Recovering access to Microsoft Account

Swifty · 13 Jul 2017

I've been locked out of my Microsoft Account, using
I go to account.live.com/password/reset and enter my ID. I click on "Forgotten Password" and go though the process which includes getting a code sent to my phone.
I enter a new password, and a password verification, and I'm told it works.
So, I try to logon with my new credentials, only to be told that my password is wrong!

This smacks of being revoked, and a password change process which doesn't bother to bore me with this fact.

But how to get past this?

Is there any way to see what actual password I've just typed in when I've entered my new password? I'm reminded of the fellow who had three "r"s in his password, and his "r" key had become noisy, entering characters at random. Since he couldn't see what characters were actually being entered, he'd been trying to logon for about three hours before he worked out how to call me at home, for support!

bro67 · 13 Jul 2017

There is nothing that you can do. Even Microsoft will not help to recover that account. You just have to create a whole new account with a different email account.

Swifty · 14 Jul 2017

Well, that's me dead in the water. I have only one email account, and I'm not about to complicate matters even further.

Swifty · 15 Jul 2017

I had one more go at resurrecting my userid that had been forcibly changed to Microsoft Account and it worked.

I have no idea how/why it had changed from Microsoft Account, but I have a saying for situations like this... see http://www.swiftys.org.uk/wiz?1498

bro67 · 15 Jul 2017

Microsoft has gotten to where they are no longer customer friendly, you are not alone. My wife still has her’s so that I can use it when we need to purchase office for her. I hate the fact that they and other sites like FB do not force a recovery or second level security with a cellphone or alternative email. My wife actually has made up a spreadsheet for all of our accounts that we keep a print d copy handy, a copy in iCloud and a copy of accounts in our notes app for our iPhone.

The worste part about losing access to a Microsoft account is when gamers have history and purchases on it. I had to jump through hoops when my son got locked out and the rep in India was locked into a loop on script flowchart.

DavidY · 15 Jul 2017

Swifty said:

Is there any way to see what actual password I've just typed in when I've entered my new password?

Sounds like you got it sorted anyway, but in case this helps in future, the answer is Yes:
Use the Edge browser or Internet Explorer.
When you start typing In the password box there should be a symbol on the right hand end of that box.
I think the symbol is supposed to represent an eyebrow - like a dot and a curve above it.
Clicking on that symbol shows the password you're typing. Microsoft have started to use it in a few places.

Swifty · 15 Jul 2017

DavidY said:

Sounds like you got it sorted anyway, but in case this helps in future, the answer is Yes:
Use the Edge browser or Internet Explorer.
When you start typing In the password box there should be a symbol on the right hand end of that box.
I think the symbol is supposed to represent an eyebrow - like a dot and a curve above it.
Clicking on that symbol shows the password you're typing. Microsoft have started to use it in a few places.

Thanks for that suggestion. I'll go and add it to my folder of tips and tricks.

In fact, despite my default browser being Chrome, my most recent attempt at resetting my Microsoft Account password was handled by one of the MS browsers, and I used the "eye" symbol to verify it before entering it.
I wonder if I can get the same behaviour with the logon password field? (In for a penny, in for a pound!)

I recall having a browser extension which implemented this action. That was several years ago, so it was probably for the Opera browser.
I wonder if Chrome has such an extension?

Many websites block pasting into password input fields, which I find unhelpful, as I have every password I've ever typed in a password repository, but my success rate typing passwords is less than 70%

bro67 · 16 Jul 2017

Have you tried any of the extensions for Chrome that act like a Keychain? I have had to clear out passwords in my Google account for Chrome, because I had so many old network devices in it and old websites that I no longer go to. It gets to the point that if you do not do house keeping, it ends up being a bigger hassle.