Having an Outlook account is a must if you want to organize your work life in the most professional way. When you create an Outlook account, you get a lot of amazing features that are enough to give Gmail a tough competition. However, just like any other email service, Outlook has its own share of issues.
Today, we will discuss one such prevalent issue i.e. Outlook or Hotmail sign in problem.
Whenever there is an Outlook login error, you will see the following message on the screen
“something went wrong and we can’t sign you in right now. please try again later.”
Before we jump onto the solutions or fixes, let’s know what causes the Outlook sign-in problems.
- The username or password you have entered is incorrect.
- The caches, cookies, or junk files are creating the issue.
- The browser has gone outdated or is incompatible.
- The servers at Outlook are not doing fine.
- Network Issue
- Issues related to Java Script
Primary Troubleshooting
There are some quick-fixes that you need to apply to check if that helps or else proceed towards advanced troubleshooting if you still can’t access outlook email.
- Begin by making sure that you are entering the right and correct Outlook login details.
- Update the JavaScript
- Clear all the caches, cookies, and history of your web browser and then try to login again.
- Reset the web browser to its default settings
- Try to login to Outlook using the mobile app.
- Also, make sure your device is getting adequate signal strength.
Advanced Troubleshooting
After following the above steps, if the Hotmail login is still not working, there can be several other reasons that you can try to fix using the tips given below:
- Check Outlook’s Server Status
- Re-Check the Autofill Settings
- Change Alias
- Go to the link- https://account.microsoft.com/profile/ and then click on the ‘Info’ section.
- Click on the option ‘Manage How you Sign into Microsoft Account’.
- Complete the verification process
- Next, type in your username and select Outlook.com and then click on ‘Add Alias’.
- Select your Outlook email account and then set it as primary.
- Verify the System’s Security Settings
- Modify the Network or DNS Settings
- Reset the Password
- Go to the Microsoft’s Account Reset page.
- Enter the username or email of your Outlook account and hit ‘Next’.
- Enter the characters you see on screen and click on ‘Next’.
- You can select out of alternate email address or phone number to receive the verification code and reset your password by following the on-screen instructions.
- Update the App
- Check the Outlook Account Configuration
- IMAP Server- imap.outlook.com
- Port No- 993
- POP Server- pop.outlook.com
- Port No- 995
- SMTP Server- smtp.outlook.com
- Port No- 465 or 25
Most of the time when you see the message ‘something went wrong’ with Outlook, the issue is with its server. At times, Outlook servers are under maintenance or they are adding some updates due to which you are not able to get through the Outlook login process.
So make sure to first check the Hotmail service status and if you see it down, wait till everything gets back to normal again. You can always check the Outlook’s server status by visiting the following link- https://portal.office.com/servicestatus
Most of the Outlook users sign in to their account using the ‘auto sign-in’ feature provided by the browser. The auto sign-in feature saves the login details that you allow it to so that the next time you try to log in, you will not have to go through the hassle of entering the password.
However, if you have recently changed or reset your Outlook password, you will be required to update the auto-fill settings otherwise it will keep using the outdated information and you will face trouble signing into Outlook or Hotmail. So if this is the case, you can try to login by entering the details manually.
If you are facing an error while signing in to your Hotmail account, you can try to fix it by changing it to Outlook.
Sign out and then try to sign in again using the Outlook alias.
The firewall or antivirus installed on your device can often create issues making it difficult to log in to your Hotmail/Outlook account. So to know if antivirus is the culprit, you can disable it temporarily and check if you can log in. If you still can’t sign in to Outlook, proceed to the next step.
If you can’t log in to outlook on a browser, there can be an issue with the browser you are currently using. One of the reasons this happens is your computer is not getting connected with the Outlook server probably due to the DNS server issue. This can be fixed if you replace the DNS server settings, and then reboot your computer.
It is possible that someone else has got access to your Outlook account and that could be the reason you are facing trouble while logging in. In such a situation, the only way out left is you can simply reset the password of your Hotmail or Outlook account as follows:
Fixing Can’t Sign in to Outlook on iPhone or Android
If Outlook is not letting you sign in on a mobile device such as Android or iPhone, the fixes will be a bit different; try the following tips:
Outlook offers an app for mobile devices to use their email services. However, to make it work at its best, you need to update it every often.
So if you have started facing sign-in issues, you can check if an update is available for the Outlook Mail app and once you have installed the latest version, try to login again.
To configure your Outlook account on your mobile properly, you need to enter the correct settings as follows:
You can also use this troubleshooting guide to fix the ‘Microsoft Outlook cannot be started error’