How to Recover Outlook account if hacked

Authored by: Support.com Tech Pro Team

1. Introduction

This guide will help you on how to Recover the Outlook account if hacked

2. Resolution

You can reset your account using your phone or another PC, but many hackers get your password using malware that's been installed on your PC without your knowledge. Make sure you remove viruses and malware from your PC before you change your password. To reset your account using your phone or another PC, go to account.microsoft.com.

Step 1: Clear your PC of viruses or malware before you change your password

If you have a good antivirus program installed, make sure it's up to date, and then do a full scan of your system. If you don't have an antivirus app installed on your PC, Microsoft offers some solutions if you're running Windows 8.1 or Windows 10.

If you're running Windows 8.1 or Windows 10, you already have Windows Defender. Do the following to turn on malware protection:

Select Start

On the Start screen, type Windows Defender in the Search box, or select Windows Defender.
Follow the instructions on the screen

Regardless of which antivirus app you install, run a full scan on your PC before you change your password. You should also set up your antivirus app to automatically get updates and scan your PC on a regular basis.

Step 2: Change or reset your password

After you run the antivirus app, sign in to your account and change your password. Make sure you create a strong password.

If you can't sign in, reset your password

Step 3: Check your account settings

Because someone else had access to your account, we've reset some of your account settings. To check and change your account settings, go to connected accounts, forwarding, and automatic replies

Step 4: Restore deleted email and contacts

As soon as we detect that your account might have been hacked, we start saving your deleted messages in a safe place.

Select the Deleted Items folder.
At the top of the page, select Recover deleted messages.

Outlook will recover as many messages as possible and put them in your Deleted Items folder. Any messages not recovered are permanently lost.

Email deleted from children's accounts can't be restored. This way, parents can be confident that messages they delete from their children's accounts stay deleted.

If contacts have been deleted, you might be able to restore them