Managing personal Outlook.com account settings, security, and privacy
Follow these steps immediately to try to recover the hacked Outlook.com / Microsoft account:
- Use the official hacked-account recovery tool
- Go to the Microsoft hacked/compromised account helper: Start.
- Enter the email address or phone number that was originally used on the account.
- The tool will either show self-help steps or offer a way to contact an agent, depending on what is possible for that account.
- Run through the hacked-account recovery process
- Follow the guidance in How to recover a hacked or compromised Microsoft account.
- If you can still sign in, immediately change the password using the link in that article and then review security info, forwarding, and connected accounts.
- If you cannot sign in because the hacker changed the password and security info, use the account recovery form when prompted and provide as much accurate information as possible (old passwords, devices, approximate creation date, etc.).
- If the hacker fully replaced email/phone and recovery fails
- If the recovery form reports that the account does not exist or the recovery request is not granted, and the security info has been replaced by the attacker, there is no other working method to recover that Microsoft account. Microsoft Support cannot override the automated recovery process in this situation, as confirmed in the referenced guidance.
- After (or if) access is restored
- Run a full antivirus/malware scan on all devices used to sign in, as described in Step 1: Clear your PC of viruses or malware before you change your password.
- Change the password again from a clean device and ensure it is a strong password.
- Review and fix account settings that attackers often modify:
- Remove unknown connected accounts, disable any suspicious forwarding, and turn off any malicious automatic replies using the links in the hacked-account article.
- Add or update secure verification methods (phone, alternate email, Microsoft Authenticator) so recovery is easier in the future.
If the automated recovery process ultimately fails because the attacker has fully taken over and replaced all security info, the account is considered unrecoverable according to the provided guidance.
References:
- How to recover a hacked or compromised Microsoft account
- Hello , welcome to Account help & learning
- My username and password have stopped working
- What happens if there's an unusual sign-in to your account
- Cannot Access Microsoft Account After Hacker Changed Email, Advice Needed - Microsoft Q&A
- My account got hacked - Microsoft Q&A
- My account got hacked. - Microsoft Q&A
- Need help with hacked microsoft account - Microsoft Q&A
- Hacker set up continuous draft ransomware email - Microsoft Q&A