How to Access and Sign In to Your Hotmail Account
Hotmail, which was established in the mid-1990s, is one of the oldest email services being widely used today. However, it is no longer a separate webmail service, as all Hotmail accounts are managed by Microsoft’s Outlook. This is confusing for users who are uncertain as to whether Hotmail will continue to operate in the future.
The following article describes how to access and log in to your Hotmail account, as well as how to retrieve an inactive Hotmail account, create a Hotmail username, delete it, and convert a Hotmail email to an Outlook account.
Where Is My Hotmail Account?
As current Hotmail users are aware, the renowned email address has not vanished. It continues to operate, similar to Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo. A Hotmail email account is compatible with Outlook, Microsoft Teams, Skype, OneDrive, Microsoft 365, SharePoint, and the Windows Insider Program.
Microsoft insists in its blog postings and films that users switch from Hotmail.com to Outlook.com. There is nothing preventing users from accessing Hotmail via a web browser or Outlook’s Android and iOS apps.
How to Access Your Hotmail Account in Outlook
Provided you enter “hotmail.com” in the URL bar of any web browser, you will be instantly redirected to “outlook.com.” From there, if you remember your password, you can sign in to the Hotmail domain. There are no webmail or other unique services for Hotmail at this time.
All other Microsoft email addresses, including Live.com, MSN.com, and Passport.com, as well as their country-specific subdomains, are immediately accessible via Outlook.com and can only be accessed via the webmail or desktop/mobile applications.
If you’re using Hotmail with your Outlook.com account, you can check its availability by navigating to “Microsoft Account Profile -> Account Info -> Sign-in preferences.”
On the “Manage how you sign in to Microsoft” page, you can view a list of your Microsoft account’s aliases. This will list all of your current Hotmail email accounts. It was saved as either a primary or secondary alias.
Multiple aliases can be added to a Microsoft account. If you have never used an Outlook.com email account, the only possible alias will be Hotmail. Even though you can always register a new Hotmail account, Microsoft does not permit you to add it as a secondary alias because the domain is reserved. Only Outlook.com email addresses are compatible with the creation of new aliases.
How to Retrieve Your Old Hotmail Account
Do you have an obsolete Hotmail account that you can no longer access? Depending on your recent account activity and other circumstances, there are many methods for retrieving it.
1. Last Account Activity
If you have signed into Hotmail/Outlook once in the past calendar year (little less than 365 days) and still remember the password, it is relatively simple to restore access.
- Go to the Outlook sign-in page and enter your username and password.
- After inputting your credentials, you may be able to access your inbox immediately. To receive a verification code, however, you may need a phone number or another email address if you haven’t checked in for a long time.
- If the verification code matches what was sent to your device, your old Hotmail account will be retrieved.
If you cannot remember your password, you can access your Hotmail account using an alternative email address or device.
2. Hotmail Account Deleted After Inactivity
Microsoft may have canceled your Hotmail account due to inactivity if you have not logged in for at least two years. All of your stored emails, contacts, and other information would have been permanently deleted. Before these terminated email accounts can be given to another user, there is a 60-day waiting period.
- If you don’t want someone else to use your inactive Hotmail username, find out whether you can still recover it through an alternate email address or phone number on the Microsoft recovery page.
- The above will generate a code that is sent to the alternate email address or phone number.
Find the email addresses connected with your recovery email account/phone number to regain your username. They are concealed for privacy purposes.
- The subsequent screen must verify that the alternate email address is associated with an existing Microsoft account. If you remember your Hotmail password, try logging in with it. You will be able to examine fundamental account information.
- After logging in, navigate to “Microsoft Account Profile -> Account Info -> Edit Account Info” and change the Hotmail username to a primary alias if it still exists.
3. Recover Deleted Hotmail Account
Your Hotmail/Outlook account may have been deleted if it’s been a long time since your last login and you’ve forgotten the secondary email address. To retrieve it, you can establish a new account with the same login on Hotmail. While the old inbox items and contacts have been deleted, you can still use the legacy Hotmail login to sign in to any third-party service you have previously used.
How to Create a New Hotmail Account
In addition to restoring a deleted Hotmail username, it is possible to start a brand-new Hotmail email account.
- Go to the “Create one” option on the Outlook sign-in page.
- Choose your username from among the Outlook and Hotmail email domains and enter it.
- Create a password for the Hotmail account and click “Next.”
- To set up the new account, enter your full name followed by your birthday and region.
- Solve a simple puzzle to validate your new account request.
- The tests can be tricky but only take a while to complete.
- You should see a “Verification complete” message validating the creation of the user account. After creating a new Hotmail account, you have the option to remain logged in and use your Outlook web email and mobile apps.
Additionally, you can establish a new Hotmail account from a mobile device. Download the app from the App Store or Google Play Store, then tap “Add account” to create a new Hotmail ID. The remaining procedures are identical to those on a desktop browser.