To help protect our customers and our system from fraud or abuse, we temporarily block Windows Live accounts when we detect spam-like activity. This activity could be in email, instant messages, or friend invitations.

If you receive a message saying that your account is temporarily blocked, you can unblock it by using your mobile phone number to verify your account. To enter your mobile phone number, go to the Add a phone page. (You might be asked to sign in first.)

After you enter your phone number, we’ll send a text message with a verification code that you can use to unblock your account. This helps us verify that you're the owner of the account and not a spammer.

If you can't verify your account using your mobile phone number, contact support for help on this issue.

Notes

• If you request that we send a code to your mobile phone, keep in mind that text message delivery isn't available in all countries or regions, or from all providers.

• Text message delivery is subject to network delays, so it might take a few minutes to receive your code. If you've waited more than 15 minutes and haven't received the code, try requesting another code.

• To prevent abuse of Windows Live services, we limit the number of times you can request a code each day. If you've reached the limit, you'll need to wait 24 hours before you can request a new code.