How to switch from Outlook.com to Hotmail [How-To Guide]
August 7, 2012 569
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Outlook.com is a new free web e-mail service by Microsoft intended to replace Hotmail. Using Outlook.com can be done by creating a new Outlook.com account or upgrading your existing Hotmail account to Outlook.com. If you have used Outlook.com and decided you want to go back to Hotmail, that can be done easily. This guide shows you how to do it.
Before We Begin
Before we being, take note going from Hotmail to Outlook.com does not change your e-mail address. This means if you created a new @outlook.com e-mail, that e-mail will stay with you when you go to Hotmail; if you converted your Hotmail account to Outlook.com, you will still retain the same Hotmail e-mail when you go back.
Also, downgrading from Outlook.com to Hotmail does not result in loss of data. All your e-mails, contacts, folders, etc. are converted with you. The only thing that changes when going from Outlook.com to Hotmail is the user interface; you get the old Hotmail inbox and features back.
Lastly, if you were forced to upgrade to Outlook.com from Hotmail, you cannot revert back to Hotmail. Going from Outlook.com to Hotmail is only for those people that voluntarily upgraded.
UPDATE: It looks like Microsoft is no longer allowing people to revert back to Hotmail from Outlook.com. Sorry people — you are stuck with Outlook.com, you cannot change back!
How To Go Back To Hotmail From Outlook.com (How To Turn Off Outlook.com)
The following are the steps you need to take to covert your Outlook.com account to Hotmail:
Note: To enlarge any images below, simply click on them.
- Login to Outlook.com.
- Once logged in, you will be taken to your Outlook.com inbox. From there click on the gear icon located near the top-right corner:
- Clicking on the gear icon will open a menu. From that menu click on Switch back to Hotmail:
- Next you will be prompted with a message asking for feedback. If you want to provide feedback, click on Send feedback; otherwise, click on Skip feedback:
- Done.
If you opted to send feedback, you will be asked a series of questions after which you will be taken to Hotmail; if you opted to not send feedback, you will be taken directly to Hotmail:
Conclusion
Switching between Hotmail and Outlook.com is very easy and dotTech’s two guides How To Upgrade From Hotmail to Outlook.com and How To Switch from Outlook.com to Hotmail make the process even easier thanks to our step-by-step directions with screenshots. So go, venture into the world of Microsoft e-mail without fear of permanent change. Enjoy!
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[@ALAN SHEEHAN.]
no my contacts list is still there as if i click on people it will let me edit my contact list or add to it but i just can not access it when i want to utilize an eamil address when i compose . also in my inbox the junk mail is no longer visible all i now see on the left side is the word outlook, something called old folders, and a favorites where has the junk email gone in this outlook inbox?etc. This outlook is a mess and i just dont know how to navigate it. it is so confusing.It seems I now spend all of my time trying to fix outlook and trying to find stuff instead of actually having an email inbox etc. I try to do what you suggest but some of that is even confusing to me. I do appreciate any and all of your time to help.
[@ALAN SHEEHAN.] see on the left this is what i see:I have the word outlook,search email, quick views, documents, flagged, photos, shipping updates,new category. if i click on the v right next to outlook i have four choices, mail(if i click on that big box it just tales me back to my inbox,),people(if i click on that it takes me to an edit screen to edit or add people in my contact list but it wont let me do anything else other than add or edit) then it has a big box for calendar, and a big box for skydrive. that is it. my junk email is gone? can no longer s ee it?
[@cathy]
Cathy, please try to understand and follow Alan’s instructions. He is an expert on Outlook. I just think that something is not right. On the description of what you can see on the left, as you stated in you previous message, going down from the word Outlook you should see:
–Outlook | v
–Search email
–Folders
[then the list of individual folders you for your mail]
–Quick views
–Documents
–Flagged
–Photos
–Shipping updates
–New category
This is what you must be able to read in any case. Now, you DID NOT mention the “Folders” line. Can’t you read it, between and below “Search email” and just above “Quick Views”???
Well, if you can’t, then you definitely have a problem. But if you do, then just try to click over the word or the arrow that lies right to the left. This may show you the light… Please let us know what you see.
Good luck.
Mark
Thanks Mark.Cathy,on the main Outlook page,go to
the search mail box[top left],type in any known
contact,now click on the Magnifying glass…do any
messages from that party appear on the main page of Outlook listings.If the answer to this is YES,then
the search function is working normally.Now go back
to the same search box,and do the same again,but
with the name of someone that seems to be lost.Do
any of their messages appear on the main message
page of Outlook?—if the answer is NO,then i am
afraid they are lost forever,sorry-Alan.
I still sometimes wonder if I have the same Outlook as other people, as I haven’t had any of the problems mentioned – except for the initial antipathy. Mark, I think you have it – click on Folders, and they all open up. Also, when you are composing an e-mail – at least when I am – I get the To box. If I start to type an address, suggestions come up, but if I click on the word To, all my addresses appear, and I can select them, just as in Hotmail. Same goes for Cc and Bcc – just click on the word and my whole address list appears – after I have opened the panels for them by clicking on the, well, the words. It does take time to work out all the wrinkles in Outlook, and thank goodness we have Mark and Alan to help us. Once you get used to it, it is not so bad. Must admit, I do miss the old Emoticons. The Outlook ones are just ugly in my opinion. And the colours available for text limited and also ugly. But I will make do and hope for some improvements in the future.
Hey – can anyone tell me why emails I create show up as being double spaced, even though I did NOT double space when I typed them? This appears to be something new, didn’t happen in Hotmail, to my knowledge. Is also happening in my office outlook program at work.
Thanks for any help you can provide!
[@Glenda Kanashige]
You got it! I could subscribe to all that you wrote, including the emoticons and the colors… I also share your hope that after MS gets settled on this huge task of the migration they will certainly start bringing many small improvements to Outlook and it will most likely end up as a better and more efficient email program than our old, beloved Hotmail…
Or so I was told by an MS agent. I find no reason to be skeptical at this time.
Cheers.
This should work–save me a lot of typing.
http://www.slipstick.com/problems/messages-are-double-spaced/
@Alan – thank you! I’ll try to read that later and see if I can fix it. Appreciate it! I’ll let you know :)
I followed the instructions but it doesn’t give me the option to switch back to hotmail.com.
Now what should I do?
Its been said OVER and OVER–YOU CANNOT!
Read the previous posts-sigh!
@Alan
I feel your pain.
Yeah–in the neck pal!
Some may find their forwarding option has now
disappeared,if this is so..just say & i will show you
another way to do it.Regards-Alan.
Yes, Mark, I am hopeful. After all, Hotmail was tweaked many, many times – and I was always annoyed at the changes until I got used to them. No reason to think Outlook won’t develop. For the better, one hopes.
Never had that problem. Could it be something in your settings that needs adjusting?
im not find the icon (swich back to hotmail) and in a site says that everyone can’t swich back to hotmail any more!!!!!
John
You cant switch back. The Hotmail interface is gone, dead, finished.
John,its as Kendra says..the standard Hotmail no
longer exists and Outlook is now the permanent
replacement.You will almost certainly have problems
with it,until you find your way around it,just say if you
need any help,Kendra/myself & others are here to
help,regards-Alan.