Hi there,
I'm new to this forum so to kick off: thanks for having me!

I'm an Outlook user who started life when it was still Hotmail. The issue I have is that when I first set up my recovery details 20 years ago, I used my work email address which now no longer exists (not only have I left the company, but they changed their whole system years ago).
As a result, the email address that appears is dead.

This is preventing me from recovering my account - which I needed to do this summer when I used my laptop abroad and needed to sign in to my account, somehow got the password wrong and was locked out. The dead-end recovery email address of course didn't work, I eventually got back in after going through the laborious process of providing details of recent mails sent, examples of contacts from my address book etc. Even then it took a couple of weeks for Microsoft to be satisfied that I was me before eventually letting me in!

I have no recovery phone number - when I try to input one, the system asks me to verify my identity using that dead old email address.
It's somewhat of a circular reference which appears unsolvable.

Can anyone point me in the right direction please?


Many thanks!

You need to contact Microsoft. Your question is related to your Hotmail/Outlook email account, not to the Outlook software.
These forums are not associated with Microsoft in any way.

OK sure - I just thought someone might know how to navigate the process and be able to help.