Hotmail: What is it? Messaging, Login, Account & Information (Outlook)

What is hotmail? Hotmail is a webmail service offered by Microsoft. It was launched in July 1996 as the first free service of its kind. In 2010, according to ComScore, Hotmail had 364 million users and was the absolute leader in the segment. For a long time, it was criticized for its ineffective spam filter, low storage space, and lack of support for protocols like POP3 and IMAP in free accounts.

A few years ago, Microsoft announced that Hotmail becomes Outlook. Thus, users with Hotmail, MSN and Live accounts must now go through Outlook to access their mailboxes.

In this article we will guide you to understand the principle of Hotmail, the interesting features of this service and how to connect and use your Hotmail email account with Outlook in 2022.

Table of contents

What is hotmail?

Hotmail was the first e-mail service on the Internet, and you probably had an account of it too. This is Microsoft's old name for its free email service: Windows Live Hotmail – which was later rebranded as Windows Live Mail. Following another change to several online services, Windows Free Email has been rebranded as Outlook.com.

The new version Hotmail aka Outlook is available on the web and on apps for iOS (iPhone) and Android phones. Electronic messaging offers the possibility of accessing your emails in a simple and fast way.

microsoft hotmail logo

You can view inbox, outbox, folders, do quick searches, just like the old Hotmail box, but with a new look and connections to OneDrive cloud and Skype chat .

The MSN era

Msn Messenger was born on July 22, 1999, only a few months anticipating events such as the transition to the year 2000 or the end of the world.

Msn Messenger was Microsoft's answer to the dominance of instant messaging that AIM (America-OnLine Instant Messenger) had at the time, launched a few years earlier by AOL, one of the pioneers and early dominators of commercial telephony. and internet services.
At the time, Microsoft was aware of the rise of these types of programs and the need to integrate them into Windows in a natural way.
How did they do it? It is not very difficult if you have the most used operating system and one of the most used email services in the world, Hotmail.
Thus, integrated with Windows (as standard in Windows XP, although it already had an optional installation in Windows ME)) and Hotmail (it provided the possibility of using the same username and password in Msn Messenger than that used in Hotmail) the explosion of the messaging program was instantaneous.
Msn Messenger had to face two rivals of colossal dimensions, which would not only mean the end of its life, but also change the social panorama of the time. You know what I'm talking about because you come across them every day: the smartphone and social networks.

Thus, Msn Messenger could not survive so many changes and quickly lost users, until Microsoft decided to replace it with Skype, announcing its permanent closure on October 31, 2014.

What is the difference between Hotmail.com, Msn.com, Live.com and now Outlook.com?

Microsoft has a habit of confusing us with the names it chooses for its services and then changing those names as they go along.

Like many Microsoft products, Hotmail's name has changed once or twice and caused a lot of confusion. I will try to explain all this.

The email service we usually call Hotmail was originally called… Hotmail.
More accurately, it was called HoTMaiL (note the capitals), a sort of weird reversed acronym referring to HTML mail. It is the nickname “Hotmail” which is finally retained.
After purchasing Hotmail, Microsoft incorporated it into its fledgling line of online services and dubbed them all “MSN” (MicroSoft Network). So what we used to call “Hotmail” was technically renamed “MSN Hotmail”. Most people continued to call it "Hotmail". At the same time, MSN Hotmail has been integrated, or at least bundled, with a number of other MSN-branded services, such as Instant Messenger, the MSN.com homepage, and more.
Then, Microsoft decided to put an end to the notoriety of "MSN" and replaced it with the "Windows Live" brand. Hotmail, (known as "MSN Hotmail") has been rebranded as "Windows Live Hotmail". At the same time, Microsoft allowed people to create email addresses not only on hotmail.com, but also on live.com, msn.com, and a few other Microsoft-owned domains.
While the name of the email service has remained "Hotmail", the domains that appear in your browser's address bar have undergone even more changes. Hotmail.com takes you to URLs based on msn.com, live.com and others (and for a time passport.com – Microsoft's original attempt to use your Microsoft email address as "one account for everything" ).
Hotmail became MSN Hotmail which later became Windows Live Hotmail. The same service, but three different names over time.
The most recent and massive change was Microsoft's move to brand Outlook.com to completely replace Hotmail.com and all the other free email services it offered.
What was once Hotmail, under one or another of its previous names, is now Outlook.com.
Outlook.com is the service you now use to access your hotmail.com email, or, for that matter, almost any Microsoft email address, including live.com, webtv.com, msn.com, and probably many more, not to mention outlook.com itself. The new email addresses are only available as outlook.com email addresses.

