Making my other account passwordless has ended miserably

Question

I spent 20 minutes just trying to find a feedback form or email address to contact Microsoft. Ended up settling for this forum.
WARNING: if your email address only has 1 character before the @ symbol, it won't work with passwordless sign in. It gives me "hey what's your recovery email" and I tell it and it doesn't accept it. See attached screenshot of my email address which just the letter a at mydomain.com.
So now I'm locked out of my other account and have to go through recovery options because I decided to try passwordless and hadn't been able to set up my authenticator app before it kicked me out.

Answer 1

Hi SirH3nry,

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A forum.I understand how frustrating this situation can be, especially when enabling passwordless sign‑in resulted in losing access to the account before all recovery options were fully set up.

Based on the details shared, this behavior can occur when a Microsoft account is switched to passwordless sign‑in, but the Microsoft Authenticator app and recovery information are not fully completed. Once passwordless sign‑in is enabled, the account relies on those methods for access. If sign‑in is interrupted and the recovery validation cannot be completed, normal sign‑in may no longer be available, and access can be restricted to recovery or assisted support options only. As forum contributors, there is no visibility into account systems, and account access cannot be restored or overridden here.

At this point, the supported options are as follows.

1, Submit the Microsoft account recovery form

If you have not already done so, please complete the account recovery process using the official recovery form and provide as much accurate information as possible. This is the primary self‑service method to regain access to a locked personal Microsoft account.

• Here is the form link: https://account.live.com/acsr
• For detailed guidance, please see: Help with the Microsoft account recovery form - Microsoft Support   

2, Contact Microsoft Support for assisted account recovery

If the recovery form does not resolve the issue, you can contact Microsoft Support directly via live chat by following these steps.

1. Visit the Microsoft Support contact page: Contact - Microsoft Support    
2. In the search bar provided on the page, type "Account Recovery" and press Enter.    
3. Click on the "Get Help" button that appears.    
4. Scroll down the page until you see and click on the "Contact Support" option.    
5. When prompted to select your product or service, choose "Other Products".    
6. For the category, choose "Manage Account Security".    
7. Look for and click on "Chat with a support agent in your web browser".    
8. When prompted, provide a valid contact email where Microsoft can reach you regarding your case.    
9. Explain your situation clearly: Be concise but provide all the relevant details.      

After you regain access, Microsoft’s passwordless article notes it’s best to have Microsoft Authenticator installed and your devices updated before removing the password, so the account doesn’t rely on a single incomplete method. Reference: How to go passwordless with your Microsoft account - Microsoft Support 

I hope this helps clarify the next steps.