My Hotmail account is rejecting all incoming messages. I can send messages.

Question

My Hotmail account was hacked Monday. I reset the password. Then on Tuesday it stopped receiving messages. It sends a messages to the sender that it was rejected.

Answer 1

Hello,

I am going to share with you the comprehensive list of things to do, please feel free to skip those you already did. This process can take a bit time, so please be patient as you go through it.

Please complete these steps on a computer, not on a smartphone or tablet.

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First, go to https://www.outlook.com and sign in.

Click the gear icon in the top right corner to open Settings.

Under Mail, review the following areas:

Rules

If any rules are listed, delete all of them.

Conditional formatting

If anything is set up there, delete it.

Forwarding and IMAP

If you see any entries or settings you did not create, remove them. Turn off POP and IMAP.

Junk

Review Safe sender and blocked list. If you don't recognize any, remove them.

After that, exit Settings and return to outlook.com.

Open the To Do section by clicking the blue checkmark icon on the left side. Delete anything there that was not created by you.

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Go to https://account.live.com.

Under Your info > Sign-in preferences, review all aliases on the account. If you see any alias you do not recognize, remove it.

Next, go to the Devices section of your Microsoft account and remove any devices you do not recognize.

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Please also do the following in Security section

Change your password

Enable two-step verification

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Then go to Security > Manage how I sign in and make sure all contact information belongs to you.

On that same page, scroll down to App passwords and remove any existing app passwords.

Also on the same page, click on Sign out everywhere. This is intended to disconnect any active sessions that may still be connected. Please note that this can take up to 24 hours to fully take effect.

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Answer 2

Because the account was recently hacked, it is likely that one of the following is causing all incoming mail to be rejected:

1. A malicious rule or forwarding setting is deleting or redirecting messages.
2. The account is blocked or misconfigured after the compromise.

Take these steps in order:

1. Verify the account is not full or blocked
   In Outlook.com, check mailbox and cloud storage to ensure they are not full. If storage is full, incoming messages are bounced and unrecoverable. Also verify the account is not temporarily blocked and, if needed, follow the guidance to unblock your Outlook.com account.
2. Check Junk, filters, and rules in Outlook.com
   • In Outlook.com, check the Other tab and any filters so all messages are visible.
   • Review Junk Email settings and the Junk Email folder; mark any valid messages as Not junk.
   • Check for email forwarding and rules that might be moving or rejecting messages and remove anything suspicious.
   • If using third‑party mail apps, ensure they support modern authentication and IMAP; if IMAP/POP are enabled and causing issues, disable them and test again.
3. Remove malicious rules and access created during the hack
   After a compromise, attackers often add rules or forwarding to control mail flow:
   • In Outlook on the web, open Settings → Mail → Rules and delete any unknown or suspicious rules (for example, rules that move all mail to Deleted Items, Junk, or a specific folder, or that forward mail externally).
   • Check Mail → Forwarding and remove any forwarding addresses that were not set up personally.
   • Use the Microsoft account security page to sign out everywhere so all active sessions are killed.
   • Review and revoke any unrecognized app permissions.
4. Secure the Microsoft account again
   • Run a full antivirus/malware scan on every device used to access the account.
   • Change the password again to a strong, unique one.
   • Ensure multi‑factor authentication (MFA) is enabled and working correctly.
   • Check connected accounts, forwarding, and automatic replies for any changes made by the attacker.
5. If still not receiving mail
   • Ask a sender to confirm the exact bounce message they receive; this can help identify whether storage, rules, or provider‑side blocking is the cause.
   • If the issue persists after cleaning rules, forwarding, and securing the account, use the Microsoft account recovery/support paths described in the hacked‑account guidance to escalate, as the account may still be in a restricted state after the compromise.

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References:

• Can't send or receive email in Outlook.com
• Can't send or receive messages in Outlook
• Where are my email messages or calendar events in Mail and Calendar for Windows 10?
• How to recover a hacked or compromised Microsoft account
• Hacker set up continuous draft ransomware email - Microsoft Q&A
• I have seen great advice for deleting the idtienphuoc1 Rule but none for stopping it from re-adding itself - Microsoft Q&A
• My personal hotmail account hacked by hacker with authentication app enabled. - Microsoft Q&A