11 Quick Work Arounds to Try When Outlook Won’t Let You Sign-In

Well, Outlook has a very long history of known issues that its users encounter every now and then especially when trying to access its web service. In fact, out of a long list of most common Outlook sign-in issues, some users who’re running email accounts on MS Office have repeatedly seen reporting a specific issue i.e., “Outlook.com something went wrong”— that results in user’s inability to log-in to their respective Outlook email accounts. 

So, if you’re also the one sort of a user who’ve recently encountered the aforementioned error while trying to connect to your Outlook email account and now looking for its quick workarounds, then you’re reading the absolute right blog! 

Here, we’ve mentioned a total of 11 straightforward solutions that you can definitely try to resolve the encountered Outlook mail sign-in issue for getting back access to your Outlook email account. They are as follows—

List of 11 Easy Solutions for “Can’t log-in to Outlook.com” Issue

Check Server Status of Microsoft

Ensure Proper Network Connection

Optimize your Web Browser via Clearing its Cache, Cookies and History

Update your Web Browser

Uninstall and Reinstall Web Browser

Ensure Cookies are Enabled

Try Accessing Outlook Using Another Web Browser

Disable Auto-Sign in Feature

Check the Antivirus and Disable It Temporarily

Reset Password of your Outlook/Hotmail Account

Use Outlook/Hotmail App

Now, let’s discuss all these listed solutions one by one in more detail so that you’ll be able to decide which solution works best for you in helping resolve the “Can’t log in to Outlook” issue. 

Solution 1: Check Server Status of Microsoft

Microsoft’s server is the first thing that you should check whenever you encounter such issues where you can’t connect to your Outlook.com email account. Even a minor server outage can create problems in the smooth functioning of Outlook service. So, to make yourself sure “Is Outlook down today or not,” visit this Microsoft’s Service Status Page. 

There, you’ll see the current status of various Microsoft’s services including Outlook.com. Well, if there’s a “Green Tick-Mark” in the current status bar of Outlook.com service then, it means everything is up and running fine. However, if you’ll notice a “Red-cross Mark” instead of a green one then, it means there’s actually a problem with Microsoft’s Outlook server and you’ve to wait until the problem with the same gets resolved automatically by Microsoft itself. Once the problem is resolved, you can try login to your Outlook.com email account to ensure whether the problem has now been resolved or not!

Solution 2: Ensure Proper Network Connectivity

When you attempt to login to your Outlook/Hotmail account but instead receive this message “Outlook something went wrong” then, it indicates that the issue is usually related to Internet connectivity problems and timeouts. Basically, if Outlook cannot detect a working internet connection to use on your device that you’re using to sign-in to your Outlook email account then, most probably it will not accept the login credentials of your account to let you sign-in to the same. 

Therefore, you should also check whether your device is properly connected to a strong network connection or not. If not then, you can either connect to a new strong and stable connection or contact the technical support department of your (ISP) Internet service provider to have a representative troubleshoot your network connection issue.

Solution 3: Optimize Your Web Browser via Clearing Its History Cache, and Cookies

If you’re unable to access your account on Outlook.com then, the culprit might be your browser. Well, because it collects and stores a lot of history, cookies and cache that may stop you from signing into your Outlook.com account. So, considering it as a possible culprit behind the occurrence of Outlook login issue, make sure you optimize your browser via following these instructions—

• Open your web browser that you regularly use to log-in to your Outlook email account.
• Then, click on its “Menu Icon” which is available in the upper-right corner of your browser’s homepage screen.
• Doing so, a drop-down menu will appear on the screen and out of all the options, you’ve to select “Settings.”

• Once you select the same, you’ll be navigated onto a new page and there, click on “Privacy and Security” option available on the left column to further select “Clear Browsing Data.”

• Alternatively, you can reach here directly by pressing “Ctrl + H” shortcut together from your keyboard and selecting the aforementioned “Clear Browsing Data” option.

• Afterwards, make sure you set the “Time Range to All Time” and at the same time, have selected all the items in the ‘Advanced’ category.
• Once you’re done, simply click on the “Clear Data” button to delete history, cache and cookies of all time.

Now, try logging to your Outlook.com email account to ensure if the encountered issue has been resolved and you’re able to access your account or not!

[Note: It is recommended that you must clear your browser’s cache, cookies and history data on a timely basis to avoid one sort of possibility of receiving such kind of Outlook login error in the future.]

Solution 4: Update your Web Browser

If you’re using an old version of your browser or if it’s not updated to the latest version then, without any doubt you can make a guess that this is one of the prominent reasons why you’re encountering the “can’t log-into MS Outlook email account” issue. Albeit, your browser gets updated automatically in most cases, but you need to keep a check on the same because sometimes you need to do it manually.  

However, have no idea of how to update a browser manually then, worry not! Here’re the steps of manually updating Google Chrome browser as it’s one of the most preferred browser—

• Firstly, click on the “Gear Icon” of your browser which is there in the top-right corner.
• In doing so, the menu of your browser will expand and from it, you need to go to the “Help” section.
• In continuation, choose the available option i.e., “About Google Chrome.”

