I am not getting email from the insider program, because I cannot add or change my Microsoft Alias

Question

A few months ago my ISP which I had been using for years discontinued their email hosting services. I had to go to another provider (Gmail in my case) for

a new email address. Any email sent to my old addy will go to a black hole as the ISP did not provide any forwarding ability. I just discovered that i missed the

Bug Bash as I did not/could not receive any notification from the Insider program due to the above. When I attempted to change my MS account alias to the new address the account change interface informed my that my new email address was already taken and would not let me proceed. Apparently, I must have used it somewhere else in the "Microverse" however I have no idea where. All indications are that I'm stuck with an old invalid email associated with my account. I believe that if I attempted to create a new MS account using the new address it would be rejected as "already taken" as well. I would welcome any suggestions.

Answer 1

Hello, SAK47

Welcome to the Microsoft community.

I understand that you are experiencing problems creating a new Microsoft account. Based on your description, you feel that you will have this problem again when you create it again. No, using a new, unused e-mail address ensures that your account is unique across various online services. This avoids account confusion caused by similar or identical e-mail addresses, such as important notifications being mistakenly sent to someone else's account or you receiving notifications that do not belong to you.

First, decide which email service you want to use. The popular choice is Outlook.com, which offers strong security.

Try to find an email name that is both personalized and less likely to be taken. You can use a combination of your first and last name, and if this is taken, add numbers or special characters.

Create a new email account: For Outlook.com: Go to outlook.com and click on "Create a free account" and follow the instructions to complete the setup.

Complete the registration process: During the registration process, you will need to provide some basic information such as your name, date of birth and possibly a cell phone number for verification. Choose a strong password to ensure the security of your account.

Most email services will ask you to verify your email address. Usually, this involves clicking on a verification link sent to the email address you just created.

Once you have completed the above steps, you have a brand new email account. Now, you can use this email address to create a new Microsoft account or add it as an alias to an existing Microsoft account.

With the above steps, you will be able to create a brand new and unused email account, thus avoiding the "Mailbox is already in use" problem when signing up for a Microsoft account.

Please let me know if you have any other questions or if I haven't explained something clearly.

Best Regards,

Aaron- MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist