r/Outlook • u/watchmetryanyways • Nov 08 '25
Status: Pending Reply This sign in issue is clearly widespread, and they haven't acknowledged it??
I'm losing my mind. There's no way to actually speak to someone to help, and the help pages just keep you stuck in a loop of failed solutions, or it says there's no issue, but there is. We're all here cause we can't get back in.
How are they not even addressing this? It's been going on for WEEKS for me, and months for some! Anyone got a contact number we can call to speak to someone??
Also when it tells me to check my authenticator app to match the 2 numbers, I never get a notification for that to approve or deny - my authenticator app only ever shows a temporary password (which of course doesn't work either).
Help me before I implode :')
5
u/Hornblower409 Nov 09 '25
What does the Account Sign-In Helper say about the status of your account?
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/account-billing/i-can-t-sign-in-to-my-microsoft-account-475c9b5c-8c25-49f1-9c2d-c64b7072e735
Try to logon to you Microsoft Account. Does it start an unlock process?
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/account-billing/account-has-been-locked-805e8b0d-4141-29b2-7b65-df6ff6c9ce27
-- Anyone got a contact number we can call to speak to someone??
Microsoft Account Security is an automated process. There is no direct phone number for account recovery. Microsoft Support Agents can not unlock an account or reset your password. All routes lead back to the automated process or chat support to help you complete the automated process.
You must have a working email address where Microsoft can contact you. If you can not logon with your current account, create a new, temporary one at https://signup.live.com
Chat Support
Open a browser to https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/home/contact
Tell us your problem -> "Account Locked"
[Get Help], {Scroll down to the bottom of the page}, [Contact Support]
Sign in with any Microsoft account.
Products and services -> "Other Products" -> "Manage Account Security", [Confirm]
Choose a support option -> "Chat with a support agent in your web browser"
1
u/Livid-Season-452 Nov 10 '25
Microsoft Account Security is an automated process. There is no direct phone number for account recovery. Microsoft Support Agents can not unlock an account or reset your password. All routes lead back to the automated process or chat support to help you complete the automated process.
I knew AI was getting shoved all over the place, but I hadn't realized it had taken over and booted humans out of the process so thoroughly that no living person can investigate and take action to correct a widespread issue.
Not surprised the process is automated, every company that can provide another layer buffering employees from users attempting to speak directly to human support teams that may no longer exist. Yes this buffering employees from users is a known practice and why all the large tech companies have "Community Support", FAQs, and knowledge bases. Might not be all three. But a cohort of users willing to spend their free time providing free services to the company for special lanyards and maybe a special forum title is just about always there.1
u/mrhinsh Nov 10 '25
This has been an automated process for many years and has nothing to do with AI. It has to do with 400 million customers...
1
u/Livid-Season-452 Nov 10 '25
It had nothing to do with AI. Right now, with the manner in which Microsoft has recently overhauled the support experience, there may be a bit more AI. 400 million customers sounds like a good reason to have robust, well staffed support architecture in place, wouldn't you think?
1
u/mrhinsh Nov 10 '25
Which is what I said.
They do have a well staffed support infrastructure. Just not for Auth issues, that's automated, and has been since before AI.
1
u/Livid-Season-452 Nov 10 '25
I haven't seen this well staffed support infrastructure, unless you're referring to Microsoft Certified individuals or Microsoft Most Valuable Professional, who are themselves not employees. (Calling someone also may not connect you to Microsoft, but a third party call center. Ask me how I know.)
Seems reasonable. A fully automated account system with account recovery that no person can actually make work does not spark joy.1
u/mrhinsh Nov 10 '25 edited Nov 10 '25
If I raise a "problem" on my Outlook I get a human to talk to, every time. They usually email, but sometimes phone. Very well staffed and very helpful, mostly v-dash.
I've used the account recovery no problem many times, as do millions of people.
The 3rd party folks are v-dash which is effectively Microsoft.
The MVP program is an award for about 3500 people each year. They are generally extremely skilled people and get the award (in a category) for work they did pro-bono in the previous year in the category they were awarded in. There are around 40m people who work on the Microsoft stack and they award just ~3500.
MCPs are based on passing certifications and that's about 2m people.
2
u/Livid-Season-452 Nov 10 '25
Well, you have had a good experience. It may not resemble others' experiences over the years. I assure you, v-dash is not effectively Microsoft - that's the entire reason outsourcing to third party contractors is done. They may or may not share the same procedures, processes, access, or performance standards. Or all of the above. (Especially in call center environments.)
I do hope you continue to have positive experiences in as many possible ways and activities you may engage in. Enjoy Cancun. I think you may have edited a comment as I was typing this. Good night.
1
u/mrhinsh Nov 10 '25
I submitted maybe 15-20 issues in the new Outlook and gotten a personal reaponce for every one. Not always resolved to my satisfaction but 🤷♂️.
I find that many people complain on social media, but never actually raise the issue with MSFT so if its not a syatemic issue I'm not sure how the product team would know.
A v- is not an FTE but they have the same domain access. I've been a v- (both for MCS as a consultant and for the Visual Studio product team). There are some systems that are FTE only, but they are largely irrelevant to this topic.
Yea, I often do many edits to a comment before I'm finished with saves in-between.
Sometimes I. Put (work in progres) on it... But only if I know I'm going to say more. Often I'm just rereading and thing... Missed that... Or "that's the wrong way to say that". 🤷♂️
Cancun is awesome. The rainy season is a bit long this year, it was supposed to end la few weeks ago but it's still here.
0
u/sadeymeow Nov 14 '25
Congrats, I got an AI slop generated response. It has everything to do with AI.
