Locked out of Microsoft account

Warren Mitchell 20 Reputation points
2025-12-03T11:37:48.3266667+00:00

Hi There - I am currently locked out of my Microsoft account. I changed to a new phone and when I tried to login to my Outlook app, it told me that the password was incorrect. I then changed my password, with the forgot my password option. This completed successfully, but when I entered the new password I was given this error:

'You've tried to sign in too many times with an incorrect account or password' My account is now locked.

This is most frustrating.

Outlook | Outlook for mobile | Outlook for Android | For home
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Answer accepted by question author
Emmanuel Santana 40,115 Reputation points Independent Advisor
2025-12-03T12:17:37.6933333+00:00

Hello. Your account got rate-limited because of repeated sign-in attempts with either the wrong password or incorrect two-factor responses (especially common after switching to a new phone). Even after resetting your password, Microsoft temporarily locks logins to prevent brute-force or fraudulent access.

Do not attempt to log in again for at least 24 hours. Each failed retry restarts the cooldown timer.

In the meantime:

  • Don’t change your password again.
  • Don’t keep trying on other apps (Outlook, Xbox, OneDrive, etc.).
  • Don’t trigger SMS or Authenticator codes.

The lock usually lifts automatically after a clean 24-hour window with zero attempts.

If you’re still blocked after that period, we’ll revisit options like verifying your identity again or recovering via account.live.com/acsr. But in most cases, it self-resolves.

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