@msn.com and @hotmail.com are both Microsoft products and whether you are using the Hotmail interface or the Outlook.com interface, functionality will be the same regardless of which account you use to sign in.

Important: Outlook.com and the Outlook email program (which comes with Microsoft Office) are two different, unrelated things. One – Outlook.com – is an online email service, and the other – Microsoft Office Outlook – is an email program that you install on your PC. Microsoft seems to keep giving products exceptionally confusing names.

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Connect to my Hotmail Messenger mailbox

Go to the Outlook.com login page: https://login.live.com/
Select Login.
Enter your email address or phone number and select Next.
On the next page, enter your password and select Login.

Log in to Hotmail without going through Outlook

How to access Hotmail without Outlook: You have a Hotmail email account and you usually log in using Microsoft Outlook software. But unfortunately, you don't always have your computer at your disposal and you are looking for alternative solutions to check and manage your emails through other programs and devices. Then you'll be happy to know that you can access your Hotmail account without going through Outlook.

Before explaining which programs to use on your computer, it is important to indicate the configuration settings, without which you will not be able to access the electronic mailbox and, therefore, synchronize messages on the server.

After starting any of the software that I will show you in the next chapters, when you need to add your e-mail account, you may be asked to enter the IMAP/POP and SMTP parameters, necessary to communicate with the server and receive or send e-mails.

As for receiving e-mails, I advise you to use the IMAP protocol, rather than the POP protocol. The substantial difference lies in the fact that, while with the POP configuration the messages are completely downloaded to the client without leaving a copy on the server, with the IMAP configuration this problem is avoided, being able to find your e-mail messages even by accessing from different clients (thus having the possibility of synchronizing the mail on several devices).

IMAP server name: office365.com
IMAP Port: 993
IMAP encryption method: TLS
POP server name: office365.com
POPport: 995
POP encryption method: TLS
SMTP server name: office365.com
SMTP port: 587
SMTP encryption method: STARTTLS

I warn you that, by default, the POP function is disabled on Microsoft email accounts. Therefore, you will first need to enable it from the Mail Settings panel.

Now all you have to do is check the Yes box, which is under the heading Allow devices and applications to use the POP protocol. Once this is done, another option will appear, which allows you to keep a copy of the downloaded messages in a special folder, in order to avoid their deletion from the server.

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Use Hotmail and Outlook email

Use Hotmail in Windows 10 Mail

On computers with the Windows 10 operating system, an excellent free solution developed by Microsoft for managing emails is preinstalled. In detail, I refer to the Mail application, which integrates perfectly with Microsoft accounts, without the need to enter configuration parameters.

When you start the Mail app, you are prompted to add an account, via the appropriate screen presented to you. Then just click on the word Outlook.com and enter the email and password associated with your Microsoft account.

After doing this, the folders will be automatically synchronized with the server and the sent and received messages will be displayed on this mail client. It was easy, wasn't it?

Use Hotmail in Apple Mail

If you have a Mac, you can use the free Apple Mail app to manage your Microsoft email account. Using this "standard" Apple software is child's play, and if you carefully follow the procedures I'm going to show you in the following paragraphs, you can easily set up and manage your mailbox.

The first step to follow is to click on the Mail icon that you will find in the MacOS Dock bar or in the Launchpad. Once you have completed this step, in the screen that appears, select the item Other email account and press the Continue button.

Now enter the name you want to assign to the account, along with the email address and password associated with it. At this point, decide whether you want to sync only mail or also notes and then hit the confirm button.

Normally, the Mail app should automatically retrieve the Microsoft email account configuration settings. If this is not the case, you will see a screen appear through which you must type the configuration parameters of the box, which I told you about in this chapter.

