A hacked Outlook or Hotmail account can expose email, OneDrive, Xbox, Microsoft Store purchases, and password-reset messages from other services. Move quickly, especially if sent mail or recovery details changed.
Does this affect you?
Use this for Outlook.com, Hotmail, Live.com, MSN, or other Microsoft account addresses when sent mail appears that you did not write, the password stops working, recovery details change, or Microsoft warns about unusual activity.
If you can still sign in
Secure Microsoft first, then check Outlook mail settings.
- Go to account.microsoft.com and sign in.
- Open Security and review Recent activity or Sign-in activity for unfamiliar devices, locations, or times.
- Choose Change password and create a long, unique password.
- Under Security info, confirm the recovery email and phone number are yours. Remove anything the intruder added.
- Open Outlook.com > Settings > Mail > Rules and remove forwarding rules or filters you did not create.
- Check forwarding settings as well, because attackers often route copies of mail to themselves.
- Turn on two-step verification under Security > Advanced security options.
If you are locked out
Use Microsoft’s recovery form when reset options do not work.
- On the Microsoft sign-in page, choose Forgot password and try any recovery phone or alternate email still under your control.
- If those methods are gone, go to account.live.com/acsr.
- Fill in as much accurate detail as possible, including old passwords, recent email subject lines, contacts you message, account creation details, Xbox information, or billing clues.
- Submit the form and wait for Microsoft review. It can take a day to about a week.
- After recovery succeeds, complete every step in the signed-in cleanup section.
More control
Review devices and app sessions
At account.microsoft.com > Security and Devices, remove devices and sessions you do not recognize so an attacker cannot remain signed in through an app token.
Check billing and Xbox purchases
If a payment method is saved to the Microsoft account, review Payment & billing for charges you did not make. Xbox and Microsoft Store purchases can be affected too.
Warn recent contacts
If phishing links, fake invoices, or urgent-help messages were sent from your mailbox, send a short follow-up telling people to ignore suspicious recent messages.
Change reused passwords
If the Microsoft password was reused anywhere else, change it on those accounts too. A leaked password from another site is a common starting point for email takeovers.
Sources
- Microsoft Support – My Outlook.com account has been hacked (2025)
- Microsoft Support – Help protect your Microsoft account (2025)
- Microsoft Support – Recover a hacked or compromised account (2025)