Recover your Hotmail password with an Alternate Email Address
This password "how to" will help you answer the question "how can I reset my Hotmail password and recover my Hotmail account?".
If you forget your Windows Live Hotmail password you may be stuck at this screen:
Hotmail won't allow you to recover a lost password - they won't tell you what your password was - but once you prove you're the account holder, you'll be able to create a new password and recover your Hotmail account.
Click on the "Forgot your password?" link to regain access to your account.
You'll first have fill in a CAPTCHA - type the characters - to prove that you're not a machine:
This minor annoyance is used to prevent computer programs from trying to use this method to hack into accounts. Enter the text you see into the "Characters" field, and press "Continue".
Once you've proven your human you'll be take to a choice of how you would like to reset your password.
If you choose reset by email, you then may be given a choice of which email address to use:
You can choose to have the password reset sent to your actual Hotmail account. This is only useful if you are logged in somewhere, and simply need to reset your password.
In the more common case you can't login because you don't recall your password, and so would choose to have the password reset email sent to your alternate email address.
Once you click OK, you'll get the message above:
Password reset instructions sent
Password reset instructions were sent to your alternate e-mail address.
If you don't see the e-mail message in your inbox, look for it in your junk mail folder or check your e-mail again later.
Check email at your alternate email address. Eventually you'll get an email message that begins like this:
Hello, ********:
We received your request to reset your Windows Live password. To confirm your request and reset your password, follow the instructions below. Confirming your request helps prevent unauthorized access to your account.
If you didn't request that your password be reset, please follow the instructions below to cancel your request.
CONFIRM REQUEST AND RESET PASSWORD
1. Copy the following web address:
https://accountservices.msn.com/EmailPa...
IMPORTANT: Because fraudulent ("phishing") e-mail often uses misleading links, Microsoft recommends that you do not click links in e-mail, but instead copy and paste them into your browsers, as described above.
2. Open your web browser, paste the link in the address bar, and then press ENTER.
3. Follow the instructions on the web page that opens.
...
After copy/pasting that link to your browser, you'll be taken to this page:
You'll need to once again enter the Windows Live Hotmail email address for which you've forgotten your password, and then choose a new password. Make sure to choose a good, strong password that you won't forget.
You can now login to your Windows Live Hotmail account using your newly reset password.