How do I recover a hacked email account?
By Bridget · Updated May 2026 · Reviewed by Locket Security Team
★ the short answer
Recover a hacked email account first, before anything else — it controls password resets for every other account. Use your provider's recovery page (Gmail, Outlook), reset the password, then check for malicious forwarding rules, filters, and recovery-address changes the attacker may have added to keep reading your mail.
Why should I recover my email before my social accounts?
Your email is the reset point for nearly every other account. As long as an attacker controls it, they can trigger “forgot password” on your Instagram, bank, and more — and intercept the codes. Locking down email first cuts off their ability to walk back into everything else.
How do I recover a hacked Gmail or Outlook account?
Use the provider's recovery page — google.com/accounts/recovery for Gmail or account.live.com/acsr for Outlook. Verify with a recovery phone, secondary email, or a trusted device, then reset the password. Do this from a device you normally use so the system recognizes you and approves recovery faster.
What hidden settings do email hackers leave behind?
After resetting the password, check for traps: auto-forwarding rules sending copies of your mail elsewhere, filters that auto-delete security alerts, a changed recovery email or phone, and added app passwords or connected apps. Attackers use these to keep reading your inbox even after you change the password.
★ quick steps
Recover and clean a hacked email account
- 1
Use Google or Microsoft's account-recovery page from a familiar device.
- 2
Set a unique password and sign out all other sessions.
- 3
Delete unknown forwarding rules, filters, and app passwords.
- 4
Confirm the recovery email and phone are yours, then enable 2FA.
Frequently asked
- Most often through a password reused on another site that was breached, or a phishing page that captured your login. A password manager (unique passwords everywhere) plus 2FA on email closes both doors.
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