Microsoft account recovery loop when primary and recovery emails are both Hotmail/Outlook – any possible resolution?

Question

Hi, I’m stuck with a Microsoft account recovery issue and just want to know if there’s realistically anything left I can do.

I have a very old Hotmail account (created around 2005–2009). My old PC, which still had access to this account, recently broke, and when I moved to a new computer I accidentally wiped the old SSD before realizing I couldn’t sign in anymore. Now there’s no device left that’s logged into this account.

Even though I’m sure my password is correct, Microsoft always asks me to verify using a recovery email. The problem is that the recovery email is another Hotmail account, and that one points back to the original account, so I’m stuck in a verification loop. When I set this up years ago, I didn’t think using another Hotmail account would ever be a problem.

I don’t have a phone number linked because I change phones quite often and didn’t want that to cause issues later. I’ve tried every device I can think of (PCs, laptops, phones, work computers, even an old 10-year-old PC), but none of them can access either account.

I’ve also tried the account recovery(ACSR) form multiple times, but it keeps getting rejected because I can’t remember details like recent email recipients or subject lines. These accounts are very old, and I haven’t really sent emails for 10–15 years — they were mostly used to store personal data.

I used Skype with this account in the past, but Skype now redirects to Teams, and Teams doesn’t show any old Skype ID, so I can’t use that for verification either.

At this point, is this situation basically unrecoverable by design, or is there any official way to escalate or verify ownership in a case like this? I’m not asking for special treatment — I just want to know if there’s any real option left, or if this account should be considered permanently inaccessible.

Thanks for any insight.

Answer 1

Hey there! Nice to meet you!

Aside from your recovery email address, do you have other security information/verification methods, phone, or email address linked to the account that you can access?

Did you have two-factor authentication (2FA) active on the account? If yes, do you still have the 25-character recovery codes?

Lastly, may I know when was the last time you successfully signed in to your Microsoft account?

Best regards,

Darhyl

Answer 2

You mentioned: "The last time I was able to successfully sign in to this Microsoft account was several years ago"

If you haven't signed in for more than 2 years, I'm afraid your account may have already been deleted/closed due to inactivity.

As stated by Microsoft, accounts that have not been signed in or have been locked for more than 2 years will be deleted due to inactivity, and they can no longer be recovered: https://support.microsoft.com/topic/microsoft-account-activity-policy-7c0a9fa7-0982-b7c6-fd72-df852b63699f

Thank you for your understanding.

Best regards,

Darhyl