#Forgot my microsoft account update
#Forgot my microsoft account code
#Forgot my microsoft account password
#Forgot my microsoft account windows

#Forgot my microsoft account update

Now Microsoft Account center will actually prompt you to update your personal information that’s on file.

#Forgot my microsoft account password

Enter your email and the new password you just entered, and click on “Sign in”. Easy trick: append a punctuation mark or two, so “doris” could become “doris!!” and voila, it’s a new password.Įnter your desired password twice, click “Next” and it’ll take you directly to a log in page:Īs always, if you’re on your own computer and it’s secure, check “Keep me signed in”, but definitely do not do if it’s a shared device of any type. If you think you can just use your previous password or another one that you “always” use on different sites - which really isn’t a very good idea - then it’ll complain once you’ve entered it twice and clicked on “Next” again: Now you’ve proved you’re who you say you are, or at least that you have access to that particular cell phone, and you’re ready to proceed:

#Forgot my microsoft account code

It then shows a confirmation of what number it’s going to use by just listing the last two digits:Ĭlick on “Send code” and a moment or two later a text message shows up on your phone similar to this:Įnter that code too (it’s a one-time code, so don’t get too excited I published it here) then click on “Submit”. I’ll choose the latter, it’s faster and more instant gratification, by clicking on the button adjacent to “Send a code to my phone”. There are two main ways you can reset your account password, either by having a temporary one-use password emailed to the primary email address you’ve specified for your account or, if you have been smart enough to register your cellphone number with the Microsoft account management system in the past, have them send you a code to your phone. You know the drill, enter your account email address and the letters represented by the captcha to prove you’re human, not a robot. Or thought I did, but it turns out that, well, the password I entered was incorrect:Īfter trying a number of possibilities, I cried “uncle!” and clicked on the “Can’t access your account?” link, which took me to one of those accursed captcha things: Here’s how I fixed things…įirst off, I logged in to my Microsoft account. When I was recently writing about SkyDrive I had the same issue, actually, that I couldn’t remember my account password. Thing is, Microsoft keeps track of all your old passwords (presumably in an encrypted manner, so they’re not all just sitting on a server somewhere in the clear, waiting to have some enterprising hacker extract everything!). But that’s tedious and it can be annoying to have multiple accounts and not know what’s what.Īs with every other service, however, Microsoft has a password recovery program, though it’s really a “verify your identity and we’ll let you reset your password to something new” if you really want to be honest about it. However you slice it, really the easiest way to deal with a lost password is to simply set up a new account and start over.

#Forgot my microsoft account windows

If the username lookup wasn't successful, for example you hadn't set up or no longer have access to your security contact information, try looking for your Microsoft account username within other products or services that you know are associated with that account.You’re right about your Microsoft Account being based on previous accounts you might have set up with different Microsoft properties, notably either Windows Live Messenger or Hotmail (now called, of course). When you see the account you're looking for, select Sign in. Request a security code to be sent to the phone number or email you used. Look up your username using your security contact phone number or email address. If you previously set up security info on your Microsoft account, you can use this option to retrieve your username. Move on to the next step: Step 2: Check products or services where you used your Microsoft account Lookup your username if you have security info set up on your account Tip: This option won't work if you don't have security info set up on your account or if you can no longer access that security info.