The following guide covers how you can access and sign in to your Hotmail account and discusses methods to retrieve an inactive Hotmail account, create a Hotmail username, delete it, and change a Hotmail email to Outlook.

Where Is My Hotmail Account?

As active Hotmail users know already, the famous email address hasn’t disappeared. It remains operational, just like Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo. A Hotmail email account can be used with the Outlook email client, Microsoft Teams, Skype, OneDrive, Microsoft 365, SharePoint, and even the Windows Insider Program. However, in its blog posts and videos, Microsoft insists on a transition from Hotmail.com to Outlook.com. While you can do that, there is nothing stopping users from accessing Hotmail on a browser or via Outlook’s Android/iOS apps.

How to Access Your Hotmail Account in Outlook

In any web browser, if you enter “hotmail.com” on the address bar, it will automatically redirect you to “outlook.com.” From there, you can sign in to the Hotmail domain if you remember your password. Currently, there are no webmail or other exclusive services for Hotmail. All of the other Microsoft email addresses, such as Live.com, MSN.com, and Passport.com, as well as their country-specific subdomains, are directly accessible from Outlook.com and can only be opened from Outlook’s webmail or desktop/mobile clients. If you’re using Hotmail with your Outlook.com account, you can verify its availability under “Microsoft Account Profile -> Account Info -> Sign-in preferences.” On the “Manage how you sign in to Microsoft” page, you can see a list of aliases attached to your Microsoft account. This will give you any Hotmail email accounts that you are currently using. It will have been saved as a primary or secondary alias. You can add multiple aliases to your Microsoft account. If you’ve never used an Outlook.com email account, Hotmail will show up as the only available alias. While you can always create a new Hotmail account, Microsoft doesn’t let you add it as a secondary alias since it is part of a reserved domain. Only Outlook.com email addresses support creating new aliases.

How to Retrieve Your Old Hotmail Account

Do you have an old Hotmail account that you no longer have access to? There are different ways to retrieve it, depending on your most recent account activity and other factors.

1. Last Account Activity

If you’ve logged in once during a calendar year (slightly less than 365 days) and still remember the password, then it is quite easy to regain access to Hotmail/Outlook. If you don’t remember your password, an alternate email or device can help you regain access to your Hotmail account.

2. Hotmail Account Deleted After Inactivity

If you did not use your Hotmail account for two years or more, Microsoft may have deleted it for inactivity. All of your emails, contacts, and other stored data would have been removed permanently. These deleted email accounts have a 60-day waiting period before the email address can be assigned to someone else. To recover your username, you will find all of the email addresses associated with your recovery email account/phone number. Pieces of them are hidden for privacy reasons.

3. Recover Deleted Hotmail Account

If it’s been a long time since your last login, and you forgot the alternate email address, your Hotmail/Outlook account may have been deleted. To recover it, you can create another Hotmail account with the same username. While the old inbox items and contacts are erased, you can use the legacy Hotmail username to log in to any third-party service you used in the past.

How to Create a New Hotmail Account

Apart from recovering a deleted Hotmail username, it is possible to create a Hotmail email account from scratch. You can easily create a new Hotmail account from a mobile device, too. Download your app from App Store or Google Play Store and click “Add account” to create a new Hotmail ID. The rest of the steps to create one are the same as on a desktop browser.

Rename Hotmail Account to Outlook

You can easily change your email address from Hotmail to Outlook.com while retaining the existing username. This would allow any emails to continue being delivered to the older Hotmail address while you log on using the new Outlook.com address. Your password would remain unchanged. You may be asked to reenter your Hotmail password to confirm the new Outlook alias. Once the new Outlook.com email address has been created with the same username as Hotmail, you can make it your primary email address. It can take up to 48 hours for this new primary alias to appear on all Microsoft products and services. Also, some of your friends may appear to be offline until they sign out and sign back in. All previous Hotmail emails will continue to be redirected to the new Outlook email inbox. Do not remove the old Hotmail account from secondary aliases, even though there is an option to do it.

How to Delete Your Hotmail Account

It’s very easy to delete a Hotmail or Outlook email account, but you will permanently lose access to any digital games or subscriptions you’ve purchased on that account, including Xbox Game Pass. All of your emails will be wiped clean and the friends list erased. If you decide to proceed, follow these instructions to delete your account.

Can’t Remember Your Hotmail Password or Backup Phone/Email?

Not remembering your password and secret questions or answers is a fairly common issue, especially with old and inactive Hotmail accounts. You can try to recover your account from an alternate email address first. A code is sent to help you reset the password and log back in again. If that doesn’t work, click “Forgot password -> I don’t have any of these” to open an account recovery page where you can provide another email address. If you still can’t gain access from account recovery, go to the “Create one” option on the Outlook.com sign-in page.

You can link an old Hotmail account to any email client of your choice. We will demonstrate how to add Hotmail to the Mail app in Windows 11. Image credit: Chris Titze Imaging If your Hotmail account is active, you can use it to schedule emails on Outlook and other clients.