In the past 5 days, I keep getting the error "You've tried to sign in with a wrong password too many times" even on correct password for hotmail!

Question

Hello,

I've had the hotmail account and was very happy with it since 1996, but it's really becoming frustrating in the past few days. About 7 days ago I most probably did try to sign in with the wrong password when I mistyped it, but after just that one attempt, I got the message "You've tried to sign in with the wrong password too many times", even though it was just one wrong password attempt. I found advice on AI Gemini that I should wait 24+ hours, and the "flag" will clear itself and I would be able to log in, but no - kept showing "You've tried to sign in with the wrong password too many times" even though I 100% entered the correct password, I checked visually.

So OK, I've changed the password, and it was all good that day. Next day, I absolutely entered the correct password, and I got the "You've tried to sign in with the wrong password too many times" message again. I had to reset the password again. And the same thing yesterday, and the same thing today, and every single day I check visually if I'm entering the password correctly!

I have the recovery email, and the mobile phone number and the MS Authenticator set up, but I really don't want to enable 2FA just because I could be in a situation where I do NOT have my authenticator phone with me, I just wanted to enter with a password, same way I've been doing for nearly 30 years. Why do I keep getting the message that I'm trying to sign in with the wrong password too many times? How many is too many times? Once in 7 days?

I also checked my sign-in activity in the past 7 days. Absolutely no suspicious behaviour, that possible hackers have tried to brute-force login into my account. My sign-in activity is perfectly clear - for the past 7 days it's all just successfull login, and successfull password reset because I have to keep changing my password just to do a damn login!

Please help!

Answer 1

I started having the same issue. I contacted Microsoft Support and they say it's a known issue:

"In the known issue you’re experiencing (Bug 5225607), the sign‑in system can incorrectly reject a valid password and surface a generic “password incorrect” error, even though:

The correct password is being entered

There are no recorded failed sign‑in attempts from other users

There are no password changes logged"

Unfortunately it's not possible to track this MS issue to know when it gets fixed.

I use passkeys whenever I can as a workaround, but some login prompts (connecting from different services, e. g. sync with Samsung phones) allow only password login - everytime I need such log in I am forced to reset my password. It is hugely annoying and as a paying customer I'd like to see this fixed soon but I am not holding my breath.

Answer 2

I chatted with Microsoft support. For what it is worth, here are some excerpts:

Microsoft’s November Patch Tuesday addressed 63 security flaws, including one actively exploited zero-day vulnerability in the Windows Kernel (CVE-2025-62215). This flaw had a CVSS score of 7.0, indicating a high level of concern due to its potential for privilege escalation. Although Microsoft released a fix, users continue to report problems, suggesting that the patch may not have fully resolved all related issues.

Zero-day vulnerability: The bug allowed attackers to gain system privileges by exploiting a race condition in the Windows Kernel.

Patch released: Microsoft issued a fix on November 11, 2025, but some users say the update caused instability or didn’t fully mitigate the issue.

Some users, especially with Hotmail or Outlook accounts, are caught in a loop where the system falsely flags their login attempts as incorrect—even when the password is newly reset and correct.

After April 2025 updates, Windows users began experiencing recurring “incorrect password” messages due to changes in how credentials are validated.

Yes, with the recent patch fixed has been included hence other user are still experiencing the same issue could be that there system are not yet updated or haven't refresh the system for some reason. Hence, I will have this reported here in my end as well just to make sure.

No worries, we'll make sure to have this raised to be heard and have this set on the next update.

Answer 3

Still no fix. Typical Microsoft. I'm so tired of all their broken half usable software. I have the exact same issue for over a year now. It is seemingly at random and I know I am entering the password correctly as I use a manager for log in and have triple checked both manually and auto fill. Both my hotmail accounts have 2FA with a recovery email, phone and authenticator yet it uses none of these features in this situation. At random it will allow me the privilege to use any of these options. They're basically just farming your data at this point as it seemingly only benefits them in this situation since they are not using it for what it is actually supposed to be used for. This is pathetic. I have switched over to gmail. None of this nonesense. Here is how you can to:

Step 1: Create a Gmail Account (If You Don’t Have One)

1.       Go to Gmail:

o   Open your web browser and go to Gmail.

