how to fix email sign on iphone?

Hi DONNA SMALLEY,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum. 

To narrow this down and give the exact steps for your setup, could you please reply with:

• Is this a personal Microsoft account (Outlook/Hotmail/live) or a work/school Microsoft 365 account?
• On the same iPhone, can you sign in via Safari at outlook.live.com successfully?
• When it says “verify through my phone,” is it Microsoft Authenticator/push approval or an SMS code?
• Please share the exact message you’re seeing on the Outlook screen via private message.

Once I have your answers, I can tailor the exact workaround that fits your setup best.

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. 

Follow these steps in order on the iPhone:

1. Wait for the lockout to clear
   The message about trying too many times means the account is temporarily locked for security. Wait at least 15–30 minutes before trying again, and avoid repeated sign-in attempts during that time.
2. Reset the Microsoft account password (from the phone)
   Since sign-in verification on the phone is failing, reset the password directly using Microsoft’s sign-in helper:
   • Open Safari (or another browser) on the iPhone.
   • Go to the Microsoft sign-in page and choose the option to reset/forgot password.
   • Complete the verification using text or email as prompted.
   • Set a new password.
   • Confirm that sign-in works in the browser first (for example, to Outlook.com).
   If the password reset is done successfully on the phone, this often clears device-specific sign-in issues and lockouts.
3. Remove the account from Outlook for iOS
   After the password is working in the browser:
   • Open the Outlook app on the iPhone.
   • Go to Settings > tap the affected account > Delete Account.
4. Re-add the account in Outlook for iOS
   • In Outlook for iOS, go to Settings > Accounts > Add Account > Email Account.
   • Enter the email address and tap Add Account.
   • When prompted, sign in with the new password and complete any verification steps.
5. If verification via Outlook app still fails
   If the issue is specifically with using Outlook on the phone as a verification method, use another verification option (text, call, alternate email) to complete sign-in, then:
   • Update the security info for the Microsoft account so the iPhone is added again as a trusted device.
6. If the account is a work or school account
   If this is a work/school Microsoft 365 account and sign-in still fails after the above:
   • Use the official password reset page: https://passwordreset.microsoftonline.com/ (if allowed by the organization).
   • If that doesn’t work, contact the organization’s IT admin to check the account and sign-in policies.

If, after resetting the password on the iPhone and re-adding the account, sign-in still fails or verification methods don’t work, contact Microsoft account support using the sign-in helper flow so a support agent can review the account’s security and help complete recovery.

References:

• Can't sign in to the Outlook mobile app
• Set up the Outlook app for iOS
• After I changed my primary alias on my outlook.com account, I can't log back in
• Outlook and other apps are unable to connect to Outlook.com when using Basic authentication
• Cannot login to my outlook account from iphone even though details are correct - Microsoft Q&A
• Unable to change password in my Outlook - Microsoft Q&A
• Can't sign in to my email - Microsoft Q&A
• Cannot log in Outlook. - Microsoft Q&A