change a recovery email address that has been disabled

Hello, thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A.

Does he have any other verification methods available to confirm his identity, such as a recovery phone number or an Authenticator app, if those were set up previously? If yes, ask him to sign in with his account here to replace the verification methods - https://account.live.com/names/manage

Microsoft always recommends that users have at least three verification methods on their account. This way, if one method is disabled or fails, you can use another method to verify your identity.

If he no longer has any verification methods besides the recovery email address, and that email is inactive, then on the Verify your identity screen, select “I don’t have any of these” and follow the prompts to replace the security information.

Note: If you remove all of your previous security information and replace it with new information, your account will be placed in a restricted state for 30 days.

To change a Microsoft account recovery (alias) email address that is no longer usable, update the aliases on the Microsoft account, then update any security verification methods that use that email.

1. Go to the Microsoft account “Your info” page: https://account.live.com/names/manage and sign in with the existing Microsoft account.
2. Under account info, choose Add email.
3. Add a new email address (or an existing one not already tied to another Microsoft account).
4. After adding it, select Remove next to the old, disabled email address if it is listed as an alias and no longer needed.
5. If the disabled address was the primary alias, first set another alias as primary:
   • Go to Manage how you sign in to your account (same account management area).
   • Under Account username, select Make primary next to the new email address.
   • Then select Remove next to the old primary alias if desired.

If the disabled email is used as a security verification method (for codes):

1. Sign in to the Microsoft account’s security info page (for work/school accounts, go to the My Account page and then Security info).
2. Select Add method and choose Email, then enter the new email address and verify it with the code sent there.
3. After the new email is added and verified, select Delete next to the old email method to remove it from security info.

Note:

• Verification codes sent by email can only go to the primary alias or another email added as a verification method.
• If sign-in is not possible because recovery options are failing, use the account recovery form at https://account.live.com/password/reset and, once access is restored, follow the steps above to update aliases and security info.

References:

• Change the email address or phone number for your Microsoft account
• Add or remove an email alias in Outlook.com
• Set up an email address as your verification method
• My username and password have stopped working