Reset a Forgotten Microsoft Account Password (Outlook, Hotmail, Xbox, 365)

You can’t sign in to your Microsoft account — Outlook.com, Office, OneDrive, Skype, or Xbox all reject your password and you don’t remember the right one.

Why: the password reset is one process for the whole account. You prove who you are with a one-time code sent to a recovery email or phone already on file, then set a new password. The only thing that traps people is when that recovery email/phone is gone — then you need the recovery form instead (Fix 3).

Fix 1: Reset it with an emailed or texted code

This is the standard reset and works for the vast majority of people.

1. Go to account.live.com/password/reset (Microsoft’s reset page — you can also click “Forgotten your password?” on any sign-in screen).
2. Type your username (the full email/phone for the account) and select Next.
3. Choose how to get a code — email or phone (text). Microsoft shows a hint and asks you to confirm it: retype the first part of the email address, or the last four digits of the phone number shown, then Get code.
4. Check that inbox or phone, enter the code, and select Next.
5. Type a new password, confirm it, Next. You’re signed in.

The code expires quickly, so request it when you’re ready to read it.

Fix 2: No code arriving? Fix the delivery first

• Email code: look in Junk/Spam, and make sure you’re checking the recovery email (the one ending in the domain Microsoft hinted at), not the locked account itself.
• Text code: the phone must be able to receive SMS and have signal. Enter the digits in the body of the message, not any number in the header/sender line.
• Wrong hint shown? If the email/phone Microsoft offers isn’t one you still control, don’t keep retrying — move to Fix 3.

Fix 3: You’ve lost the recovery email and phone — use the recovery form

If you can’t receive a code at any method on the account, Microsoft can’t reset it automatically. Fill out the recovery form so a person can verify you:

1. Go to the account recovery form (also reachable as aka.ms/recover).
2. Give a different working email Microsoft can reply to — it can be a brand-new Outlook.com address or a friend’s; it just has to be one you can open.
3. Answer as many questions as you can: old passwords you’ve used, names of contacts and exact subject lines of recent emails (for Outlook/Hotmail), Skype IDs, recent purchases, Xbox console info. Guessing is fine — wrong answers don’t count against you.
4. Submit. Microsoft reviews and replies to your working email, typically within 24 hours. You can submit the form up to twice a day if the first try fails.

Filling it out from a device and network you’ve used before with that account improves your odds.

FAQ

Is this the same as resetting my Windows sign-in? If you sign in to Windows with this Microsoft account, resetting the password here changes your Windows password too — use the new one on next sign-in (you may need to be online once).

I know my password but want to change it. Sign in, go to your account Security page, and choose Change password — no reset needed.

It says my account is locked, not that the password is wrong. That’s a different fix — see our guide on unlocking a locked Microsoft account.

Do I have to use account.live.com? No — clicking “Forgotten your password?” on any Microsoft sign-in page lands on the same flow. account.live.com/password/reset just jumps straight there.

Sources: Microsoft Support — Reset a forgotten Microsoft account password · Microsoft Support — Help with the Microsoft account recovery form