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Cannot recover password to Microsoft account

Ken Lawler 0 Reputation points
2025-12-04T22:33:20.84+00:00

My sister has a Microsoft account with lots of files stored in One Drive. She acquired this account through my family share of Office 365. Her computer broke, so I'm setting up a new one. But the most recent password she had written down doesn't work. She also changed her phone number so that recovery path can't be used. I tried to us the account recovery form, but it says I didn't provide enough information to authenticate the account. My account is still working and I can see the family share is still active.

Now this may sound like I'm a scammer trying to access her account, but I assure you it is not. Unfortunately her password tracking system, a bunch of papers, isn't very good.

So how can we either (A) get back into this account or (B) set up another account with a different email address but then recover / transfer her One Drive files to it?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Subscription, account, billing | For home | Windows
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  1. Zoevi-V 2,400 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2025-12-05T06:19:35.5366667+00:00

    Hi Ken Lawler,

    Thank you for explaining the situation in detail. I understand how important it is to regain access to your sister’s account, especially with her files stored in OneDrive.

    The solutions suggested above are quite complete and should be very helpful in this case. In particular, retrying the account recovery process with as much historical information as possible (older passwords, recovery email addresses, or devices previously used to sign in) is the best way to regain access.

    If recovery is unsuccessful, your sister can create a new Microsoft account with a different email address. However, please note:

    • For security reasons, OneDrive files cannot be transferred without access to the original account. Microsoft does not allow bypassing account ownership verification.
    • Once the original account is recovered, files can be downloaded and moved to the new account.
    • Until recovery is successful, the files remain protected under the original account.

    I hope this helps you get the thing sorted out quickly! In case you need further assistance, feel free to let me know.

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  2. Zoevi-V 2,400 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2025-12-06T03:36:37.6866667+00:00

    Hi Ken Lawler,

    I haven't received any updates since your message. Has everything been resolved yet?

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