Managing personal Outlook.com account settings, security, and privacy
Keep denying unsolicited prompts, then create a private sign-in alias and block your existing Outlook.com address from signing in without deleting it or changing where you receive email.
Stop requests targeting your current email address
- Sign in to your Microsoft personal account.
- Open Your info → Sign-in preferences.
- Select Add email, create a new Outlook.com alias, and use a unique address that you do not publish or use for email.
- Return to Sign-in preferences.
- Allow the new alias to sign in.
- Clear the sign-in permission for your existing, publicly known Outlook.com address, then select Save. Microsoft documents that individual aliases can be blocked from signing in.^1^
Do not remove your existing Outlook.com alias. Aliases share the same mailbox, contacts, storage, subscriptions, settings, and password, so the old address can remain available for sending and receiving email even when it is no longer accepted as a username.^2^
Use the new alias only when signing in. If it is kept private, attempts made with the old address should no longer reach the account.
Secure existing sessions and authentication methods
Since changing the password did not stop the prompts, complete these separate cleanup actions:
- Go to the Microsoft account Security dashboard → Advanced security options.
- Review Ways to prove who you are. Remove any phone, email address, Authenticator registration, or device you do not recognize. Add a valid replacement before removing an old method; removing all security information can restrict security changes for 30 days.^3^
- On Advanced security options, scroll to Sign out everywhere and select Sign out. Microsoft says browser and app sessions are signed out within 24 hours, except Xbox consoles.^4^
- Sign back in on your own devices using the new private alias.
Continue selecting Deny or It’s not me for every unexpected Authenticator request. Never approve one merely because it arrives while you are signing in.
Why the requests may not appear in history
The personal Microsoft account Recent activity page does not display every account event; it normally shows significant security-related activity from the last 30 days. That can explain why a denied prompt is not visible in the list.^5^
Still review Security → Review activity. For anything unfamiliar:
- Under Unusual activity, expand the entry and choose This wasn’t me.
- Under Recent activity, expand it and choose Secure your account.^6^
If prompts continue after the old alias has been blocked and sessions have been signed out, contact Microsoft Support from the account-support page referenced in the alias documentation.^2^
References
- Block an email address from signing in
- Change the email address for your Microsoft account | Microsoft Support
- Removing a sign-in verification method | Microsoft Support
- How to sign out of your Microsoft account everywhere | Microsoft Support
- What is the Recent activity page? | Microsoft Support
- What happens if there's an unusual sign-in to your account | Microsoft Support