Blocked accounts, passwords, error messages

Question

Hi, i am at my tethers end with outlook sign in! For the past week I can't log into 2 accounts due to same error messages, not detecting my passwords. I have changed them and yet still the new ones won't log in. The error messages after submitting a recovery form are ridiculous!

"We couldn't change your password because your session expired. Please try again."

Why?

And the same silly message:

You've tried to sign in too many times with an incorrect account or password.

So not true!

Whats happened to the easy log in days of hotmail, password in and signed! Password forgotten and changed with ease. If it wasn't for important stuff I'd dump these outlook accounts that have consumed hours of getting through stupid recovery forms, no code works, try other verification methods and they don't either. Sort this out please MS!

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Moved from Microsoft 365 and Office | Other

Answer 1

Hi T H,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum. 

I’m really sorry you’ve been stuck in this loop. I understand how exhausting it is when you know you’re using the correct password, yet the sign-in or password reset keeps failing.

Based on what you described, the two messages usually point to a stale/invalid browser session (“session expired”) and/or a temporary security lock triggered by repeated sign-in attempts (sometimes caused by saved credentials or background retries on other devices).

Please note that this is a user-to-user support forum. Moderators, contributors including external Microsoft employees cannot directly intervene in Microsoft product features or access back-end systems. Our role is limited to providing technical guidance on reported issues, requests, or ideas only.

Please try this “clean” recovery flow:

1. Stop background retries first

• On all devices/apps where those accounts are added (Outlook app, Mail app, old PCs, tablets), please sign out or temporarily remove the accounts.
• This prevents silent retries from continuing in the background.

2. Reset from a fresh private session (don’t reuse old links/tabs)

• Open an InPrivate/Incognito browser window and go directly to the official reset page:
  • https://account.live.com/password/reset
• Then complete the reset. Using a private window and starting from the official page can help avoid the “session expired” loop caused by cached cookies/sessions.

3. Clear saved sign-in data (if you’re on Windows)

• If you use Windows, check Credential Manager and remove saved Microsoft/Outlook sign-in entries.
• This can prevent older saved credentials from repeatedly triggering the “too many attempts” protection.

4. Try signing in once via Outlook on the web

• After resetting from a clean session, try signing in at Outlook on the web.
• If the “too many attempts” message appears again, avoid repeated retries in a short time, as that can keep the lock active.

If it’s still happening after trying in a clean session, please get back to me.

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