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I've forgotten the answer to my MSN Hotmail secret question, *and* my password, what do I do?

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So far I've covered how to change your Hotmail password, and how to change your Hotmail password if you've forgotten it. The last one involves knowing the answer to a "secret question" that you set up when you created your Hotmail account.

But what if you forget that too?

MSN Hotmail actually has three ways to recover your password if you've lost it, but they all require that you have set them up before you run into trouble. They are all simply techniques to assure that you are who you say you are, and not someone trying to hack your account. They are:

  • A secret question to which only you would know the answer. Common questions are things like the city you were born in, your first job, or your mother's maiden name.
  • An alternate email address. If you have another email account somewhere other than Hotmail, you can configure your Hotmail with the email address of another account. Hotmail can then send your password reset to that other account when you can retrieve it. Remember that you must configure this account before you run into trouble - if you can't sign in, you can't configure the alternate email address.
  • Billing information from another MSN service. If you've paid for a premium service from MSN, such as perhaps the MSN Gaming Zone, one of the password recovery options is to provide your billing information again to confirm that you are indeed you.

So what happens if none of those work?

  • You've never used a premium service, so there is no billing information to compare with.
  • You never set up an alternate email address.
  • You've forgotten the answer to your secret question.

In short: you are out of luck. Your password cannot be recovered, and you cannot access the contents of your Hotmail account.

And to be extra clear: I cannot recover your password for you.

My suggestion is simple: open up a new mail account, and learn a lesson from everything you've just lost. Configure an alternate email address, or make sure to choose a secret question whose answer you will remember.

Or move to a paid email service with real customer support.

A special note about third party so-called Hotmail password recovery services: most are scams. I've not seen a legitimate one yet, and I would avoid them at all costs.

Related:

Article 8507 | Posted May 28, 2005

Recent Comments

I've forgotten the answer to my MSN Hotmail secret question, *and* my password, what do I do?
and i wanne tell you that i know all my information which i type it when i do that account and also remember alot of e-mailes which i add it 2 my account , also know the name of my file which i creat it in my account

Posted by: amgad at August 31, 2005 02:00 PM

Hello
My name is Dani and i forget my password
of this email : dannii_14@hotmail.com
so can you help me to return my password?
if you want to help me send to me the way
or the password of my msn : someonespecail63@hotmail.com
i hope to help me
see you

Posted by: Dani at August 31, 2005 09:09 PM

Please help me I am Frustated at this moment!
I have forgotten my password, and when I try to resset it I need the anwear to my secret question that I can't remember.
Thank U

Posted by: Marilu Reyna at August 31, 2005 10:55 PM

I am sorry I forgot my alternate email mreyna@bgserve.com

Posted by: Marilu Reyna at August 31, 2005 10:57 PM

hay i get log on my secret question has changed and i cant remember my password HELP PLZ thnx x

Posted by: leanne at September 1, 2005 08:01 AM

please sent me the answer to my MSN Hotmail secret question, *and* my password at the following email i gave u.

Posted by: sally dayanna at September 2, 2005 12:23 PM

ive forgot my secret questions anserw and i want to change the question but i dont know how help me

Posted by: sheldon martin at September 3, 2005 09:39 AM

hi i'm fadil can you find pasword of this e-mail
big_danny_8@hotmail.com

Posted by: fadil at September 4, 2005 11:15 AM

I do not remember my passwords and secret question
please tell me how to i recover my passwords
thank u

Posted by: Prativa at September 5, 2005 05:45 AM

I'm closing comments here because people are asking the same questions over and over.

1) PLEASE READ THE ARTICLE - it answers many questions that people keep asking.

2) PLEASE READ THE RELATED ARTICLES - they answer many more questions that people keep asking.

3) I CANNOT GET YOUR ACCOUNT OR PASSWORD BACK FOR YOU.

Posted by: Leo at September 5, 2005 08:37 AM

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