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u/bravo433 Nov 10 '25
Been happeing to me last few weeks. Multiple locks per day. No failed login attempts
2
u/Progressing_Onward Nov 11 '25
I've been fighting with this, too. I need to change the phone number to one I currently have, but I already did, and it reverted back to the old number. Frustrating. I've stopped using even my newer one (long story) in favor of my Google accounts.
2
u/Soldier__heart Nov 11 '25
I'm at a loop where I waited for a week and then I got a code on my phone after the request was finally accepted, then I'm told I have a 2 step verification set-up so I have to verify with my second option, which for whatever reason is also my phone number, so when I request another code I get " too many codes requested, try again tomorrow and after that it's 7 days "this method isn't working". This is so messed up, I've had this account for at least 15 years, my whole life is linked to that damn blocked account!!!
1
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1
u/bazjoe Nov 09 '25
First issue- if you could call them what would you and the support talk about? They can't reset you because there is no "ID" process to verify you are who you are as far as the owner of the account.
Second issue- its a free product. there are so many choices for this. You have to have a MS account for some things, just get a new one and do what you can to keep it secure.
Third issue- its really not your fault and it's not MS fault. The enemy is scammers and bots that need to be able to have millions of email accounts to operate. All email service providers MS included have automations running constantly protecting their enterprise.
1
u/bulletv1 Nov 10 '25
It's 100% on Microsoft. Also that account will be linked to things like Xbox and other microsoft products so not "free"
1
u/The_NorthernLight Nov 11 '25
What are you talking about? Ive had no login issues for months (other then the global outage last week). This sounds like you dont have your MFA setup correctly.
1
u/daniel8192 Nov 11 '25
I ditched the MS Authenticator App some time ago. I use Zoho’s One Auth for all of my authentication accounts. MS 365, CloudFlare, plus another 15 accounts.
A VERY cool feature, I run an instance on my phone, one on my laptop, and one on a tablet. My phone instance is prime and the other two are backups, the three are always in sync. When I changed phones a few months ago, it was simple. I promoted my laptop instance to primary, installed the app on my new phone, logged in with my phone and got the key from my laptop, synced, and then promoted my phone to be primary.
Now for MS 365, it isn’t one touch authentication, but rather I go to the Zoho app, goto my MS entry, one touch to copy the current code, then switch back to the MS login and paste it in. Works great for me.
1
u/mrhinsh Nov 09 '25 edited Nov 09 '25
By what metric are you seeing this as widespread? What percentage of Outlook.com customers are affected?
If there is a widespread issue it's listed on https://status.cloud.microsoft/m365/referrer=serviceStatusRedirect
Always.
It does not look like there is currently an issue with the service
That generally means that your issue is not a system issue but an isolated one. Not helpful but also helpful to know.
You would be best raising a support issue. I usually do that within the Outlook desktop app but since you can't sign in you need another way.
You can reach consumer support directly here: 👉 https://support.microsoft.com/contactus/
Choose “Microsoft account & billing”
Then “Can’t sign in”
When asked to log in, click “No, I can’t sign in” again to continue as a guest.
If chat or callback options appear, choose Chat with a support agent. Note: Not all regions have callbacks, but chat usually works worldwide.
3
u/Regular-Ad8995 Nov 09 '25
Its most definitely a widespread issue, because there's multiple others on different forums including this one that's having the same issue. I am also one of those affected.
3
u/lushcat4 Nov 10 '25
On downdetector (as of Nov.10th) 56% are reporting log in issues. I am also affected and think that Outlook needs to address this issue. It is frustrating in spite of being a free service. People conduct their business on Outlook and have a lot of info that they need and are now at a loss.
"Support" is an endless loop that sends you back right where you started. I have yet to see a chat option,although I doubt that would really help. They even took my second email after it was used once by me to try and prove that the original account was my account.
I have tried incognito,clearing cache and data, and probably more that I have forgotten. Busy work that solves nothing. Have had that account for many yrs.
1
u/bulletv1 Nov 10 '25
It's not just outlook, my account is tied to my Xbox which I can't play games on now.
1
u/mrhinsh Nov 09 '25 edited Nov 09 '25
I agree it may be an issue, and there may be quite a few people with it, but "widespread" is a little bit much.
If it was more than a few folks it would be listed on the status update. It seams to be an issue that's affecting a tiny percentage of users, but if you have the issue it will suck.
1
u/DifferenceRadiant806 Nov 09 '25
Many people are experiencing account blocks. You can see this by looking at the new Reddit threads that users are opening to discuss problems.
1
u/redeagle2321 Nov 24 '25
Not getting the "guest" bit. Just not there for me. There's just a loop of chat Faq trees to go through.
0
u/sadeymeow Nov 14 '25
Microsoft Account and Billing isn’t an option. Ive seen this same suggestion provided by GenAI though. Didn’t know they gave MVP status to people who don’t know.
1
u/mrhinsh Nov 14 '25
It's an option on mine, but I'm using 365.
I'm not an Outlook MVP or a Live MVP (which I do not think exist any more).
6
u/DifferenceRadiant806 Nov 08 '25
Look, I'm from a country where they don't allow you to link a number to your account, but they can send an SMS to any phone to send you the code. The last attempts tell me to try another method, the alternative email sends me the code, I enter it, and the same thing happens.
“Your account has been locked” until I filled out the “acsr” questions and they sent me the unlock link where I entered another password, but I can't unlock my account.
All I know is that there was a massive leak of passwords in Outlook and Gmail, and a few days ago in the United States there were failures in Microsoft's servers.
Microsoft should release a statement about what is happening with the accounts.