Worried that someone might have accessed your Outlook.com email account? It’s easy to see where and when you (or anyone else) signed into it. Simply use the official Activity page to view all recent successful logins, plus any security challenges (such as asking for another authentication factor) for your account.

While it’s not advisable to sign into your personal email account on a shared machine, there are some precautions that can reduce the risk of doing so. For Outlook.com, choose to sign in with a single-use code instead of a password. You’ll need a linked mobile number to complete this process.

If you use Outlook.com for your personal email, be sure to take advantage of its built-in phishing protections. One of the most useful is a green shield icon next to the text “This message is from a trusted sender.” Also look out for yellow (spam) and red (fraud) icons.

Protecting your most valuable accounts with frequent password updates can help reduce the risk of unauthorized access. Log into your Microsoft account online. From the Security page, select the “Change password” option. Once you do, check the box that says, “Make me change my password every 72 days.”

Enabling multifactor authentication is a powerful way to help secure your digital identity, and your Microsoft account could grant unauthorized users access to a lot of personal data if they manage to compromise your password. To turn on two-factor authentication, log in to your Microsoft account online. Select the Security tab, then “More security options.” […]

Do you have sensitive files sitting on your desktop or in an unsecured folder stored on your hard drive? If you have OneDrive, you can easily move those documents — like tax records or recovery codes — into a more secure Personal Vault. OneDrive users can open the Personal Vault from their file manager. Then […]