Locked out of my son's account

Question

Hello I've been trying to regain access to my son's account for about a month now. I enter all of the account's information when promted but it says it's either incorrect or not enough. I had it linked to the Microsoft authenticator app on another phone and the account is also linked to an old phone number. The email for his account is ******@itstriangle.com and his Xbox username is Marvinzworld. How can I update the phone number so I can add him onto my new phone's authenticator app? Or is there any other way to gain access because I've tried everything.

Thank you.

Answer 1

To regain access and update the phone number so the account can be added to Microsoft Authenticator on a new phone, the recovery path depends on what security info is still accessible.

1. If the password is known and at least one security method still works (old phone number or email)
   1. Sign in to the Advanced security options page for the Microsoft account: Sign in.
   2. Under Security info, select Add a new way to sign in or verify.
   3. Choose a new phone number or email and complete verification (a code will be sent to the new method).
   4. After the new method is confirmed, expand the old phone number entry and select Remove, then confirm.
   5. Once the new phone number is added, set up Microsoft Authenticator on the new phone using that account.
   Important: Do not remove all existing security info at once, or the account may be restricted for 30 days.
2. If the password is known but there is no access to any existing security info (old phone number, old email, or old Authenticator)
   1. Start signing in to the Microsoft account: Sign in.
   2. At the Verify your identity prompt, select I don't have any of these.
   3. Follow the prompts to replace the security info (add a new phone/email).
   4. After submitting, there will be a 30‑day waiting period before normal sign-in is allowed with the new security info.
   5. After the 30 days, sign in and then add the account to Microsoft Authenticator on the new phone.
   Tip: If the old security info becomes available again during the 30 days and is used to sign in, the pending security-info change will be canceled.
3. If the password is not known and there is no access to any security info
   1. Use the Microsoft account recovery form as described in Help with the Microsoft account recovery form.
   2. Submit the recovery request with as much accurate information as possible.
   3. Wait for the result of the recovery request; if successful, sign in and then follow path 1 or 2 above to update phone number and reconfigure Authenticator.

If verification codes are not arriving or there are issues with the phone number format, use the guidance in the verification-code troubleshooting article and, when prompted during sign-in, choose I don't have any of these to start the security-info replacement process.

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References:

• Troubleshoot Microsoft verification code issues
• Help us secure your account
• Microsoft account has been locked