4 Signs Your Microsoft Account Is Hacked – And What To Do

Having any of your online accounts hacked can be a stressful event, difficult to deal with and with potentially dangerous effects. But in the case of your Microsoft account, this is particularly the case. Microsoft accounts include everything from email to Xbox and are just stuffed with valuable personal information, from contacts lists to passwords or even banking information. This makes them attractive to hackers — and also means that if criminals do get access, they can cause real havoc. We look at the signs that your Microsoft account has been hacked, and the steps you should take to fix things and stay safe in future.

Is Your Microsoft Account Compromised?

Microsoft has strong account security, but it can still be bypassed. Hackers may have installed malware on your device or accessed your password, perhaps through a data breach or because it's common and easy to guess.

There are a number of signs that your Microsoft account may have been hacked, most of which are pretty easy to spot. The clearest is probably a notification from the company itself about potentially suspicious activity, for example a log-in from a new location. Other signs of a compromised account include strange activity, such as emails you didn't write being sent from your account, or changes to your profile information. You may also see changes to your mail forwarding settings.

Sign 1: Notification

Microsoft learns how you usually sign in to your account, and will flag events that look out of character. This means that you may receive an email about unusual activity on your account, such as a log-in from a new location.

You can check to see when and where your account has been accessed—including successful sign-ins and security challenges—on the recent activity page. Beware, though, of scam emails telling you that you've been hacked — this is a very common tactic designed to try and wheedle personal information out of you: Microsoft will never ask you for your password. If in doubt, contact Microsoft support directly.

Sign 2: Unusual Activity

One common sign that a Microsoft account has been hacked is strange activity, such as emails being sent that you didn't write, or others being deleted.

This is a sign that the hackers are using your account, probably to try and scam others into giving away their personal information too. Check your Sent and Trash folders to see whether there's been any unauthorized activity on your account.

Sign 3: Profile Changes

If you notice that your profile information has been changed, for example with a new name or phone number, that's a sure-fire sign that your account has been hacked.

Similarly, you may notice that multi-factor authentication (MFA) has been turned off when it was previously enabled, allowing the attackers to carry on using your account.

Sign 4: Changes In Mail Forwarding Settings

Fraudsters will often use a compromised email account to try and access the user's contacts, moving on to scam them too. To make this possible, they may set up new mail forwarding settings, to get emails sent to their account instead of yours.

You can check whether this has happened — and turn mail forwarding off if it has — by going to Settings, Forwarding and Disable Forwarding, then clicking Save Changes.

What Should You Do If Your Microsoft Account Is Hacked?

If you realize that your Microsoft account has been hacked, it's important to move quickly to minimize the amount of disruption caused.

You should run a virus scan to make sure your device is clean. The next step is to change your Microsoft password — picking something strong — and then enable multi-factor authentication to make sure the hackers can't just change it straight back. Make sure your contact information is correct, and that all your settings are what they should be. If you have any third-party apps connected to your Microsoft account, you should check if they've been compromised too. Finally, it's a good idea to warn any contacts that you've been hacked, and ask them to disregard any odd-seeming messages.

Step 1: Run A Virus Scan

If the hackers have gained access to your Microsoft account by installing malware on your device, you'll need to get rid of this before anything else.

You should run a virus scan to make sure your device is clean — there are plenty of options on the market, free or paid-for, that will do the job. The software should remove anything dodgy. You should also set the package up to run regular scans in future.

Step 2: Change Your Password

If you think your account has been hacked, it's really important to you change your password and update security settings. You can do that on the Security settings page.

You'll need to provide your email address, phone number, or Skype name, after which you'll be sent a code allowing you to reset your password. You can request the code via either email address or text. Make sure you pick a good, strong password, including lower- and upper-case letters, numbers and special characters, that you haven't used elsewhere.

Step 3: Enable Multi-Factor Authentication

It's a good idea to enable multi-factor authentication on any of your online accounts. It means you have to provide more than one form of identification to log in, dramatically increasing security.

In the case of a Microsoft account, this means getting a security code sent to your email, phone, or authenticator app every time you sign in on a device that hasn't been listed as trusted. You'll always need two forms of identification — making it risky if you forget one. Microsoft recommends that you have three pieces of security info associated with your account, just in case. You can turn on multi-factor authentication here.

Step 4: Check Your Account Settings

You should make sure that your contact information is correct, such as your phone number and email address. Check your settings, such as mail forwarding and autoreplies too.

And if you have any third-party apps connected to your Microsoft account, you should check if they've been compromised too and secure them if not. While you're at it, consider whether you really need them at all.

Step 5: Warn Your Contacts

Once hackers successfully compromise an account, they'll use is as a springboard for going after others, spreading malware or spam.

This means that your contacts may start receiving spammy messages, or phishing attempts, such as links apparently sent by you but in fact leading to unsafe websites. It's a good idea to message everyone on your contacts list warning them to be on the lookout, and to delete anything that isn't clearly legitimate.

How Can You Recover Your Microsoft Account?

You may find that hackers have changed your log-in information and that you can't access your account. In this case, you may need Microsoft's help.

There's a page, here, where you can be guided through recovering your account, providing your email address or phone number and then verifying your identity. You'll be given guidance on how to fix the problem yourself, or the chance to talk to an agent. As long as you can still access the email address or phone number you used to set up the account, you shouldn't lose access permanently.

How Can You Protect Your Microsoft Account From Hackers?

Keeping your Microsoft account safe from hackers is a question of basic best practice. You should make sure you have a strong password that you don't use anywhere else and consider using a password manager for safe storage.

You should enable multi-factor authentication, if you haven't already, perhaps along with the Microsoft Authenticator phone app. And make sure you keep your operating system up to date, installing all the latest updates, and have an up-to-date anti-virus package too. And keep your eye on the ball, looking out for any unusual activity or device sign-ins that you don't recognize.

Bottom Line

Your Microsoft account is probably a crucial part of your life, and experiencing a hack can be an extremely disruptive experience. But if it does happen, it's usually fairly straightforward to fix — and there are measures you can take to keep your account safe in future.