frozen account

Question

frozen account

Tracey Carli 0

went to China on vacation. now Hotmail account frozen due to being compromised.

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2 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Hi Tracey Carli,

I understand how concerning it can be to lose access to your Hotmail account, especially while travelling.

Signing in from a new country or unfamiliar location can sometimes trigger an additional security check, but this does not necessarily mean that the account was compromised. The appropriate recovery option depends on the exact message displayed when you try to sign in.

Please start with Microsoft account sign-in helper, enter the affected Hotmail address, and follow the option provided for your situation. If the sign-in page specifically says that the account is locked and displays a link beginning with aka.ms/, use that link to submit the account reinstatement request.

Please note that this is a user-to-user support forum. Moderators and contributors, including external Microsoft employees, cannot access accounts, verify ownership, or manually unlock them.

Could you share the exact error message shown on the sign-in page? Please hide your email address, phone number, verification codes, recovery details, and any case or reference numbers before posting a screenshot.

For additional official guidance, see:

Thank you so much for your understanding.

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.

Answer 2

Use the option matching the message on the Hotmail sign-in screen: enter the security code for an unusual travel sign-in, use account recovery if credentials or security details were changed, or submit the displayed reinstatement form if Microsoft says the account is locked.

If the screen asks for a security code

Travel or signing in from a new location can trigger a security challenge; it does not by itself confirm that the account was compromised.

Select an available email address or phone number on the sign-in screen.
Obtain the code Microsoft sends and enter it.
If the registered phone is elsewhere, ask someone who has access to it to relay the code.
If that is impossible, try signing in from a previously trusted device. Otherwise, try again from the usual location after returning home. ^1^

If the password or recovery information was changed

Use Microsoft’s Sign-in Helper from the compromised-account support page. Enter the Hotmail address or associated phone number; the tool will provide self-service recovery steps or an option to contact an agent where available. ^2^

If directed to the recovery form:

Provide a different working email address where Microsoft can contact you.
Supply exact previous passwords, Hotmail contacts, and email subject lines where possible.
Complete it from a device and location previously used with the account.
Microsoft sends the result to the contact address, generally within 24 hours.
If verification fails, the form can be retried up to twice per day.

If two-step verification was enabled and none of its verification methods is accessible, Microsoft support cannot bypass it or manually change the account details. ^3^

If the screen explicitly says the account is locked

Try signing in at account.microsoft.com.
If Let’s prove you’re human appears, complete that verification.
If it does not appear, select the aka.ms/... link shown in the lock message and submit the account-reinstatement form.
Wait for Microsoft Online Safety to reply by email. Do not submit duplicate requests, because that may delay review. Support cannot reinstate this type of account outside that form. ^4^

After access is restored

If any activity was not yours:

On a Windows device, update the antivirus software and run Windows Security → Virus & threat protection → Scan options → Full scan → Scan now before changing the password.
Set a new, unique password.
Review connected accounts, forwarding rules, and automatic replies for changes made by an attacker. ^2^

References