Forgot my Hotmail password and the code goes to an old number

Before the form, is there any chance of getting the old number back? Some carriers let you reclaim a number for a while after you cancel it, and if you can, the code just works and you skip the whole recovery thing. Once you're in, add the new number. Microsoft makes new security info wait 30 days before it fully replaces the old one, so do it right away, not the next time you're locked out.

When the code goes somewhere you can't get to, pick the option saying you don't have access to any of those, and it should send you to the account recovery form. That form is the only real way back in. Tips that make a big difference: fill it in from a computer and wifi you've used that account on before, give a contact email you can check right now, and put in as much as you remember. Old passwords, exact subject lines of recent emails, addresses of people you emailed. Vague answers get rejected. If it fails, you can submit it again, so don't give up after one go.