Can't sign in to my outlook email account

Check Microsoft’s live Service Health Status first; if Outlook.com is not green, wait for Microsoft to restore the service rather than changing your account or password.^1^

1. Check whether Outlook.com is having an outage

Open the Service Health Status site.

• If Outlook.com shows an incident, monitor that page and try again when the status returns to normal.
• Microsoft directs users who cannot access Outlook.com to this status page.^2^
• If the status is normal, continue below.

2. Test a clean browser session

1. Open an InPrivate/Incognito window:
   • Edge: … → New InPrivate window
   • Chrome: ⋮ → New Incognito window
   • Safari: File → New Private Window
2. Go directly to Outlook on the web.
3. Sign in with the Hotmail address and Microsoft account password.

If the inbox opens privately, the account and mailbox are working; the normal browser session likely contains stale sign-in data. In the normal browser:

1. Open Settings → Privacy and security → Cookies/site data.
2. Remove site data for outlook, live, and microsoft.
3. Close all browser windows.
4. Reopen the browser and sign in again. This is the documented recovery path when private browsing succeeds but a normal browser remains stuck.^3^

Also temporarily disable ad-blocking/privacy extensions or allow cookies if the page continues buffering, because these can interfere with Microsoft authentication.^4^

3. Determine whether this is an account problem

Try signing in to the Microsoft account separately.

• Microsoft account opens, but Outlook keeps buffering: this points to an Outlook.com or mailbox-access problem. Try another browser or device. If every device fails while service health is normal, use Outlook.com support or the recent-issues page.^2^
• Microsoft account also will not open: use Microsoft’s sign-in troubleshooter. Your Hotmail password is the same as your Microsoft account password, and Microsoft may request identity confirmation after unusual activity, travel, or use of a new device.^1^
• An “account blocked” message appears: follow the account-unblocking option provided by the troubleshooter rather than repeatedly attempting to sign in.

Do not post your email address, password, recovery code, request ID, or other account details publicly.

References

1. How to sign in to Hotmail | Microsoft Support
2. Fixes or workarounds for recent issues on Outlook.com
3. How to Fix Outlook Sign In Issue - Microsoft Q&A
4. EMAIL ACCOUNT/HOTMAIL - Microsoft Q&A