I'm having trouble with logging in to setup outlook on my phone, can you help me?

Question

I recently had to change my microsoft password. Now my outlook app on my phone wants me to login but it won't accept my new password. I went as far as deleting the app and re-installing but it won't accept my new password. I tried to setup microsoft authenticator but I run into the same password acceptance issue. Can you direct me on how to fix this problem?

Answer 1

Hi James Vander Velden, 

I really appreciate how clearly you documented the steps, that level of detail is genuinely helpful, and I can see why this has been frustrating. 

To help narrow this down a bit more, could you let me know the following? 

• Just to make sure I’m giving you the right steps, are you currently trying this on an iPhone, an Android phone, or both? 
• On the same phone, if you open your mobile browser and sign in at account.microsoft.com with the new password, does that work successfully? 
• After that, if you go to outlook.live.com in the same mobile browser, are you able to access your mailbox there? 
• In your Microsoft account Security settings, do you see any passkey listed under your sign-in or verification methods? 
• Is the Hotmail account also added under your phone’s Accounts settings, or is it only being added inside the Outlook app? 

In the meantime, please try the steps below on the phone: 

1.Remove the account from both places 

• Please remove the account from the Outlook app and iPhone Settings > Mail > Accounts (if the account is listed there) 

2.Fully close Outlook and restart the phone 

• After removing the account, please fully close the Outlook app > restart the phone 
• Then wait until the phone is completely back on the Home screen before opening Outlook again 

3.Test the account in Safari first 

• Before adding the account back to Outlook, please try this on the same phone: open Safari > sign in to account.microsoft.com > then sign in to outlook.live.com 

4.Check whether a passkey is registered 

• Since you are being prompted with “Face, fingerprint, PIN or security key”, please check whether a passkey has already been added to the Microsoft account. 
• You can check this from your Microsoft account Security page under Advanced security options. 
• If you see a passkey there that you do not recognize or do not intend to use please let me know what appears there. 

5.If the password screen appears again 

If it still goes back to the password page and shows the same “too many attempts” message, please stop there and send me: 

• a screenshot of the first sign-in options screen 
• confirmation of whether browser sign-in worked on the same phone 
• whether you found any passkey listed in the account security settings 

I hope these steps help make the sign-in process on your iPhone a bit smoother and bring you closer to adding your account successfully in Outlook. Wishing you all the best as you go through the checks above and get your email working normally again. 

While my initial response may not fully resolve the issue, I truly appreciate your cooperation as we work together toward identifying the most effective solution. Thank you so much for your understanding. 

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Answer 2

Hi, I'm John!

To help narrow down the issue:

1. What exact error message do you see?
2. Is this a personal account or work/school?
3. Did you successfully turn on 2-step verification or Microsoft Authenticator?

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In the meantime, just to be thorough, please confirm the password works.

Try signing in at https://account.microsoft.com using your new password. Does it let you in? If yes, the issue is likely on the phone.

Remove the account from your phone settings, not just the Outlook app. > Then restart your phone. > After that, open Outlook and add the account again.

If it still fails, try signing in using your phone browser instead of the app. Or wait for the full 24 to 48 hours for the lockout to clear completely. Try not to attempt signing in during this time, as doing so will reset the waiting period back to zero. Once the time has fully passed, you should be able to sign in again without needing to reset your password.

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Click "Add comment" to let me know.

Regards,

John J.D.

Answer 3

Follow these steps in order:

1. Confirm the new password works on the web
   1. Open a browser on the phone and go to the appropriate sign-in page for the account type (for example, for a @hotmail.com or @outlook.com address, go to outlook.com or outlook.live.com/owa).
   2. Sign in with the email address and the new password.
   3. If sign-in fails here, fix the password or account issue first using the online “forgot password” or account recovery options before returning to Outlook for Android.
2. Make sure the Outlook app is up to date
   1. Open the Google Play Store.
   2. Search for “Microsoft Outlook”.
   3. Update the app if an update is available. Older versions can cause recurring password prompts or sign-in failures.
3. Remove and re-add the account inside Outlook (not just reinstall the app)
   1. Open Outlook for Android.
   2. Go to Settings.
   3. Under Mail accounts, tap the problematic account.
   4. Choose Delete Account (this removes it only from the app, not from the server).
   5. In Settings, tap Add Account > Add Email Account.
   6. Enter the email address and tap Continue, then sign in with the new password when prompted.
4. If using IMAP/POP instead of the default sign-in If the account is set up as IMAP or POP instead of using the Microsoft sign-in flow:
   1. First, ensure the password was changed at the provider’s website:
      • For a @hotmail.com or other Microsoft address, sign in at outlook.com and change the password under account/profile settings if needed.
   2. In Outlook for Android, go to Settings > Add Account > Add Email Account.
   3. Enter the email address, tap Continue, then choose IMAP or POP3.
   4. Turn on Advanced settings and enter the new password and correct server settings from the email provider.
   5. Tap the checkmark to complete. If Outlook does not sync after the password change, delete the account from Outlook for Android and re-add it with the new password.
5. If this is a Microsoft work or school account
   1. If self-service password reset is allowed, reset the password at https://passwordreset.microsoftonline.com/.
   2. After a successful reset and web sign-in, repeat step 3 to remove and re-add the account in Outlook for Android.
6. If sign-in still fails only in the app
   1. Verify again that the new password works in a browser on the same phone and network.
   2. If this is a Microsoft personal account and sign-in issues persist, run the sign-in helper tool from the “Can’t sign in to the Outlook mobile app” article (use the Start link under Microsoft personal account).
   3. If this is a non-Microsoft account (Gmail, Yahoo, iCloud, etc.) and the password works on that provider’s website but not in Outlook, contact that provider’s support, as recommended in the sign-in article.

Once the password is correctly changed at the provider and verified in a browser, Outlook for Android should detect a sync error and then accept the new password when the account is re-added. If it does not, using the sign-in helper (for Microsoft accounts) or contacting the email provider (for non-Microsoft accounts) is the next step.

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References:

• Outlook for iOS and Android FAQ
• Can't sign in to the Outlook mobile app
• Set up email in the Outlook for Android app