Share via

Trouble logging into Teams Free Version after Transferring Skype Account to Teams

Robert Deniro 0 Reputation points
2026-03-22T15:16:49.38+00:00

Hello,

I am having a bit of trouble assisting a neighbor use his Teams account. Previously, I helped this neighbor create this account by transferring over his data from Skype to Teams after Skype ended. When I went over to help him make a Teams call a while back, though, we realized that he had been automatically signed out of his Teams account and we were unable to sign back in. I need your assistance/guidance on the proper steps to take, so that he can use Teams in the future.

Navigating his Teams desktop app, I noticed two things. First, he had a banner message telling him to log back into his account. Also, when I clicked the circular account icon in the top, right-hand corner of the app, he only had a phone number listed in his account details: no email address.

When we opened his Teams login and typed in his password, it asked to send a code to his phone number: but no code ever arrived at his phone via text. We also couldn’t ask for the login code to be sent by any other means (such as by email) because no email address was associated with his account. When I encountered these error messages, we tried to login by filling out a survey, but that didn’t end up working, either.

A little while later, I tried logging back into his Teams account by going to Teams via the internet (rather than directly through his desktop app) and typing in the email associated with his Skype account in the login space, then entering the password associated with his Teams/old Skype account. At that point, we received a message, informing us that because we had tried unsuccessfully to log into his account too many times, we would not be able to try again. I am still not sure if logging in using his Skype email and password via the internet site (rather than desktop app) for Teams would have worked.

Do you have any guidance on what this issue signifies, and how it can be addressed? Any assistance would be much appreciated.

Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Teams Free | Sign up and Sign in | Sign in
0 comments

1 answer

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Kal-D 7,170 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-03-24T19:17:08.33+00:00

    Hi Robert Deniro,

    Based on what you described, this appears to be a Microsoft account sign‑in / verification issue rather than a Teams‑only problem.

    Since the Teams profile shows only a phone number and no email address, the account is likely configured to sign in using that phone number (or another Microsoft account alias), rather than the old Skype email. The fact that the SMS verification step never completes suggests the verification method itself is failing, and the later message about being unable to try again is consistent with a temporary security block after multiple unsuccessful sign‑in attempts.

    For Teams Free, I’d suggest the following approach:

    • It’s best to pause further sign‑in attempts for now to allow any temporary security block to clear.
    • Try to confirm which identifier is actually registered as the Microsoft account sign‑in (phone number vs. Skype email), since the profile currently shows only a phone number.
    • Test signing in on the web first, using a private/incognito browser window, rather than the desktop app.
    • If it asks for a text code and none arrives, make sure the phone can receive standard SMS messages and isn’t blocking unknown or automated texts.
    • If the SMS code still does not arrive, use Microsoft’s official “I can’t sign in to my Microsoft account” / Account Recovery flow instead of continuing to retry sign‑ins. You can check out this link if you need help with account recovery form: Help with the Microsoft account recovery form
    • Once the account successfully signs in on the web, fully close and reopen the Teams desktop app, then sign in again there.

    If you’d like to narrow it down further, sharing the exact final error message (in quotes) could help confirm where the sign‑in process is failing.

    Please let me know if this proves useful to you, or if you would like further assistance.

    I'm looking forward to your reply.

    Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

    0 comments

Your answer

Answers can be marked as 'Accepted' by the question author and 'Recommended' by moderators, which helps users know the answer solved the author's problem.