Emails cannot be accessed by the server

Determine whether the sign-in is a personal Microsoft account or a work/school Microsoft 365 account, because a locked work/school account must be reset by the organization’s administrator, while a personal account uses Microsoft’s security-information recovery process.

1. Identify the account type

• Work or school account: Supplied by an employer, school, or organization, commonly using its domain, such as [Email].
• Personal Microsoft account: An account you created yourself, commonly Outlook.com, Hotmail, Live, or MSN, although another email address can also be registered as a personal Microsoft account.
• If uncertain, ask the person or organization that supplied the email address and password. For a business, the administrator may be the owner or IT provider; for a school, contact its technical support team.^1^

Do not send the email address, password, or verification code in this public forum.

2. For a work or school Microsoft 365 account

Contact the organization’s IT help desk or Microsoft 365 administrator and request an MFA re-registration. The locked-out user cannot perform this administrator action.

The administrator should:

1. Sign in to the Microsoft Entra admin center with at least the Authentication Administrator role.
2. Open Entra ID → Users.
3. Select the affected user.
4. Select Authentication methods → Require re-register MFA.
5. Confirm the action.
6. Have the user sign in again and register a working mobile number or Microsoft Authenticator.

This removes the affected phone and Authenticator methods and prompts the user to configure MFA again.^2^

If this is the only administrator account

If no other administrator can perform the reset:

1. Contact Microsoft Global Customer Service and request recovery of a locked sole Global Administrator account due to MFA.
2. If telephone support cannot open the case, create a temporary Microsoft 365 Business trial tenant.
3. Sign in to that tenant’s Microsoft 365 admin center → Support → Help & Support.
4. Request connection to the Data Protection team to recover access to the original tenant.
5. Provide the organization and subscription details requested to establish ownership.
6. Cancel the trial after recovery to avoid unintended charges.

This sole-administrator escalation route is described in the corresponding Microsoft Q&A resolution.^3^

3. For a personal Microsoft account

At the verification screen:

1. Select I don’t have any of these if neither the displayed email nor phone is accessible.
2. Follow the prompts to replace the security information.
3. After replacement, Microsoft requires a 30-day waiting period before sign-in is restored. If access to the existing security information is recovered during that period, using it to sign in cancels the pending replacement.^4^

If another registered method remains available, select Add a new way to sign in or verify, validate the new method, and then remove the inaccessible method.

If Microsoft is not sending a code

• Stop requesting additional codes. Repeated requests can trigger a temporary block.
• Wait at least 24 hours before trying again; if the block remains, wait longer—potentially up to one week—without repeated attempts.
• Use a normal mobile number, not a VoIP number.
• If available, choose another verification method already registered to the account.
• For an emailed code, check the correct mailbox and its junk folder for mail from @accountprotection.microsoft.com.^4^

Microsoft Support cannot manually send a verification code or directly change personal-account security details. The Microsoft sign-in helper can identify the applicable recovery option when the account type or sign-in problem remains unclear.^5^

References

1. Overview of the Microsoft 365 admin center
2. Manage user authentication methods for Microsoft Entra multifactor authentication
3. No longer have phone to receive verification code so can't sign in - Microsoft Q&A
4. Troubleshoot Microsoft verification code issues | Microsoft Support
5. I can't sign in to my Microsoft account | Microsoft Support