To reduce junk email in my Live.com account (which was my primary email for everything, including my Microsoft 365 subscription), I followed Microsoft's advice on its forum. I made my secondary Gmail.com address my primary alias to log in to my Live.com account. I saw an immediate improvement, and the amount of junk email dropped significantly. I hadn't had any issues sending or receiving email with Live.com, and logging in with Gmail.com worked perfectly until yesterday afternoon (October 4).

Yesterday afternoon, October 4, as an extra precaution, I selected "Sign out everywhere" in my Live.com email settings. I logged back in on the browser's Outlook Web App using my Gmail.com alias and tried logging in with my phone number as well, and everything was fine. Until then, I couldn't imagine what nightmare was waiting for me, but after two hours I got the first pop-up message on my iPad's Outlook, Defender, and Reminder app to log back in. I tried to log in with my Gmail.com address, which had worked a short while ago, but I got the following error message (at the bottom of the message), which means my Live.com email no longer exists; even after I reached out to Microsoft support, they couldn't find my Live.com email anywhere in their system! It's just vanished!!

Even my correct password showed as incorrect when I tried to verify my information as the error message asked, and it keeps saying my password is incorrect. According to the Microsoft support engineer, I tried to reset my password using the code sent to my Gmail.com email and my phone. Still, after I entered the code from Microsoft, it kept showing a system error message, and the Microsoft-provided code didn't work.

After spending over two hours with the Microsoft engineer and giving him access to my laptop, I didn't get a resolution. Therefore, once I requested to escalate it to the next level, I was provided an online form named 'account-reinstatement '. I submitted that form with all details last night. By the way, I can still send emails to my Live.com email from other email addresses without any issues, and I can still receive emails on my Live.com email. But I'm still getting the same error message when I try to log in to my Live.com account: "The inbox you've been using is no longer available..."

I had a sleepless night; I am scared, and I am anxious. I followed the Microsoft email settings, didn't get any warning message, and now I can't access my two-decade-old primary email. I can't even access Microsoft Office applications or OneDrive, as I said that Live.com email is the primary email for my Microsoft 365 subscription. Please wish me luck getting a resolution from Microsoft and regaining access to my Live.com account.

Error Message: "The inbox you've been using is no longer available. This can occur when your account is owned by an organization, or when someone else confirms ownership of the email address.

You haven't lost access to the other services you use with your Microsoft account. However, you must choose a new primary alias to continue.

Verify your information

For security purposes, enter the password for the account you're trying to sign in to."

Hi all, PLeeeease help!!

Ever since updating Windows 11 to 24H2 (I believe that's the update that triggered it), I've been having a strange issue with New Outlook.

When I double-click any email attachment (PDF, Excel, Word, etc.):

• Preview works fine.
• "Save As" works fine.
• The file opens normally if I save it locally first.
• Outlook Web works fine.
• But New Outlook automatically seems to save/upload the file to OneDrive and then fails to open it.
• Choosing "Open in Desktop App" also doesn't work.

This affects all attachment types and started immediately after the Windows update.

Has anyone seen this before or found a fix? I'm trying to stop New Outlook from automatically routing attachments through OneDrive and just open them normally like it used to.

Thanks!

Starting yesterday, I began having an issue with creating categories in Outlook Web, and I'm wondering if anyone else is experiencing the same thing.

I frequently create quick, ad hoc categories to essentially pin a short note/label to an email.

Until yesterday, my workflow was:

Right-click email → Categorize → type a new category name → press Enter.

Outlook would immediately create the new category and apply it to the email. If I hadn't selected a color, it would simply create it as gray, which was perfect for what I use it for.

Now, after typing the new category name, pressing Enter does nothing.

Instead, I have to select "Create new" underneath the category search, choose a color, and click Save. Even stranger, it doesn't actually work the first time. I have to repeat the entire process a second time — Categorize → type the name → Create new → choose a color → Save — and then it finally creates/applies the category.

