Completely unable to log in to my email

Question

Completely unable to log in to my email

Michael and Sue 20

I've been away on holiday. I've come back. I cannot log in to one of my Hotmail email addresses. Please see screenshot of the error message I'm receiving. I use an Apple Mac laptop and Safari browser. I've never had this problem before. I've cleared cookies, restarted my laptop etc. I've done all that I can think of to do. Please can anyone help?

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(Thankfully I am still receiving email on the Outlook app on my phone and I am able to log in to other Outlook email addresses as I use more than one email address. It's just one email address that is affected).

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Answer accepted by question author

Chloe-V 13,790 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi @Michael and Sue

I’m sorry you’re unable to access your Hotmail mailbox.

Based on the screenshot, the error is Error 500 / StartupData / ServerError. Since the affected account still works in the Outlook mobile app and your other Outlook accounts open normally in Safari, this does not appear to be a password or general browser issue.

As you have already cleared the browser data and restarted your Mac, please first test the affected account in a Safari Private Window or another browser. If the same error remains, the mailbox may require investigation from Microsoft’s side.

Please contact Microsoft Support and provide the UTC Date, Client ID, Session ID, request ID, and error details shown in the screenshot. These diagnostic details can help Support trace the mailbox startup request.

Go to Contact Microsoft Support.
Select Show expanded list of products.
Select Outlook > Get Home support.
Enter Outlook live chat, then select Get Help > Contact Support.
Sign in with the affected account. If that is not possible, use another Microsoft account to view the available support options.
Ask our Support Assistant > Type "Talk to live chat agent" > Contact Support
Under Products & Services, select Other Products > Outlook, then choose Chat with a support agent in your web browser.

In the meantime, you can continue accessing the mailbox through the Outlook mobile app, but please avoid removing the account from the app while it is still working.

Please note that this is a user-to-user support forum. Moderators, contributors including external Microsoft employees cannot directly intervene in Microsoft product features or access back-end systems. Our role is limited to providing technical guidance on reported issues, requests, or ideas only.

I hope Microsoft Support can investigate the mailbox and restore web access soon.

Since this is a public forum, we will hide your personal identifiable information, and I have sent that image of yours containing your personal identifiable information in a private message so we can work together to resolve the issue. Also, please check your private message in case you want to share another screenshot to avoid leaking your PII by click on the Private Message button as show below

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Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Michael and Sue 20 Reputation points

2026-10-08T12:23:56.29+00:00

Hello Chloe-V,

Thank you for your message. We tried everything we knew to try yesterday morning to gain access to the email address with the login issue. Late yesterday evening we tried again and were able to login and there has been no problem using the email address this morning. We have no idea as to the cause of the problem but are relieved that it appears to be solved. We will retain your message for future reference but hope that we shall not need it! Thank you once again.

1 additional answer

Your answer

Michael and Sue 20 Reputation points

2026-10-08T12:23:56.29+00:00

Hello Chloe-V,

Thank you for your message. We tried everything we knew to try yesterday morning to gain access to the email address with the login issue. Late yesterday evening we tried again and were able to login and there has been no problem using the email address this morning. We have no idea as to the cause of the problem but are relieved that it appears to be solved. We will retain your message for future reference but hope that we shall not need it! Thank you once again.

Answer 1

Michael and Sue 20

Hello Chloe-V,

Thank you for responding to our problem with logging in to our email. We tried everything we knew to try to overcome it yesterday. Late last evening, we tried to log in again and were able to do so successfully. We have logged in again this morning and all seems to be well. We have no idea as to what might have caused the problem but we are relieved that it appears to be solved. We shall keep your message for future reference and hope that we don't need it!

Thank you once again.

Chloe-V 13,790 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-10-08T23:56:17.3333333+00:00

Hi @Michael and Sue

Thank you for the update. I’m glad to hear that you’re now able to log in successfully and that everything appears to be working normally again.

Should the issue return or you have any other questions, please feel free to reach out again.