Changing phone number to recover password

Question

Changing phone number to recover password

Maritza Castro 0

When I log in into Outlook it gives me the option of using my password or authentification but in order to use the authentification it goes to my old phonme number that I don't longer have. If I want to change the way I log in it also sends me a code to my old number that I don't have so I continue using my normal password. How do I change that? I seems a difficult process when it shouldn't be that hard to add an email or ohter phone nomber for the code to be sent.

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2 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Hello Maritza Castro,

I understand why this feels more complicated than simply replacing the old phone number. The verification code is controlled through your Microsoft account’s security information rather than directly through Outlook.

As the AI answer mentioned, you should add and verify a new method while you can still access the account with your password. You can do this from the Microsoft account Security page under Manage how I sign in.

If a new phone-number option is not shown, this does not necessarily indicate a problem with the account. Microsoft may instead offer a recovery email, Microsoft Authenticator, or a passkey. After confirming that the new method works, you can remove the old phone number. Thank you so much for your understanding.

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Answer 2

While password sign-in still works, open your Microsoft account’s security settings and add a recovery email or Microsoft Authenticator before removing the old phone number.

If you can reach at least one existing verification method

Sign in to the Additional security options page for the same personal Microsoft account used by Outlook.com.
Select Add a new way to sign in or verify.
Add a recovery email, Microsoft Authenticator, or another option offered on the page.
Enter the code or complete the approval to verify the new method.
Expand the old phone-number entry and select Remove.

Microsoft is phasing out SMS authentication and recovery for personal accounts, so a recovery email or Microsoft Authenticator is preferable to relying on another phone number.^1^

If every security method points to the old number

If opening the security settings requires a code that can only be sent to the old phone:

Start signing in with your Outlook.com address and password.
At Verify your identity, select I don’t have any of these.
Follow the prompts to replace your security information with an email address or another method you can access.
Complete verification of the new information.

Replacing all inaccessible security information starts a 30-day security waiting period before the account can be signed into using the replacement information. Using the old security information during that period cancels the replacement request.^1^

Do not repeatedly request codes, because excessive attempts can trigger a temporary block. Microsoft Support also cannot manually send a verification code or directly change the account’s security details.

If this is actually an employer- or school-provided account rather than a personal @outlook.com account, contact that organization’s IT administrator to reset the multifactor authentication methods.^2^

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