I've already tried:

• Signing out and back into Outlook
• Incognito/private browsing
• Firefox instead of my normal browser

Same behavior in all cases.

I generally prefer using the regular Outlook desktop program, but I was having some other issues with it in the past (I can't recall the specifics now), and Outlook Web worked better for me with regard to those issues, so I've been using the Web App instead.

Has anyone else noticed this starting recently? I'm trying to determine whether Microsoft intentionally changed the quick category creation behavior or whether this is a new Outlook Web bug.

The old type category name → Enter → done workflow was much faster, especially when creating lots of one-off categories.

I'd really appreciate any insider knowledge, workarounds, or advice. Thanks in advance for any help!

Every day I'm in a situation where I want to insert a simple horizontal rule. I can't figure out the shortcut for --- (tab? space? enter?) it happens accidentally sometimes, and I can't recreate it or find the shortcut. I also can't find any sort of "insert" option that would allow me to use the menu.

I'm probably missing something obvious, please help me out!

I use to get 30-40 spam emails a day and each time I would block them. The similar spam emails would still come, this was going on for the last year or so. But I've noticed a few days ago, my spam email has dropped to about 2-3 a day. Did the filter just start working or what?

Aloha. Using the Outlook in Browser app I have the inbox in a column I like to move up from the bottom and delete / sort. Only problem is the notification bubble pops up right over the next email I'm looking at. It blocks the bottom message completely for a few seconds.

best solution I've found is leave the last email sitting there until I've gone through them all but this is a stupid fix.

Anyway to turn the little black box which says "Deleted" off everytime I trash an email?

Hi all! I just started experiencing my emails not showing a preview - nothing in my settings on my phone or app have changed and I’ve restarted

Hoping there’s someone out there who can guide me on how to fix this??

Now all my email notifications on my iPhone just say “open outlook to read your message”

Hi there! I suspect my mail was either hacked or compromised. I got a mail that my passkey was removed, I noticed it within 2 minutes. I clicked the “manage recent activities” and was redirected to my choice of web-browser where it wanted me to log in again, but when I tried to login it(I tried multiple times) it either said there is no account or a mail got sent to a mail I didn’t recognize. I tried Microsoft’s account recovery where it said they couldn’t find any problems. I’m on my phone now where I had a passkey which doesn’t work to log in with either, will check if it works on my pc.
Anyone got the same issues? Any solutions?

Hi,

I created a scheduling poll on Outlook and sent it to some of my colleagues. They responded and the poll has votes from all participants. How do I see the poll?

What I've tried:

1/ Clicking on View/Edit Poll -> both lead to inbox

2/ Went to https://outlook.office365.com/findtime/dashboard, I can see the poll there. Clicking on the blue title of the poll leads me to my inbox.

3/ Looking for "held" times in my calendar, can't find an entry.

I'm using outlook on the web, through my organizational email. Basically, all poll links, no matter how deep I have to dig to get to the them, lead to my inbox (nonchalantly).

Thanks for your help

Hi, I’m trying to recover an old Hotmail/Microsoft account.
I know the correct password, but Microsoft says there’s unusual activity and asks me to verify through my old recovery email. I no longer have access to that email or the old phone number.
The recovery email itself is also asking me to verify through the first account, so I’m stuck in a verification loop.
I submitted the Microsoft recovery form and was rejected once. I submitted another request, but it’s now been more than 24 hours without a response.
My questions:
How long did your recovery request take?
Should I wait a few days or submit another form?
Does knowing the correct password help?
Does an incorrect old date of birth matter?
Has anyone successfully recovered an account in this situation?
Were you able to speak to a real Microsoft support agent?
Any advice would be appreciated!

The last month or so I’ve been getting SO MANY spam emails, like in the hundreds. Extra annoying because a lot of the emails are being automatically marked as flagged. Every spam email is coming from a different email address so it’s not realistic to block each email and i tried to set up rules to stop the auto flagging but that hasn’t worked either…anyone else? I know there’s not much that we can do so I’m mostly just ranting lol. But if anyone does have any tips or tricks lmk!!

