How Do I Recover My Hacked Hotmail Account?

If Hotmail is your preferred email platform then losing access to your account can be devastating. The inability to neither send nor receive emails can mean missing out on important information.

When the reason for losing access to your account is hacking, then the scenario is even more troublesome. Regaining access to your account will be much harder and you also need to contact Hotmail to let them know of the breach.

The evidence of hacking in your Hotmail account will often be the presence of suspicious activity on your account not initiated by you. The emails will often be soliciting information or money from others.

When you have lost access o your Hotmail account, the next step is to recover it. Recovering your account can mean a variety of things.

If you still have access to your Hotmail account, you should first change the password and lock out the malevolent party out of your Hotmail account.

You can change the password on your Hotmail account through the following process:

1. Launch your web browser and go to Hotmail
2. Input the requisite details and log in to your Hotmail account
3. Click the gear icon in the top right hand corner of your account next to your account name to access account settings
4. Click 'More Mail Settings' in the settings page and you will be redirected to an options page
5. Locate the 'Managing Your Account' header and select the first option under it 'Account Details'
6. On the following page, under the 'Account Security' header and click 'Change Password'
7. You will be directed to the change password form. Input the old password and then the new password twice. Choose a strong and unpredictable password with a mixture of numbers and letters. If you want even more stringent security measures, you can select the option to have Microsoft ask you to change your password every 72 days. The checkbox is right above the 'Save' button
8. Click 'Save' to finish changing your password
9. Log in to verify the password change.

More often than not, if your Hotmail account has been hacked, you will have to no access to your account at all. Either the hacker will have changed your password or Microsoft will temporarily lock an account they suspect to be the subject of fraudulent activity.

In such a case, you can recover your Hotmail account through the following process:

1. Launch your web browser and go to Hotmail

2. On the account log in page, scroll down and click 'Forgot my password' under the empty username and password fields. You will be redirected to the password recovery page

3. Click the option 'I think someone else is using my Microsoft Account' and subsequently click 'Next.' You will be redirected to the account recovery page

4. Enter the email address that you suspect of fraudulent activity and want to recover

5. You will also be prompted to input Captcha characters in an empty text field for security purposes

6. After successfully submitting the Captcha code, you will be asked to submit a method through which you will receive a security code. Input a back up email or a phone number affiliated with the account

7. Once you receive the code type it on the page and submit it. You will be redirected to the password reset page

8. Enter your new password twice and click 'Next' when you are done

9. Log in to your account to ensure you are in control of your account.

If you have any trouble recovering your Hotmail account, you can reach out to their customer service through any of their contacts.