Managing personal Outlook.com account settings, security, and privacy
If the account is not sending recovery codes after repeated attempts, the supported next steps are:
- Stop making repeated code requests. Excessive or repetitive requests can trigger a temporary block where Microsoft will not send codes.
- Check the correct mailbox and the junk/spam folders. Valid verification emails come from
@accountprotection.microsoft.com. - If the recovery address is another Microsoft account such as
@outlook.com,@hotmail.com,@live.com, or@msn.com, open the recovery flow in one InPrivate window and open the recovery mailbox in a second InPrivate window. This avoids being signed out of the first account while checking the second. - If the listed verification method is no longer accessible, select I don't have any of these during sign-in and follow the prompts to replace the security info.
- If the password is unknown and none of the security methods are accessible, use the account recovery flow. Microsoft directs this scenario to the account recovery form and sign-in helper tool.
- If the account was flagged because of unusual activity, code delivery can be temporarily blocked and may resolve after some time.
- Microsoft support agents cannot send verification codes, reset links, or change account details for this scenario.
For a stolen account scenario, the practical path is:
- Try password reset from the Microsoft account sign-in page using Forgot password?
- Choose an available verification method and select Get code.
- If no valid method is available or the shown methods are unfamiliar, use the sign-in helper tool.
- If access to all security info was lost, choose I don't have any of these and follow the replacement process.
If the account can still be signed in with the current password but some security info is lost, go to Additional security options and add a new way to sign in or verify, confirm it with the code sent there, then remove the old method.