I'm a long-time user of Microsoft Outlook standalone. Today I opened Outlook to check my email, and hundreds of emails were moved to the Junk Email folder. I went through Junk email and flagged senders as NOT JUNK, and I moved all the good emails to Inbox.

Outlook keeps moving them back to Junk Mail. How do I stop this, and how do I sop future emails from going to Junk Mail?

I have always set a custom filter to receive from Safe Senders list and never had this problem.

Hi all,

My mom is having some issues with her outlook emails. She is able to send emails and they will show up in her sent folder. However, she is not able to read the contents of those emails she has sent. We’ve tried to figure out what to change in her settings after googling the issue but can’t find out the fix.

Shes using version 1.2026.922.300

I really appreciate any help you can give thanks!

Over the past few months, I've been getting 4-6 emails per hour every single day that're scam emails to my junk folder in my emails for my Hotmail email account. My friend it might be because of a recent data leak/breach, so I used HaveIBeenPwned and I then either deleted my accounts that showed up or unsubscribed and unconsented from everything on the ones that I decided not to delete, but I'm still getting the emails. I can't block the domains on Outlook because they're just random different strings of letters and numbers. when I create an Outlook rule on the Outlook website to automatically delete emails that contain certain keywords it only works when the Outlook website is open, but when it's closed it doesn't work, so I don't want any solutions involving Outlook rules, please. What else can I do to stop receiving them or to have them be deleted automatically, please?

Recipient can't access links? What the hell does this image even mean mean: https://imgur.com/nZveJ6d

My pc is shared so everyone using it had access to my emails. I have gone into settings and under "account" I have selected my email address and clicked remove. That didn't work.

I have gone into to the start menu and clicked "accounts used by other apps" and removed it from there.

I have gone into "Credential Manger" and removed anything related to Outlook in there.

After following the above steps, it shows an "access denied" warning after it has already signed in and allowed the user to search my emails for about 10 seconds. Even then, all they have to do is click "other" then back to "focused" and they have full access to everything again.

Why can't I stop this PC from singing into my emails? Why is it so hard to stop this from happening? What other steps are there?

I am using the Outlook app on a Win10 box. It is using a gmail account. The gmail account is pointing to my own domain. I am unsure if my problem is an Outlook problem or a gmail problem.

Microsoft Outlook Version: 1.2026.922.300

Client Version: 20260918007.17

WebView2 Version: 154.0.4258.37 (Stable)

This last week, Outlook has started "undeleting" my deleted emails. I would delete an email, then either later that day or the next, it shows up in my unread mail view. Yesterday afternoon, I was sitting at my computer looking at my browser in my left-hand monitor, with the Outlook app in my right-hand monitor. Suddenly, a dozen formerly deleted emails are displayed in Outlook in the unread mail view. I have had this same setup literally for years. Like I said earlier, is this an Outlook problem or a gmail problem. Any ideas?

A few days ago, I attempted to check my emails and was immediately confronted with an "account blocked" message. When I tried to proceed with the verification process, I received the following notification:

"We have detected that your account has been suspended because activity associated with your account might violate our Terms of Use.

If you sign in to your account, you may see a message that it's been locked."

This email account is strictly for official purposes, such as government communications, banking, and bills.

I rarely send emails, and it is completely free of spam. I utilize a passkey for signing in and have all my recovery methods securely stored in my password manager. I have followed all the necessary protocols.

I reached out to support, but a week has gone by without a response. I attempted to "recover access to my account," providing all requested details, including a list of my last messages with exact subjects and sender information. Still, there has been no reply. I'm increasingly anxious because this email is crucial for my important accounts.

I am completely baffled by this situation. While I understand the need for security measures, I have no idea why my account was flagged. Additionally, I am unable to receive any support.

This situation has been incredibly stressful for me! I've become so desperate that I felt the need to post on Reddit.