Android

Phones and tablets running Android have a pre-installed application for email management. For example, an email client generically called E-mail is available on Huawei and Samsung devices.

Often, Android devices also have the Gmail app pre-installed, which is used to manage both Google's email and that of other third-party services, such as Microsoft's.

The functioning of these applications is more or less the same for all: after having launched the mail client via its quick start icon on the home screen (or inside a folder still on the 'home), select the word Hotmail or Other or an equivalent entry.

In the next screen presented to you, type the email address and password associated with your Microsoft account, then press the Login button. If the Microsoft Mail Service configuration data has already been set by the client developer, you will not need to perform any further operations.

Otherwise, you will have to configure the IMAP and SMTP settings manually, using the appropriate button and filling in the corresponding text boxes.

iPhone and iPad

If you have an iPhone or iPad, you'll be happy to know that through the Mail app, which is already pre-installed on your device, you can manage your Microsoft email account.

To set up your mailbox, launch the Settings app and select the items Password & Account > Add Account > Outlook.com. Then, through the appropriate screen, enter the email address and password for your email account.

At this point, all you have to do is launch the Mail application to view all the emails that have been synchronized between the server and the client itself in the meantime.

How to find my hotmail password

To recover your Hotmail password, here are the steps to follow:

Access to login.live.com.
Choose the mention: “Forgot your password? ".
In the process of recovering your password, you will be asked to enter a captcha code and then the method by which you wish to recover your password.

If you can't provide a phone number, choose the alternate password recovery method. You will then have to enter personal information (surname, first name, date of birth, security question, etc.).

You will also need to provide an alternate email address where you will be contacted within 24 hours to retrieve your password. By following these steps, you will be able to access your Hotmail account quickly and securely again.

What is Outlook Premium and Hotmail 365?

Outlook premium was a premium version of Outlook. However, Microsoft discontinued their premium version at the end of 2017, but they added premium features in their desktop application included in Microsoft 365. Anyone who would like to subscribe to Microsoft 365 Home or Microsoft 365 Personal software bundles will receive Outlook with features premium as part of the premium package. The premium package includes:

1 TB (1000 GB) storage per premium user.
An improved malware scanning system.
You will no longer see ads in your inbox.
Features for composing emails offline and automatic synchronization.
Custom domain email service.

Lost emails: Frequent problem Hotmail

If you are no longer receiving emails, there is something else going on. None of the above name changes should result in lost emails, period. It's just a name (and UI) change.

Unfortunately, I hear about missing Outlook.com emails from time to time, not necessarily in conjunction with a name change. Here is what I saw as the cause:

Temporary failures: You may not receive a message at all, but check again in, say, 24 hours. Your email may have magically reappeared.
Silent account hack: There are account compromises where the hacker does not change your password, so you can still log in, but it wreaks havoc on your account. Immediately change your password – and anything that could be used to find your password.
Traditional account takeover: You mentioned that you had to reset your password to regain access to your account. This sounds a lot like a situation where a hacker broke into your account, changed your password, and deleted your emails.

It might be a good idea to visit the Outlook.com support forums to see if others are having the same issues, or post your own experience in hopes of getting some help.

Ultimately, though, I have to go back to my usual stance on free email accounts: if your email disappears, I think it's extremely unlikely you'll ever be able to get it back.

How to create a Hotmail address?

Creating a Hotmail/Outlook account is an easy process. If you would like to create one, follow the steps below to register:

Visit the Outlook website at https://login.live.com/ and click on " Create account"
On the next page, choose the desired email address and click "Next". You can select your email with the extensions @hotmail.com or @outlook.com.
Then you will be asked to enter the password. Be sure to enter a strong password (containing an uppercase letter, a number and special characters).
In the next window, enter your first and last name and click the Next button.
On the next screen, you need to enter your country/region and your date of birth. (Be sure to enter this information correctly because even if you have lost your password, it will help you recover your email account).
In the next window, you will be asked to verify that you are a human; just verify your identity and click on the Next button.
Once the verification is done, in the next window you will have to enter your phone number and click on Sendcode. (For security reasons, i.e. if you have lost your password or if someone other than you changes your password, you will be able to recover your account easily).
You will receive an OTP (One Time Password) by text message, enter it and click the Next button.
The next window will display the Outlook tutorial (how to use your Outlook/Hotmail account) and your inbox. From here you will be able to send and receive emails from your customers or family/friends.

