Forgot Microsoft password and cannot validate anything via the recovery form

Question

My dads laptop died and the hard drive was replaced. He purchased MS 365 earlier this year and he has no idea what his password is. The password recovery prompts for a text message is pointing to a landline not his cell phone. You cannot change that without knowing your password. When we use the recovery form it asks for any password previously used and he is 88 years old and cannot remember any of them. He has the purchase invoice for 365 from earlier this year and the last 4 digits of the credit card on that invoice but that card was hacked and replaced since then and he apparently has no record of the full number. That's as far as I can get in helping him on the recovery form which is insufficient information to get the password reset or unlocked. He says he has a lot of documents saved out there that he now cannot access and a purchased MS 365 that he cannot access. He has talked to agents on the phone who say they cannot help him reset anything. Help?!!

Answer 1

I appreciate the response.

Unfortunately, if the recovery request didn't work, you will need to try again, as this is the only way to recover a Microsoft account.

Best regards,

Darhyl

Answer 2

He renewed Office365 in January and has been using it until the laptop died...so yes...recently.

I'm not 100% sure of 2FA. When we select "can't access your account" we choose personal account and then recover your account. Plug in the email that we do know for certain, which then takes us to "We need to verify your identity" and that is where it wants to text a phone number which is his land line which will not work for texting. So we say "I don't have any of these" which takes us to the Recover your account form that you have referenced. You have to have a secondary email address (so I use mine) and then get the code via email. That is verified and it then takes you to your detailed name, address, DOB...etc. That is entered. The next screen is where we go awry again. He doesn't remember ANY passwords he has used for Office 365. We answer yes that he has purchased a subscription (which he did in january) and then we are at the credit card page. That credit card that was used no longer exists and was destroyed due to a possible scam and he doesn't have the full number. It will not continue beyond that point. If we guess passwords and put no credit card it emails me back and says insufficient information. We literally have an invoice from MS for the Office 365 but if we setup a totally new MS account then he's lost everything he's saved out there.

Answer 3

Hey Todd!

Nice to meet you! I'm Darhyl, an Independent Advisor.

I just want to confirm when did your dad last successfully sign in to his Microsoft account? If he has not logged into his account for more than two years and it has been closed due to inactivity, he will not be able to use the Account Recovery Form to recover his account. Reference: https://support.microsoft.com/office/7c0a9fa7-0...

(I will be asking the next questions to your dad/owner of the account)

Did you have two-factor authentication (2FA) active on the account? If you do have the 2FA active, are you able to access the second factor of authentication? If so, please try resetting your password. Detailed steps on resetting your password can be found in the following support article: https://support.microsoft.com/office/eff4f067-5...

Important: The account recovery form can only be used if two-step verification isn't turned on. If the feature is enabled, the only way to recover the account is to regain access to your two-step verification phone number.

If you did not have 2FA active on the account, and the account was not deleted due to inactivity, you will need to try the Account Recovery Form: https://account.live.com/acsr

Detailed steps on how to use the Account Recovery Form can be found here: https://support.microsoft.com/office/b19c02d1-a...

Microsoft takes account security very seriously, that's why Account Recovery is an automated process with no human influence. If you don't have the correct information, you may not be able to get through account verification using the Recovery Form.

The Account Recovery Form requires adequate information to prove that you are the owner of the account. The Account Recovery Process can be a time-consuming process, but providing as much info as possible from the start of the process will increase the possibility of being verified by the automated process. You'll need to keep trying until you're verified by Microsoft.

Remember to use a familiar device from which you've frequently accessed your Microsoft account, as well as a familiar location. Microsoft will review your responses and respond within 24 hours. If you are verified, instructions on how to log back into your account will be sent to you, and if you are not verified, you will need to submit the Account Recovery form again. You can do this up to 2 times every 24 hours.

It's important to note that Microsoft Support will not be able to grant you access to your account, you will be sent back to the Account Recovery pages that have been linked above.

If your Microsoft account recovery request was not granted or was unsuccessful, please click the attached link for more information: https://support.microsoft.com/office/dc56c3e3-d...

Lastly, since you mentioned that your dad has an active Microsoft 365 subscription, and if the automatic renewal is enabled, the subscription needs to be cancelled to prevent recurring charges.

According to Independent Advisor WattyNuela: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/xbox/forum/...

"I would like to let you know that without accessing the account is not possible to cancel a subscription, and no one at Microsoft can access to this information.

If you already tried all the methods available regarding account recovery, I can recommend you reach out to your bank and ask for one of the next options:

1. Block this incoming charge from Microsoft
2. Block the current card and ask for a new one."

Thank you for your kindness and understanding! Please feel free to let me know if you need anything else.

Best regards,

Darhyl