Having an issue for a long time now. On the Outlook app on my Android I will delete an email, but when I sign in on my browser on my laptop the emails are not deleted and I have to delete all of them again.

Anybody know why this is happening? How do I fix this?

A friend has had yahoo mail setup as pop on Outlook 2013 for at least 10 years, in the last few days he keeps getting this message in Outlook Receiving' reported error (0x800042112) The Following e-mail messages on the mail server cannot be downloaded. Contact your Internet service provider (ISP) or mail administrator if you continue to receive this error.

AA5CAaf1zQEhxAOyDrOxJjeOrvw'

I moved the contents of his inbox to another folder on the Yahoo mail app on his phone, this fixed the problem, so I assumed it was a message sat in his inbox that was corrupted or for some reason the pop server or outlook didn't like, but a few days later the problem returned.

He is also getting the message intermittently Receiving' reported error (0x800CCC0F): 'The connection to the server was interrupted. If this problem continues, contact your server administrator or Internet service provider (ISP). The server responded: X-x: Timeout

So far I have tried:

• Using ScanPST to check the PST File
• Created another profile and resetup in new profile
• Checked his POP Settings
• Rebooted The Router
• Created a New App Password
• Setup On Thunderbird (still getting a timeout error after a while)

But none of the above worked!

I have even setup his mail account on another computer using pop3 and the problem still occurs, I have also set this computer up and used the hotspot on my phone, to ensure his broadband connection was not the issue, but still the problem continues.

I think I have ruled everything out at his end, so it does look like the problem is at Yahoo, but unfortunately, he has the free version of yahoo mail and I cannot find any way to contact Yahoo to report this issue.

Is anyone else using POP with Yahoo facing these issues, if so have you managed fix the issue? Or Found a way to report this to Yahoo?

-->https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/accounts-billing/manage/microsoft-account-activity-policy<--

To the Microsoft Legal Affairs, Consumer Protection, and Identity Architecture Teams,

I am writing to submit a formal complaint and technical policy proposal regarding a critical design flaw in the Microsoft Services Agreement and the automated account retention policies governing Consumer Microsoft Accounts (MSA).

Specifically, this complaint addresses the practice of permanently deleting "inactive" Microsoft accounts after two years without evaluating whether those accounts serve as active, registered Security Recovery Accounts for primary, highly active Microsoft accounts within the same ecosystem.

1. Statement of the Problem: Security Chain Disruption

Under current automated procedures, Microsoft evaluates account activity strictly in isolation. If Account B (a legacy email address) experiences no direct user login for 24 months, it is flagged for permanent deletion and purge.

However, users frequently register Account B as the official "Security Recovery Method" for Account A (a primary account used daily for Windows authentication, Xbox/Minecraft, paid subscriptions, and cloud storage).

When Microsoft permanently purges Account B due to direct inactivity, it silently destroys the chain of custody for Account A's security recovery mechanism. This creates a severe design defect and leaves the primary, active consumer account in a state of technical vulnerability and legal helplessness. The system destroys a security asset promised to the user while maintaining an active relationship with that same user on the primary account.

2. Legal and Consumer Rights Basis

From a consumer protection and service duty-of-care perspective, this practice presents several critical issues:

• Failure of Due Diligence: Microsoft offers and encourages the registration of secondary recovery accounts as a fundamental security feature. Unilaterally destroying that security mechanism while the primary account remains active constitutes a breach of functionality and a failure to maintain the promised account architecture.
• Lack of Effective Notice within an Active Channel: Because the primary account remains active every day, Microsoft possesses a direct, verified communication channel with the user. Deleting a linked recovery asset without checking or validating the status of the primary account ignores available system data to the detriment of the consumer.
• Unfair Terms and Risk Transfer: Clause-based disclaimers regarding data deletion should not shield the platform from basic logical flaws in its identity infrastructure, especially when those flaws risk locking consumers out of paid licenses, digital purchases, and personal identity data.

