you last used it, the system will accept it.
If this is an organization managed account then it is nearly impossible because it's strictly controlled by your organization IT administrator's security policy.