Multiple on-going authenticator requests that are not from me

Question

I am repeatedly getting authenticator requests for my hotmail account that are not from me. how can i eliminate these and keep my hotmail account. should I switch to a different authenticator?

Answer 1

Do not approve or respond to those requests. Unrequested verification prompts usually mean one of these things:

1. Someone is trying to access the account.
2. Someone entered the wrong phone or email by mistake.
3. A previously requested code was delayed.

If the prompts are only being denied, the account remains protected because the attacker does not have the required verification.

Switching to a different authenticator is not the documented fix. A more effective way to reduce or stop repeated prompts on a personal Microsoft account such as Hotmail is to make the exposed sign-in address unusable for sign-in while keeping it for email:

1. Sign in to the Microsoft account.
2. Go to Your info.
3. Open Sign-in preferences under Account info.
4. Add a new alias that is not publicly known.
5. Make that new alias the primary sign-in alias.
6. In Change sign-in preferences, uncheck the current Hotmail address so it can no longer be used to sign in.
7. Do not delete the old Hotmail address. It can still remain on the account for sending and receiving mail.

This keeps the Hotmail mailbox while preventing sign-in attempts that target the old exposed address.

For additional protection, a passwordless sign-in method can be used on the Microsoft account. Microsoft lists Windows Hello, Microsoft Authenticator, SMS or email codes, and physical security keys as passwordless options.

If the account is a work or school account instead of a personal Hotmail account, the documented action is to contact the organization’s Help desk or IT administrator for account and MFA changes.

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