certification problem

Submit a no-charge Microsoft Credentials Support request to locate the legacy MCSE record, providing every historical detail you still know about the certification and exam registration.

Submit the recovery request

1. Open Credentials support and select online support request.^1^
2. Set:
   • Product family: Learning
   • Product or Service: Microsoft Credentials
   • Category: The closest option for a missing certification or profile
   • Type of Support: Professional No Charge
3. Enter your location and time zone, then choose Email as the contact method. Credentials Support is provided by email, not telephone.
4. Explain that:
   • You earned an MCSE around 2004–2005.
   • The certification was registered using an old Hotmail address you can no longer access.
   • You do not have a certificate copy.
   • You want Microsoft to locate the record and determine whether it can be associated with your current Learn profile.
5. Include all available identifying details:
   • Full legal name used when taking the exams
   • Approximate exam dates and testing location
   • Possible old email addresses
   • Any former MCP/Candidate ID
   • Exam numbers or titles, if remembered
   • Current Microsoft Learn username and current contact email

Do not post email addresses, candidate IDs, or identity documents publicly in this Q&A thread; provide them only in the private support request.

Microsoft notes that some older exams and certifications have aged out of the Certification Program and are no longer available in customer Learn profiles. Credentials Support is the official escalation route when expected credentials are missing.^2^

If one of the old accounts still works

Try signing in to Microsoft Learn with each Microsoft account that may have been used for the exams. The contact email that received certification messages was not necessarily the account used to sign in, so test any other personal, work, or school accounts used at that time.^2^

If the MCSE appears:

1. Select your profile picture.
2. Select Profile.
3. Open Transcript.
4. Use Print → Save to PDF, or select Share link to create proof that can be provided to an employer.^3^

If the old Hotmail account cannot be accessed, Microsoft Credentials Support cannot recover that personal Microsoft account or transfer the contents of an inaccessible Learn profile. Personal-account recovery must use Microsoft’s account self-service tools.^4^ This is separate from asking Credentials Support to investigate the historical certification record.

References

1. Credentials support
2. Missing Exams or Certifications
3. View and share your transcript
4. Accessing your Learn profile