Account error when signing in , emails are not coming through, help if possible

Question

Got an email from Microsoft saying my account may have been hacked

I have reset my password but keeps saying account error

Answer 1

Follow these steps in order:

1. Secure the account

• Go to the Security basics page and sign in with the new password.
• Select Review activity and check the Recent activity and Unusual activity sections. For any sign-in that is not recognized, expand it and choose This wasn’t me or Secure your account so Microsoft can help lock out the attacker.
• Still on Security basics, select Change password and set a new, strong password that has not been used before.

2. Confirm the account is still valid

• If any sign-in page or app shows messages like “We couldn’t find an account with that username” or “account doesn’t exist”, use the Sign-in Helper tool or the Recover your account flow described in the next step.

3. Run the account recovery flow if sign-in keeps failing

• If the username and password are correct but sign-in still fails, use the Recover your account page: Recover your account.
  • Enter the email address, phone number, or Skype name.
  • Make sure the domain and spelling are correct (for example, .com vs .co.uk, and name spelling such as rachel vs rachael).
  • If one alias is not recognized, try another alias or phone number that was ever added to the account.
  • Follow the prompts to receive and enter a security code, then set a new password.
• If you still see “We couldn’t find an account with that username” after this, use the Contact support option on that page to reach a support advocate and explain that the username has stopped working.

4. Check for hacked-account changes once signed in

• If sign-in succeeds but email is not coming through, treat the account as compromised:
  • Follow the steps in How to recover a hacked or compromised Microsoft account:
    • First, run a full antivirus scan on every device used with this account.
    • Then change the password again using change your password.
    • Check Outlook settings for:
      • Suspicious inbox rules (for example, rules that move or delete mail automatically).
      • Any unknown forwarding addresses.
      • Automatic replies that were not set.
  • Also review connected accounts, forwarding, and automatic replies using the links in the hacked-account article and remove anything not recognized.

5. Verify email delivery

• After cleaning the account:
  • Send a test email to the address from a different account and confirm it arrives.
  • If messages still do not appear, re-check rules and forwarding, and confirm the account is not over its storage quota (if the mailbox is full, new mail will not arrive).

6. Inform contacts and monitor

• Inform important contacts (from another email or channel) that the account may have been hacked so they can ignore suspicious messages.
• Periodically check the Recent activity page to ensure there are no new unusual sign-ins.

If any step fails (for example, recovery keeps failing or the account is reported as non-existent), use the Sign-in Helper or Contact support options in the recovery pages to escalate.

---

References:

• What happens if there's an unusual sign-in to your account
• I can't sign in to my Microsoft account
• My username and password have stopped working
• How to recover a hacked or compromised Microsoft account
• Help protect your Outlook.com email account