The Microsoft account recovery form is what you use when you have lost access to every way Microsoft has of verifying that the account is yours — no phone, no recovery email, no authenticator. It is a manual review by Microsoft rather than an automated reset, and the quality of your answers decides the outcome.
Before you spend an hour on it, read the next two sections. They determine whether the form can help you at all.
Check This First: Two-Step Verification
If you turned on two-step verification and cannot access any of the alternate methods to get a verification code, Microsoft's own guidance is direct: they cannot help you. The recovery form will not override two-step verification.
This is not a detail buried for no reason — it is the difference between a frustrating hour and an impossible one. If two-step verification is on, your remaining options are the recovery code you saved when you enabled it, and any backup method still reachable.
Use the Normal Reset If You Possibly Can
The form is a last resort. Automated recovery is faster, and it succeeds far more often. Try these first:
- Password reset — account.live.com/password/reset
- A security code to any phone number or email still registered on the account
- Microsoft Authenticator, if you have app backup enabled or the app still on an old phone
- A saved recovery code, if you generated one previously
Use the recovery form only when none of these can reach you: your number changed, the recovery mailbox is gone, or someone else changed your security info.
Access the Form Safely
Go to account.live.com/acsr — this is Microsoft's own domain. You can also start at account.live.com/password/reset, enter the address you are locked out of, and select I don't have any of these when asked to verify.
Type the address yourself. People locked out of accounts are prime targets for phishing, and fake "Microsoft account recovery" pages buy search ads and send unsolicited "we can restore your account" emails. Three rules hold without exception:
- Microsoft will never ask you to pay to recover an account. Recovery is free.
- Microsoft will never ask for your full card number, a gift card, or remote access to your computer as proof of ownership.
- Microsoft support will not phone you out of the blue about a locked account.
If you have received a message that looks like a Microsoft security alert, check it against our guide to identifying Microsoft security alert scams before acting on it.
The Single Biggest Factor: Where You Fill It In
Microsoft advises completing the form on a device you previously used to sign in to the account, at a location where you commonly use that device. Microsoft matches your submission against device and network history it already associates with the account.
In practice this outranks almost everything else you can control. Filling the form in from your usual laptop on your home network, even with imperfect answers, does better than a flawless submission from a borrowed computer in another city. If your usual device is available, wait until you can get to it.
Step 1: Contact Details
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Account to recover | The Microsoft account address you are locked out of |
| Contact email | A different address you can open right now |
| CAPTCHA | The verification challenge |
The contact email must be a different account, and it must be one you can actually access — Microsoft sends the result there within 24 hours. Verify it with the code Microsoft emails you, checking the spam folder if it does not arrive.
Step 2: Prove You Know the Account
This is where submissions succeed or fail. Answer as much as you genuinely can, and do not invent anything — wrong answers are worse than blank ones.
Previous passwords
List old passwords, including ones from years ago. Microsoft's own tip is to think about passwords you use on other accounts that you might have reused here. Partial recall is still worth entering.
Email subject lines
Microsoft states that email subject lines need to be exact. An approximate subject carries far less weight than people assume, so rather than guessing, look for real ones:
- Search any other mailbox for messages you sent from the locked account.
- Check a work address, a partner's inbox, or a mailing list archive for your exact wording.
- Sent newsletters, receipts, and forwarded threads all preserve the original subject.
Contacts
Names and addresses of people you emailed regularly. For Skype accounts you will be asked for the Skype ID or the names of contacts on the account.
Microsoft services and purchases
- Xbox gamertag, Skype username, OneDrive folder or file names
- Microsoft 365 or Xbox Game Pass subscription details
- Microsoft Store order numbers, approximate dates and amounts
- Billing name and address on the account
Old receipt emails in another mailbox are the best source for these — search it for "Microsoft" before you start typing.
On billing details
The form asks about purchases and billing information as proof of ownership, and providing the billing name, address, and the last four digits of a card is legitimate. What is never legitimate is anyone asking for your full card number, CVV, or a payment. If a page or a person asks for those, you are not on Microsoft's form.
Step 3: After You Submit
Microsoft reviews your answers and responds within 24 hours, to the contact email you gave. You will get one of three outcomes:
Approved — you receive a link to reset your password. Use it promptly, then immediately:
- Set a new, unique password.
- Add fresh security info: a current phone number and a recovery email.
- Review recent sign-in activity for anything you do not recognise.
- Turn on two-step verification and save the recovery code somewhere offline.
More information needed — answer the follow-up questions with the same care as the original.
Rejected — this is not the end. Microsoft's guidance is that you can keep trying as many times as you want, up to two times per day, and each submission is reviewed independently.
If You Were Rejected
Resubmitting the same answers is a wasted attempt. Change something real between tries:
- Move to your usual device and network if the first attempt was not from one.
- Find exact subject lines rather than approximations — dig through other mailboxes.
- Recover more old passwords from a password manager, a browser's saved passwords, or a written note.
- Locate a purchase receipt with a real order number and date.
- Answer fewer questions, more accurately. Confident wrong answers do not help; leaving a field blank is better than filling it with a guess.
There is no separate appeals process and no phone number that bypasses the review. Support agents cannot override the automated assessment, so anyone claiming they can — for a fee — is running a scam.
Prevent This Happening Again
Once you are back in:
- Register two methods, a phone number and a recovery email, so losing one is survivable.
- Save a recovery code: Security → Advanced security options → Recovery code. Store it offline, not in the account it unlocks.
- Set up Microsoft Authenticator with cloud backup so a lost phone is not a lockout.
- Update security info when your number or email changes — stale recovery details are the most common route into this situation.