Hotmail Login - Why and How!

With the availability of a number of platforms on the web, you only need the one that ticks all the boxes; offers the best user experience, online security, and top-class email service. Hotmail.com is at your rescue! It is one of the world's first public webmail services.

Owned by Microsoft, Hotmail is a competitor of Google's Gmail. It provides a free medium for sending and receiving emails from all over the world. It supports about 79 languages and has garnered over 400 million users. You can access Hotmail from any web browser easily.

❖ History of Hotmail:

Hotmail was launched in 1996 by Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith. It (HoTMaiL) got its name from HTML. In 1997, Microsoft acquired it for about $450 million to use it as a free email platform. Since then, Hotmail has undergone rebranding several times.

Soon after the acquisition, Hotmail was redesigned and relaunched as MSN Hotmail offering the same features. In 2005, it was rebranded as Windows Live Hotmail as a contemporary of Google's Gmail. This version included some additional features, including better speed, more storage, and strong security.

Hotmail changed into Outlook.com in 2013. Outlook, from Microsoft, is a web app offering emails, calendars, contacts, and tasks services. It also provides integration with OneDrive, Office Online, and Skype.

Although hotmail.com email addresses still exist, now they are directed to outlook.live.com. You don't need to update your old Hotmail account to Outlook. However, if you create a new Hotmail account, it will become an Outlook account by default.

❖ How To Set Up Hotmail Account:

You don't need a Microsoft account to set up a Hotmail account. It is free to create and use anywhere, anytime. To set up a Hotmail account, follow the following steps:

• 1. In a web browser, navigate to the Outlook homepage, and click on the sign-in page.
• 2. Click on “Create free account”.
• 3. Put in a username that would become part of your email address.
• 4. Click on the dropdown arrow on the far right of the username field to select the domain. You can create an account in either of the domain, Outlook.com or Hotmail.com. Click on Next.
• 5. Create a strong password. Ensure that the password must be an 8-character one, combining letters, symbols, and numbers. The stronger password, the securer it is.
• 6. On the next page, enter your first and last names in the given fields.
• 7. Choose your country and enter your date of birth. (These details help in recovering the forgotten password, hence make sure to enter them correctly.)
• 8. Enter correct characters from CAPTCHA to proceed.
• 9. On the next screen, put in your phone number and tap on “Send Code”. Hotmail will send you an OTP (One Time Password) via text message. Enter it and click on Next.

Hotmail.com will then set up your account and direct you to the main page.

❖ How To Login To Your Hotmail Account:

You can log in to hotmail.com by any web browser or mobile app. Both the Apple Store and Google Play Store feature the Hotmail/ Outlook app.

Hotmail.com login through Android Phone:

• 1. Download the application from Play Store or Hotmail official site.
• 2. After installing the app, click on the “get started” button.
• 3. Enter your credentials in the add account section, and click on Next.
• 4. Go through the security terms, and click on the “tick” on the right corner.

You are signed in to your Hotmail account!

Hotmail login through the iOS app:

• 1. Download the application from Apple Store.
• 2. Install the application and click on the “get started” button.
• 3. Fill in the data of your account in the given fields.
• 4. Click on the “sign-in” button to proceed further

Hotmail sign-in through desktop:

• 1. Open a web browser and navigate to www.hotmail.com., and click on the “sign-in” button.
• 2. Enter the credentials of your current Hotmail account and click on “sign-in”.

❖ Hotmail's Highlights:

Hotmail has several attractive and foolproof features, enhancing the customer experience. You can enjoy the following features with the free Hotmail/ Outlook to the fullest:

• 1. Interactive interface: Hotmail provides external services in connectivity via its interactive, including YouTube, Flicker, and Twitter. With this feature, you can view external content without leaving the email window.
• 2. Calendar: It is a significant feature, mainly useful for collaboration. You can import and export files to the Hotmail Calendar easily. It also allows users to create, edit, and share their calendars with clients and colleagues.
• 3. Hotmail/ Outlook Contacts: Via Hotmail/ Outlook.com, you can also send messages to the phone of anyone on your email contact list. Windows Live Contacts is now the Outlook Contacts. You can connect with your contact list on different social media sites, such as Facebook.
• 4. Microsoft To-Do: Hotmail also has an integrated task tool, Microsoft To Do. It helps you remain organized and on top of your schedule. You can schedule and manage events for a specific date. You can also mark as important, set reminders, and make filtered lists to track the progress of your tasks.
• 5. MS Office: Creating a Hotmail login also allows you to log in to your MS Office account anywhere, anytime. You can easily access and manage Microsoft products in your documents, saved in OneDrive storage.
• 6. Skype integration: Hotmail/ Outlook also has Skype integration. You can receive and send messages and do Skype video calls by the same email interface.
• 7. Alias: Via the feature of Alias, you can create up to 10 unique email IDs for different purposes. All these IDs get the inbox, contact list, and other settings. This feature especially helps manage businesses and projects.
• 8. Security: Hotmail/ Outlook provides a premium level of security to its users. It offers data encryption in the mailbox, junk mail filters, and automatic deactivation of unsafe links. Hotmail further provides malware detection and files recovery in OneDrive storage. You can also block live links to avoid phishing and virus-containing links.

Useful links

How do I recover a hotmail account?
How to set up two-factor authentication (2FA) on a Microsoft account?
Hotmail Not Receiving Emails?
How to Send and Receive Hotmail from Your Gmail Account?