2.       Sign Up:

o   Click Create account and fill in your personal details (name, username, password).

o   Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the setup.

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Step 2: Set Up Email Forwarding in Outlook

1.       Log into Outlook:

o   Open Outlook.com or open your Outlook app and sign in.

2.       Go to Settings:

o   For Outlook.com: Click the gear icon in the top-right and select View all Outlook settings.

o   For Outlook Desktop: Click File > Manage Rules & Alerts.

3.       Enable Forwarding:

o   In Outlook.com:

§  Go to Mail > Forwarding.

§  Check Start forwarding and enter your Gmail address.

§  Save your changes.

o   In Outlook Desktop:

§  Create a rule to forward all emails to your Gmail address.

4.       Optional: Keep a Copy:

o   In Outlook settings, check Keep a copy of forwarded messages if you want emails to stay in Outlook.

---

Step 3: Import Old Emails to Gmail

1.       Log into Gmail:

o   Open Gmail and sign in.

2.       Go to Gmail Settings:

o   Click the gear icon in the top-right and select See all settings.

3.       Go to Accounts and Import:

o   In the settings menu, click Accounts and Import.

4.       Import Mail:

o   Under Check mail from other accounts, click Add a mail account.

o   Enter your Outlook email address.

o   Follow the steps to connect your Outlook account to Gmail. Gmail will ask for your Outlook password and settings.

5.       Choose to Import Emails:

o   Check the box to Import old emails from your Outlook account.

o   Click Start Import and let Gmail import your old messages.

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Step 4: Test the Setup

1.       Send a Test Email to Outlook:

o   Send an email to your Outlook address and confirm that it shows up in your Gmail inbox.

2.       Verify Imported Emails:

o   Go to Gmail and check that your old Outlook emails are now there.

---

Step 5: Update Other Devices (Optional)

1.       Update Email Apps:

o   If you use Outlook on your phone or other apps, update them to check your Gmail account instead.

2.       Send from Outlook Address (Optional):

o   In Gmail, you can also send emails from your Outlook address by adding it as an alias in Accounts and Import.

Uck yourself microsht

Answer 4

Hi! My name is Aj and Im an Independent Advisor here to help! Im sorry to hear about your account. Try logging in using a different browser/device, use inprivate mode, clear your browser's cache. You can also try to reset your password https://account.live.com/password/reset. Wait 24 hours before trying again.

Please follow this guide https://support.microsoft.com/account-billing/i-can-t-sign-in-to-my-microsoft-account-475c9b5c-8c25-49f1-9c2d-c64b7072e735 and use the "Sign in helper" Tool

If the tool wont work the only way to regain access it the account recovery form at https://account.live.com/acsr. The information you will give should match the information in the system so give as much detail as possible like old passwords, devices, purchase history, account usage, etc. You can submit up to 2 forms a day. After submission allow 24-72 hours for verification. Please check this guide on how to properly submit the form. https://support.microsoft.com/account-billing/help-with-the-microsoft-account-recovery-form-b19c02d1-a782-dee6-93c3-dc8113b20c42

https://support.microsoft.com/account-billing/account-recovery-unsuccessful-dc56c3e3-dff0-4ed5-8edb-60290eea6b53

If the form keeps failing please contact support directly at https://support.microsoft.com/contactus using a working email and choose Account / Security / Recovery then pick support agent or chat.

Answer 5

I had the same problem last week. Even though I entered the correct email and password multiple times, I got the "too many times" message. I was able to sign in on a different device. But the computer with the problem kept giving the "too many times" error which probably is a Microsoft glitch. I finally chose the option to get a code in my backup email (instead of using a password) and was able to log in. I think the 24-hour rule applies. So if you try to sign in with a password before 24 hours, it resets the timer to 24 hours. To be on the safe side, I waited 72 hours and was able to log in with a password.