Outlook Problems

Question

Outlook account ******@hotmail.com was hacked, we changed password as advised. Not receiving any emails at all. Please help

Answer 1

Hello, thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A.

Are you able to send emails to other recipients? Did you check your Junk or Spam folders to see whether the incoming emails ended up there?

What is the exact error message you receive when the sender tries to send emails to you?

Send a test email from another one of your accounts to the affected email address. Check whether you receive any bounce-back error messages in the Outbox. If you receive an error, please share the complete error message here.

If the email is sent successfully, then please check your email forwarding rules and blocked senders list, and verify whether the messages have been routed to another folder, such as Junk or Spam.

Email forwarding rules: https://outlook.live.com/mail/0/options/mail/forwarding

(Click Do not forward if your emails are being forwarded to another address)

Additionally, check that you have enough mailbox storage space available to send and receive emails.

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Answer 2

For a hacked Outlook.com/Hotmail account that is no longer receiving email, focus on both securing the account and restoring normal mail flow.

1. Verify the account is not blocked and storage is not full

• If signed in to Outlook.com, check that Microsoft cloud storage is not full. If storage is full, no email can be sent or received and messages sent during that time are bounced and unrecoverable. Use the mailbox storage page linked from the article to see what is taking space and clean up if needed.
• If unable to sign in or email still does not arrive, the account may be temporarily blocked due to unusual sign-in activity. Follow the steps in the article to unblock the Outlook.com account.

2. Complete hacked/compromised account recovery steps Because the account was hacked, follow the official guidance for compromised Microsoft accounts:

• Step 1: On every PC or device used to access this Hotmail account, run a full antivirus/malware scan. If using Windows 10/11 or 8.1, turn on and run Windows Defender as described, and ensure it is fully updated. Do this before changing any passwords.
• Step 2: After confirming devices are clean, change the Microsoft account password again using the official password change/reset links in the article. Use a strong, unique password.
• Step 3: Check account settings that attackers commonly modify:
  • Connected accounts
  • Forwarding
  • Automatic replies Remove any unknown or suspicious entries so that mail is not silently forwarded away or auto-deleted.

3. Check Outlook.com-specific causes for not receiving mail If cloud storage is not full and the account is not blocked:

• Confirm the password is up to date on every device and app used to access Outlook.com. If the password was changed recently, update it in each mail client.
• If one particular device is not syncing, remove the partnership between that device and the mailbox as described in the Outlook.com sync article, then re-add the account on that device.

4. If sign-in or recovery is failing

• If sign-in is not possible or recovery attempts are locked out, use the Microsoft account sign-in helper referenced in the Outlook.com article.
• If the account appears hacked and normal self-service recovery is failing, follow the hacked/compromised account article carefully and use the official recovery/reset flows linked there.

Once devices are clean, the password is reset, forwarding/connected accounts/automatic replies are checked, storage is available, and any temporary block is cleared, new mail should begin arriving normally in Outlook.com.

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References:

• Can't send or receive email in Outlook.com
• How to recover a hacked or compromised Microsoft account