Tech Tips

Outlook Mail “Your account has been temporarily suspended”

Microsoft Outlook is very strict in keeping its products and services up to its policies. If Microsoft finds any suspicious and unusual activity on Windows Live! the account then it will strike out the access to the service. To help protect your account from fraud or abuse, Microsoft Hotmail might temporarily suspend your account. The access may be blocked for a temporary period until the account is verified using a code.

The following activities may lock down your account which may last from a minute to 24 hours depending on the behavior of your account usage detected by the system.

  • Receiving, deleting, or downloading large amounts of mail via POP or IMAP in a short period of time.
  • Sending a large number of un-delivering messages
  • Account access to third-party apps causing misleading activities without your concern
  • Using Windows Live at many locations.

How to Unblock your Locked Microsoft Account?

Method I

  1. Log in to your suspended Microsoft account.
  2. When prompted enter any phone number to receive the security code. The phone number may not necessarily be the one registered with the account.
  3. After you enter the security code you received on your phone, you’ll need to change your password to complete the unlocking process.
  4. Make sure you enter a unique and strong password.

    Microsoft Security Code in body of message

Method II

Actually, every time you sign in to your account, cookie data is taken up by the MSN Hotmail and is stored on its servers. These cookies and cache data help for further references for log-in. But when you enter incorrect password cookies undergo deletion and when the limit number of attempts are crossed the cookies expire. Thus locking your account.

You can access your locked Windows Live Hotmail the account just by signing in using a different Microsoft server. These servers do not have any knowledge of cookies expiration and lock on your account hence can be used for login. New servers are fresh and thus, you can view and access your account.

Method III

  • Remove IMAP and POP settings made from your email software.
  • Close all open Gmail instances in your devices and browsers
  • Revoke access to third-party apps and software
  • Remove all the browser extensions.
  • Clear cache of your browser and Log-in again

Note & Conclusion: 

I hope you were able to unblock your temporary suspension by these methods. If they don’t work you have no other option then waiting for 24 -36 hours. If the waiting period doesn’t work then drop your problem with Microsoft Outlook.

Please comment below for any assistance, query or suggestions.

This post was last modified on December 16, 2019 11:17 am

View Comments

  • I get this message
    Account temporarily suspended
    Applies to: Microsoft account
    If you tried to sign in to your account and received a message that it's
    temporarily suspended, that's because activity associated with your account
    might violate our Terms of Use. We know that having your account suspended
    can be frustrating, and we apologize for the inconvenience, but it’s an
    important tool to help us protect all our customers, including you.
    To contact support and receive updates from them, you'll need to sign in to a
    valid Microsoft account other than the one that’s blocked. A valid Microsoft
    account includes any accounts for services like Windows Phone, Xbox LIVE,
    OneDrive, or Outlook.com. If you don't have another Microsoft account, you
    can create a temporary account.
    After you sign in, you can contact support by entering some info into an
    online form. When we receive your info, the system will send you an email
    with a ticket tracking number. A Microsoft customer service representative will
    contact you via email within 24 hours, either with instructions on how to get
    back into your account, or requesting further info. You’ll get further emails
    with updates until your account is restored.
    I dont know when they will restore my account
    This is embarassing

    • Rajesh Ravi says:

      same for me too.. How long we have to wait to get back into our account.

  • Also locked out of my outlook account. Had it for one day and it suspended it b/c I "violated the terms of agreement." By communicating with my family members? I will be using any other service not associated with microsoft from now on.

    Microsoft is reading your emails. They are NOT PRIVATE.

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