Locked out of your Microsoft 365 or Office 365 work account?

01 · “Your account is temporarily locked”? Try this first.

If the sign-in page shows this message, it is a smart lockout:

Your account is temporarily locked to prevent unauthorized use. Try again later, and if you still have trouble, contact your admin.

A smart lockout clears on its own.

1. Stop signing in and wait a few minutes. By default the first lock lasts one minute after 10 wrong passwords. Each lock after that is longer, and Microsoft does not say by how much.
2. Go to the Microsoft 365 sign-in page, enter your work email and type your password once, slowly. A correct password does not work while the lock is still on, and every wrong try after it locks you again for longer.
3. When you reach your Microsoft 365 home page, or a prompt to approve the sign-in, you are back in.

A message that your password is wrong is not a lockout. Check Caps Lock and try again once, or go to step 02.

02 · Reset your password at aka.ms/sspr.

Use this if waiting did not work or you do not know the password. Microsoft says this route clears the lock straight away.

1. Open aka.ms/sspr in any browser.
2. Enter your work email and the characters shown, then select Next.
3. Choose I forgot my password, even if you think you remember it. I know my password leaves the lock timer running.
4. Verify with a method you registered earlier, such as an Authenticator notification or code, an email or a text, then set a new password.

Afterwards you get an email saying your password was reset, and you can sign in with the new one. If the page will not let you reset, your organisation has not turned on self-service reset, or you never registered a verification method. Go to step 04.

03 · Check your sign-in method.

If your password is accepted but you are stuck on the verification page, this is a sign-in method problem and not a lockout.

1. Open the Microsoft Authenticator app on your phone and enter the code it shows for your work account.
2. If no notification arrives, select Sign in another way on the Two-step verification page and pick a different method.
3. Once you are in, open mysignins.microsoft.com/security-info and add a second method so this does not happen again.

If there is no Sign in another way link, you have no other method registered. Your admin has to help, so go to step 04.

04 · Ask your admin to unlock you.

Your admin is whoever runs Microsoft 365 for your business, or your IT provider. They need one of the password-reset roles listed in the FAQ. Send them these steps:

1. Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center at admin.cloud.microsoft.
2. Go to Users > Active users and select the locked-out person.
3. Select Reset password, choose to autogenerate a password, and select Reset password again. Microsoft says an admin can unlock a smart-locked account this way without waiting.
4. Give the temporary password to the person in person or by phone. The admin center no longer emails passwords.

If the account shows as blocked and not locked, the admin selects Block sign-in on the same user, clears Block this user from signing in and selects Save changes.

If you are stuck on verification with no other method, the admin can open your user in the Microsoft Entra admin center, go to Authentication methods and add a method or require you to register again. That needs the Authentication Administrator role or higher.

05 · If you are the only admin.

Nobody else can reset your password, so try these in order.

1. Go to aka.ms/sspr and follow step 02. Admin accounts have self-service reset on by default, but Microsoft requires two verification methods, such as an email address, the Authenticator app or a phone number. It fails if your organisation turned it off for admins or you registered fewer than two methods.
2. Contact Microsoft support. In Australia, call Microsoft for Business on 13 20 58 and choose option 2. If you cannot sign in to the admin center, use Microsoft’s general support page. Microsoft’s support route needs a subscription bought directly from Microsoft, so if a reseller sold you the subscription, start with them. Check Microsoft’s current contact options. This is Microsoft’s number, not KoalaFix support.
3. Say you are the only Microsoft 365 administrator and cannot sign in. Have your company name, tenant domain, admin address, the exact error and a reachable alternative email ready, and ask about administrator account recovery.

Never share your password or verification codes with an unsolicited caller.

06 · Or let KoalaFix do it.

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07 · Still stuck?

When none of this works, it is not your PC. It is usually an admin setting, a licence or account problem, or a Microsoft outage. If other people are locked out too, check status.cloud.microsoft for known sign-in issues.

08 · FAQ.

Why does my account lock again after I reset the password?

Something is still sending the old password for you, usually a phone’s mail app, a second computer, or an app that saved your login before the change. Each silent retry counts as a failed sign-in. Update the saved password on those devices, or remove and re-add the account.

Does a lockout mean someone is trying to break in?

Sometimes. Smart lockout keeps separate counters for sign-ins from places you usually use and places you don’t, so an attacker’s guesses can lock them out while you still get in. If your account locks and you have not mistyped anything, tell your admin and change your password.

Which admin role can reset my password?

Password Administrator, Helpdesk Administrator, User Administrator and Global Administrator can all reset a normal user’s password. Resetting another admin’s password needs Global Administrator or Privileged Authentication Administrator.

Is a Microsoft 365 account the same as an Office 365 account?

Yes. Microsoft renamed its Office 365 business plans to Microsoft 365, so your work account is the same account under either name. A personal Microsoft account, such as an Outlook.com or Hotmail address, is different, and these steps are for work and school accounts.

09 · Related fixes.

• Outlook keeps asking for a password
• Can't find a file in SharePoint or OneDrive
• Teams won't open

10 · What KoalaFix can handle.

See the full capability map for what KoalaFix fixes automatically, what asks for approval, and what still needs a person.

11 · Sources.

The steps in this guide follow these pages. Menus can move when Microsoft updates its apps, so check them if a step looks different.

• Prevent attacks using smart lockout (Microsoft Learn)
• Reset your work or school account password using security info (Microsoft Support)
• Reset passwords in the Microsoft 365 admin center (Microsoft Learn)