Trying to access an account.

Question

It's HIGHLY frustrating unable to help my family member with accessing her account which she has had for many years. We have put MULTPLE forms to reset her password with my email and my sister and each time we get a "unfortunately we have determined that the information you provided was not sufficient." WE have tried to answer the answers as correct as possible and we still can't access her account. Can we have a different way then the form.

Answer 1

Hello, I’m Virginia.

Please note we’re fellow users like yourself & have no access to accounts.

If the problem is just a forgotten password then try to reset it using the first link.

Try recovering your account here:

Can’t sign in:

https://support.microsoft.com/account-billing/you-can-t-sign-in-to-your-microsoft-account-475c9b5c-8c25-49f1-9c2d-c64b7072e735

You can also try https://support.microsoft.com/home/contact & type Account Recovery in the box, then choose the Contact Support tab above & select Windows, then recovery from the drop down menus.

If none of the above work then you’ll require the account recovery form:

https://account.live.com/acsr

Account recovery is automatic for Home users so there’s no manual review/2nd tier support.

Please note if you have 2/multi factor authentication active on your account then you cannot use the form to recover the account.

If you’re successful in changing the details then you may find that the account is limited for 30 days, this is a security feature & cannot be circumvented.

Please be aware that if 2fa/mfa has been enabled then usually there’s nothing which can be done.

Unfortunately there’s no alternative to the form.

Answer 2

There is no alternate manual recovery path for a personal Microsoft account beyond the available self-service flows. Support agents cannot send password reset links or change account details.

What is available:

1. Use the Sign-in Helper first, because it checks for account-specific sign-in issues and guides the next step.
2. If the account is still not recoverable, continue with the Microsoft account recovery form.
3. For the recovery form, improve the submission by providing as much exact historical information as possible:
   • a working email address that can receive the recovery response
   • exact email subject lines from the mailbox
   • names of contacts the account emailed
   • older passwords that may have been used on the account
   • correct account domain, including country-specific domains such as @outlook.co.uk if applicable
   • older profile details that may have been used when the account was first created
4. If the username is no longer recognized or the message says the account cannot be found, use the Sign-in Helper specifically for that scenario.
5. If the account has two-step verification enabled and none of the alternate verification methods are accessible, there is no other recovery option.

The recovery review response is typically sent within 24 hours.

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References:

• Help with the Microsoft account recovery form
• I can't sign in to my Microsoft account
• My username and password have stopped working
• Microsoft account security info & verification codes
• "You have tried too many times with an incorrect password" error when signing in to your Microsoft account