Remove email fwd'ing

Question

Hi I'm having issues removing the email forwarding option from my account. I'm able to send emails but I can't receive anything as all my emails are being forwarded to a separate address. How can I regain control of this account.

Answer 1

Hello,

I am going to share with you the comprehensive list of things to do, please feel free to skip those you already did.

This process can take 24 hours to take effect. So please do not expect immediate results.

Please complete these steps on a computer, not on a smartphone or tablet.

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First, go to https://www.outlook.com and sign in.

Click the gear icon in the top right corner to open Settings.

Under Mail, review the following areas:

Rules

If any rules are listed, delete all of them.

Conditional formatting

If anything is set up there, delete it.

Forwarding and IMAP

If you see any entries or settings you did not create, remove them. Turn off POP and IMAP.

Junk

Review Safe sender and blocked list. If you don't recognize any, remove them.

After that, exit Settings and return to outlook.com.

Open the To Do section by clicking the blue checkmark icon on the left side. Delete anything there that was not created by you.

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Go to https://account.live.com.

Under Your info > Sign-in preferences, review all aliases on the account. If you see any alias you do not recognize, remove it.

Next, go to the Devices section of your Microsoft account and remove any devices you do not recognize.

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Please also do the following in Security section

Change your password

Enable two-step verification

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Go here https://account.microsoft.com/privacy/app-access Click on "Don't allow" for anything you don't recognize.

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Then go to Security > Manage how I sign in and make sure all contact information belongs to you.

On that same page, scroll down to App passwords and remove any existing app passwords.

Also on the same page, click on Sign out everywhere. This is intended to disconnect any active sessions that may still be connected. Please note that this can take up to 24 hours to fully take effect.

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If you use Classic Outlook on any Windows device, do this on those devices

Close Outlook completely.

Press Win + R on your keyboard to open the Run dialog.

Type outlook /cleanrules and press Enter to clear and reset client-side rule stores

Answer 2

1. In Outlook.com, open Settings.
2. Go to Mail > Forwarding or Mail > Forwarding and IMAP.
3. Turn off forwarding:
   • Select Disable forwarding, or
   • Clear Enable forwarding, then select Save.

If mail is still being redirected, check for hidden forwarding rules:

4. In Outlook.com, go to Settings > Mail > Rules or Automatic processing > Inbox and sweep rules.
5. Delete, turn off, or update any rule that forwards messages to another address.

If the account was compromised, secure it immediately:

6. Change the account password.
7. Enable two-step verification. Outlook.com can prompt for this when forwarding settings are changed.
8. Review account aliases and sign-in/security details, and remove anything unrecognized.
9. Use Sign out everywhere so existing sessions are revoked.

After that, send a test message to confirm mail now stays in the mailbox.

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