How to delete a hotmail account?

Outlook and Hotmail are both owned and operated by Microsoft. If you have an email account in either of these services, it is inextricably linked to the rest of your profile in your Microsoft account.

As such, you cannot delete your Outlook or Hotmail account without deleting your Microsoft account.

Depending on your use case, this may not be prudent or possible. Many other services rely on your Microsoft account, including Windows, Xbox Live, Microsoft 365, and Microsoft To-Do.

If you want to delete your Microsoft account, follow the steps below:

Go to account.microsoft.com and enter your login credentials.
Click the Your Info tab at the top of the page.
Scroll down to the Microsoft account help section.
Click on How to close your account.
Choose whether you want Microsoft to retain your data for 30 days or 60 days.
Click Next.
Go through the various security confirmations.

For 30/60 days after completing the process, you can log back into your account using the same credentials to reactivate it.

How to delete an Outlook account

We understand this is all a bit confusing (it's almost like Microsoft doesn't want you to delete your account), so let's do a quick refresher.

You cannot delete your Outlook or Hotmail account without also deleting your Microsoft account.
To remove your old email address, you must first create a new email alias and make it the primary address for your account.
If you delete an email address, you will no longer have access to it.

Overall, we don't recommend deleting your account entirely unless you're deliberately trying to purge your online presence. Since creating a new Microsoft account is free, it makes more sense to hibernate your old account and start from scratch.

News, information and little-known facts

Outlook.com is the current name of Microsoft's email service artist formerly known as Hotmail.com.
Outlook on the web, or OWA, is Outlook's web application that lets you browse your Outlook.com email account. It is part of Microsoft's messaging web application suite.
Outlook Mail is Microsoft's desktop email client. It can be used with an Outlook.com email address or any other email address.
After Gmail, Hotmail was one of the most famous email services in the world. In 1997, when Microsoft bought it from its creators, the Hotmail connection offered something unique compared to most electronic mailboxes: independence from Internet service providers like America Online (AOL).
In 2019, Microsoft informs Outlook.com users that they were affected by a security breach: hackers were able to read the subject of email messages, folder names and contacts in the inbox . In some cases, the attackers also had access to the content of the emails. The vulnerability affected the consumer service – which also goes by the names of Hotmail and MSN – but not Office 365 accounts.
The Microsoft account is available to those with @hotmail.com, @hotmail.com.fr, and @live.com email, among other extensions.
Thunderbird can be used as a client for all Microsoft email services (Hotmail, Outlook.com and Windows Live Mail, hereinafter referred to as "Hotmail"). Thunderbird downloads messages from the Hotmail server and stores them on your local system.
The creator of Hotmail, the Indian Sabeer Bhatia, traveled to the United States on September 23, 1988. The California Institute of Technology had offered him a scholarship. Bhatia was 19 years old.

Opinion & Conclusion

If you have a Windows Live ID with endings like @hotmail.com; @hotmail.com; @live.com; @windowslive or @msn.com, rest assured, everything still works. However, with the Outlook Mail look. It should be noted that Outlook.com does not replace the Outlook Express mailbox management software provided by Microsoft in the Office suite. This change caused some confusion.

The latest version of Outlook.com is called Outlook Mail, sometimes also called “Outlook on the web”. This version is built on the Office 365 platform – the cloud-based software suite. Now all new emails created in this system end with the new @outlook.com.

It is therefore no longer possible to create a Hotmail, but you can connect to your Hotmail using the old login and password using Outlook as normal.

Benefits

Maintenance of the @hotmail address

The inconvenients

The User Interface has completely changed.
No longer allows access via hotmail.com.

[Total: 72 Mean: 4.1]

Hotmail: What is it? Messaging, Login, Account & Information (Outlook)

What is Hotmail and how to access your account in 2022? Everything you need to know about Microsoft's favorite messaging system that has become Outlook.