unable to access one drive as i have absolutely NO idea about current or old passwords

Question

I had more memory installed at Best Buy. In doing so they apparently closed me out of one drive. I have an email registered and LOTS of things stored in one drive (<mod: PII redacted>@outlook.com), but am unable to access files due to not remembering password. I only used this email to set up one drive and have not used it since. The "forgot" password is not working as I have no idea of old or current passwords or emails....haven't sent any w/this email. I NEED ACCESS TO MY FILES IN ONE DRIVE...... HELP this old man (66 years old)!!!

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Moved from Outlook | Web | Outlook.com | Account management, security, and privacy

Answer 1

Hi Jay Seipler

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum and thank you for your question.

I’m really sorry you’re dealing with this - I can understand how stressful it is when important files are locked behind an account you can’t access.

If you don’t remember any previous passwords and the “Forgot password” option isn’t working, the only official path is Microsoft’s account recovery process. This is required to verify ownership before access to OneDrive can be restored.

Please kindly follow these steps below:

• Go to Account Recovery Form.
• Complete the recovery form with as much accurate information as possible
• Submit the form and kindly wait for the decision.

If the recovery form is unsuccessful, Microsoft Support does not have another way to bypass verification or manually unlock OneDrive. Without account verification, access to the files cannot be restored for security reasons.

I know this isn’t the answer anyone wants to hear, but it’s meant to protect personal data from being accessed by the wrong person. I truly hope the recovery request goes through for you.