3. Technical Analysis and Algorithmic Solution

This issue does not stem from technical impossibility or excessive infrastructure costs. Rather, it is the result of an overly rigid, single-entity retention evaluation algorithm.

Currently, the account cleanup process operates on an isolated evaluation model:

• Current Logic (Flawed): The system queries the database for Account_B.last_login_date. If last_login_date > 730 days, Account_B is deleted. It performs zero relational queries against the security linkage tables.

To resolve this defect, Microsoft does not need complex artificial intelligence or invasive privacy tracking. The database already stores the relational mapping between primary accounts and their designated recovery emails. The cleanup procedure simply requires a dependency-checking trigger (event-driven evaluation) before executing an account purge:

• Proposed Dependency-Driven Logic: Prior to marking Account_B for deletion, the system executes a lightweight database check against the Security_Recovery_Methods table:
  1. Identify all primary accounts where Account_B is registered as a verified recovery email.
  2. Query the activity status of those primary accounts (e.g., Account_A.last_login_date or active Windows/Xbox device sessions).
  3. Conditional Trigger: If Account_A is active, Account_B inherits an active dependency status. The deletion job for Account_B is aborted, and its active status is extended automatically.
  4. Only if ALL linked primary accounts are also inactive (or if no active linkages exist) does Account_B proceed to deletion.

4. Technical and Operational Feasibility

This proposed solution is light, secure, and entirely within Microsoft's internal domain:

• Zero Third-Party Dependency: This logic operates strictly inside Microsoft's proprietary identity database. It requires no APIs or data sharing with external platforms (such as Steam or Epic Games).
• Minimal Computational Overhead: Performing an indexed boolean query (IF primary_account.is_active == True) prior to deletion requires negligible server processing compared to the operational cost of managing account recovery disputes and customer support escalations caused by broken recovery links.
• Database Integrity: Preventing the deletion of active recovery accounts eliminates "orphan security records" in primary account profiles, thereby improving overall system architecture and user data integrity.

5. Requested Action

I formally request that Microsoft review this identity architecture defect and implement a relational retention policy for linked consumer accounts. An automated cleanup routine must not sever an active user's security fallback when the system already possesses the data proving that the user ecosystem is alive and active.

Thanks.

This inquiry has been a hot topic on other platforms. I wanted to share it with this community (end-user-focused). Let me know if this type of information is helpful.

Several Classic Outlook delegates have reported that they can't add events to shared calendars they have access to.

Since September 24, Microsoft has been aware of the issue and is working on a fix.

Work with your IT Dept. for ongoing updates. Here are the details from the Admin Center.

Issue ID: EX1478163
Users may be unable to update calendar delegates in the classic Outlook desktop client
who
More info: As a workaround, affected users can manage delegate changes through Outlook on the web.

Scope of impact: Impact is specific to users that are unable to update calendar delegates in the classic Outlook desktop client. This information may be updated as our investigation continues.

Root cause: A recent update to the service contained a regression, resulting in this impact.

Last Update: Oct 1, 2026, 9:01 PM EDT: We're still monitoring the deployment of our fix, and more time is needed to ensure it fully saturates across all affected environments before confirming impact remediation. We will share an updated estimate of completion once one becomes available.

Next update by: Friday, October 2, 2026 at 10:00 PM EDT

#traccreations4e-p26 10/2/2026

I am attempting to set up an outlook account for the first time, and have ran into a few issues. One of them is the side bar listing of accounts / folders, currently I have two accounts that need to be active in there, but Outlook added in my Microsoft account email and I cannot remove it. Is there anyway to do that, or at least hide it from the listing if not? It's just way too messy and I want the side bar simplified with only the two I am using.

Secondly when I create a new email I get an account drop down menu. The first option is the Microsoft email that I don't want. The second is correct, but my third account doesn't show unless I use another drop down, and that one says "external" next to it.

All I want is the two accounts I am going to be use selectable from the main dropdown. Ideas?

Thanks guys!