• After that, a new page appears on the screen from where you’ll see the status of your respective browser’s update.
• There, if you’ll see no update then, it means your browser is updated to the latest version and is not outdated. On the contrary, if there’s an update available then, your browser will check for the same and download it automatically on your O.S.
• In the end, just hit the ‘Relaunch’ button to finish updating.

Now, using the recently updated web browser, try logging to your Outlook.com email account to hopefully access the same without any further trouble.

Solution 5: Try Accessing Outlook Using another Web Browser

However, while using the same regular-used browser, if you’re still getting “Something went wrong with Outlook and we can’t sign you in right now” message then, maybe you should temporarily consider using a different web browser like Firefox and Internet Explorer. In doing so, you’ll be able to ensure whether the problem appears only in your current browser or not. If that will be the case then, you must consider executing the next given solution. 

Solution 6: Uninstall and Reinstall Web Browser

Quite possibly, if something’s wrong with your respective browser like in case if it has some corrupted file then, chances of won’t be able to log into your Outlook account will remain the same. However, do not worry about the same because several users reported that uninstalling and then reinstalling a browser have worked in their favor. So, in order to fix the issue, you can also try doing the same using an uninstaller software like Revo Uninstaller. This process of completely removing and doing a fresh installation of your respective browser will remove all its possible corrupted files & registry entries that are although hard to delete. 

Most probably, as a result of the same, your newly re-installed browser won’t interfere again or create a blockade in your attempt to connect to your Outlook email account.

Solution 7: Ensure Cookies for Microsoft Outlook Are Enabled!

Well, in case you don’t know, let’s tell you that many websites like Microsoft or Outlook rely on cookies to work properly and thus, if you’ve blocked or disabled cookies from being used by Microsoft or Outlook then, chances of encountering such issues are quite high. So, you need to definitely ensure whether cookies for Outlook or Microsoft are enabled and if not then, here’s how you can enable the same—

• To ensure the same, first open your web browser and click on the “Three-vertical dots” to open its “Menu.”
• From the same, click on “Settings” option to reach onto your browser’s settings page.
• Once you reach there, scroll down till you locate the “Privacy and Security” option in the left column.
• Then, click on the same to expand it further for selecting “Site Settings” option.

• After that, again scroll down to reach onto the “Content” section and from there, click on “Cookies and Site Data.”

• Under the same, click on “Add” in front of the option that reads—‘Sites that can always use Cookies.”

• Once you click on the add option, a pop-up box will appear on the screen and you’ve to paste the URLs of both Microsoft and Outlook.com inside it.
• In the end, hit the “Add” button to save the recently made changes and now, check if that helps!

Solution 8: Disable Auto-Sign in Feature

If you’ve enabled the auto-sign in settings on your browser for letting it automatically enter your Outlook’s email address and password every time you log in to your account then, you need to understand that this can also create trouble if you’ve changed your email account password and haven’t updated the setting regarding the same. Every time you attempt to log in to your Outlook account, your browser will keep on auto-filling the old password only until the time you realize that auto-fill setting requires you to manually enter the new password first whenever you change it.

So, considering this scenario as a possibility of why you’re receiving “trouble signing into your Outlook.com account,” we suggest you disable the ‘Auto Sign-in’ setting of your browser and attempt login to your Outlook email account via manually entering its password and username.

Solution 9: Check the Antivirus and Disable It Temporarily

Well, the available Antivirus on your device and its Firewall settings could also block, interfere, create obstacles and prevent you from accessing your Outlook account. So, check your antivirus and its settings to assure yourself that Outlook and similar email websites are not blocked by the same. You can do a simple test of temporarily disabling your antivirus and then, try logging to your Outlook/Hotmail account. If you succeed accessing your account then, it simply means your antivirus was the culprit and you’ve to then remove it completely from your device to switch to a different antivirus. 

On the contrary, if you’re not succeeded then, it means the problem is related to something else and to fix the same, you’ve to try the next given solution.

Solution 10: Reset Outlook.com Password

Even if you’re sure about your Outlook account’s current password still, resetting it will help you troubleshoot the encountered trouble and let you access your account easily. Wondering why? Well, despite the fact that you remember your password, you never know if someone has got access to your account and changed it, right! So, it’s better to reset your Outlook account password and regain access to it without further wasting your time in guessing the potential cause and its respective solution.

[Note: You can also consider this solution to connect to your Outlook email account, when you no longer remember your account password due to any sort of reason like your busy and hectic schedule.]

Also, in addition to the same, it is recommended that you should change your Outlook password at regular intervals of every 30, 60 or 90 days to secure your account from increasing incidents of data breaches. 

Solution 11: Use Outlook/Hotmail Desktop Email Client or App

Last but not least, if you still can’t log in to your Outlook email account on web, consider using Outlook’s desktop email client program to access your account. Well, with the increase of error and issues on the webmail platform, a significant number of Outlook users are now using ‘MS Outlook’s desktop email client program. The same will help you in accessing and managing your Outlook email account without facing any errors, especially the ones that you encounter on Outlook’s webmail service.

That’s all! Hope using any of these given 11 solutions, you will be able to log in to your Outlook account without further encountering any inconvenience. 

Moreover, you can read the following two blogs to get rid of Outlook email account issues other than login:

Unable to Send Emails from MS Outlook

MS Outlook is Not Receiving Emails