Why do I need to add security info?

Watch a video about why security info is important and how to add it to your Microsoft account. (To view captions in your language, tap or click the Closed captioning button

To help protect your personal data, we're asking everyone with a Microsoft account to make sure the security info associated with their account is correct and up-to-date. When your security info (like an alternate email address or phone number) is current, we can use it to verify your identity if there's ever a problem. For example, if you forget your password, or if someone else tries to take over your account, Microsoft uses your security info to help you get back into your account.

Important

When you see a message asking you to update or verify your security info, you have seven days to comply. If you don't do so within that time, Microsoft will lock your account to help protect it; you won't be able to sign in again until you've verified up-to-date security info.

How does Microsoft use my security info?

When you access your account, we want to make sure it’s you who is making any changes. We’ll send a one-time security code to the phone number or email address you’ve provided. When you enter the code we sent you, we’ll know it’s really you.

For this reason, it's important that you use a real phone number and email address for your alternate contact info. We'll never use this info to spam you or for any marketing purposes—it's only to verify your identity if there's ever a problem with your account.

If you change your account info frequently, you might want to set up a trusted device (like the PC you sign in to most frequently), so that you don't need to enter a security code every time you make a change. For more info, see What is a trusted device?

Or, if you sign in frequently on devices that aren't trusted (like a public or shared PC), we recommend that you set up two-step verification to keep your account more secure. Two-step verification will always prompt you for a security code in addition to your password. If you decide to turn on two-step verification, it's especially important that your alternate contact info is valid, because you'll need it to get your security codes. For more info, see Two-step verification: FAQ.

To get started with adding account security info, follow these steps:

Sign in to your Microsoft account.
On your account page, under Password and security info, tap or click Edit security info.
If you're prompted to enter a security code, check your alternate email or phone for the code from the Microsoft account team.

Note

If you're having problems receiving your security code via text message, try the option to recieve an automated phone call instead.

Show all

To add a phone number to your account

We can send a security code to your phone by text, or in an automated voice message. You can have one or more phone numbers associated with your account.

On the Security info page, under Phone number, tap or click Add.
Select your country code.
Enter your phone number.
Choose how you want to verify that phone number, either through an automated voice call or a text message, and then tap or click Next.
Check your phone for the verification code, enter it, and then tap or click Next.
The phone number you added appears in your account security info.

To add an alternate email address to your account

We can send a security code to your alternate email address. You can have one or more alternate email addresses associated with your account.

On the Security info page, under Alternate email address, tap or click Add.
Enter the email address, and then tap or click Next.
Check your alternate email for the verification code, enter it, and then tap or click Next.

The email address you added appears in your account security info.

To add a security question and answer to your account

The answer to the question you've chosen helps us verify your identity. You can only have one security question at a time, but you can change it whenever you want.

On the Security info page, under Security question, tap or click Add.
Select a security question.
Type your answer to the security question. Your secret answer must be at least five characters in length. It's not case-sensitive.
Tap or click Save.