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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Just checked to be sure, and all my folders and files seem to be intact and accessible. And I have had no issues with sending and (as far as I know) receiving e-mails. Still not happy with the cavalier way msn has treated us, but, yes, the devil we know. And yes, I did get the e-mails msn sent telling us of the change, just went into denial for a while. Now, if anyone can tell me how I can keep my iGoogle page – an even bigger issue as far as I am concerned, as there seems to be no alternative – I would be over the moon.
On further checking, the To, Cc and Bcc on Outlook are to the left of the e-mail window instead of above, and the contacts just under it are just the most frequently used ones. One REALLY FRUSTRATING issue (msn, please note) is that I don’t seem to be able to get to the Bcc address line until I have filled in the Cc address line. As Forwards are supposed to be Bcc, this is an unnecessary time-waster. Anyone solved this problem? Ooops. Just solved it myself. If you click on the shaded area next to the most used contacts when the Cc window appears, they disappear and the Bcc window opens. Just goes to show – a little patience and all is revealed. Click on Cc or Bcc, and, as with Hotmail, the full contact list opens up.
Hi G,was just going to take up dinner[believe it or not]
still,it can wait a few minutes.Go to the main address
bar at the top of your page,click on the right hand side
near the star[bookmarks],left click & the address bar
should turn blue.Next,press your backspace button &
the address bar should go blank.Now type in google,
its not case sensitive,you should now see a list of
sites RE:-Google,click on the www google one,and
press your enter button on your keyboard-Voila!-the
GOOGLE main page should appear.Stay on the
page and go to your top right hand corner of the
address bar and click on the star[bookmarks],you
should now be ok,let me know how you got on—–cheers,JAN.
G,click on the V next to the word Outlook [top left],
bye-dinner at last!-JAN.
my optin to switch to hotmail does not appear what shall i do
I don’t like outlook it is horrible and if they don’t change it back to hotmail I will delete all my accounts and what a cheek they have just making us go with it
sorry dont no how to change it wish i did but wont be long before i change accounts
Hi,
I hate outlook and am very annoyed I have been forced to change! When I have completed this semester at Uni I will be closing it down (some of my work is on email as attachments and I don’t have time to trawl through it all at the moment)
[@Glenda Kanashige]
Thank you very much, Glenda, for your help. Actually, you answered my quest in a simple, very clear, very detailed way, with much more talent than you admitted having. Seriously, I did not need a fancy, professorial lesson. All I have been looking for is trying to understand how the “thing” compares with the “devil we know”. And I’m very grateful for the great job you did.
As I mentioned before, I couldn’t care less about the links to the social networks, to Skype or any fancy features. I look for something that is simple and reliable, and this is probably why I have been so happy with Hotmail for the last 15 years, as I also said, to the point of paying for it!…
I feel now a lot more comfortable with the upcoming push… But I’m not eager, so I will not rush to jumping on my own motion…
One major concern I initially had was related to the possible loss of my Hotmail email address, but this has been resolved quite a while ago. So, I understand that I’ll keep it, and that all my data and settings, including my Hotmail msn account will be moved smoothly to Outlook. Do you or anyone else know whether there is any advantage (or if it makes any difference at all) in moving by one’s own initiative or waiting until the fat lady sings, so to speak? This would actually be the only reason that could make me jump now instead of waiting for the push…
Meanwhile, Glenda, you did it! And I feel indebted to you for your effort and your kind patience.
Thanks again.
K,there isn’t one..its been deleted by MS.
PLEASE please people,read the previous posts,for the last time..you cannot change
back,that option has been deleted by MS.
You are stuck with Outlook or you can look
for another provider.Why not act positively
and seek help from the other posters who
have nailed down what makes Outlook tick.
I fully understand your gripes,but they don’t
help to answer the original question posed.
I have seen at least 4 posters here that can
help with most of the problems you will come up against using Outlook,you would be
better served asking/seeking advice.For my
part..i’m a Night Owl and i can usually post
an answer to anyone within the hour–into
the wee small hours,kind regards-Alan.
Well, Mark, I am glad to have been of help. I tried Outlook once on my own volition, and immediately changed back to Hotmail and was happy to do so. I did, however, encounter one very negative thing after changing back to Hotmail, and that was, when I replied to an e-mail, the e-mail turned up in my in-box with my name on it, and I was unable to then forward it to someone else if I needed to. Someone told me how to fix that – something in my settings, which I will look for if anyone needs it but which now evades me – and when I did, I found myself in Outlook. Whether it was a result of my change, or just a coincidence, I don’t know. I can’t see that there were any advantages either way, except perhaps that Outlook may have been modified since my test run. Or was it just less of a shock the second time around? Anyway, from what I hear, you only have a month or so anyway, so make the most of out soon to be dearly departed Hotmail. And when it happens, I do hope your transition is as smooth as mine seems to have been – touch wood.
Urgent message for KENDRA! Are our E-mail
addresses SAFE here?Cheers-Alan.
Alan
The vast majority (99+%) of migrated users have no problems but my mantra (even without the migration) is if you data is important back it up. The easiest way is to install Windows Live Mail and sync it to outlook.
MS has a “disclaimer” in there terms of use that the user is responsible for their data not MS.
Kendra,the question was is/are our E-mail Address/es
safe-{HERE} Thanks-Alan.
my optin to switch to hotmail does not appear what shall i do
This question has been answered far too many times
already,don’t you read any of the posts?,the most
recent answer is at 311.
[@ALAN SHEEHAN.]
Alan, I have been following your repeated questions about whether our email addresses are safe… I could see from he beginning that Kendra had not gotten what you were talking about.
It’s a critically important answer that I am also anxiously waiting for. Please, anyone, are our email addresses safe???… Yes or No?
Thanks for insisting.
You want the party line, or the truth? I am under NDA so cannot divulge plans but the answer is probably not. In the short term there should be no change, in the long term, why would MS want to support 2 different sets of servers?
In the final analysis your data, your credentials, and your personal information is at the whim of the provider.
Kendra,let me rephrase the question.I am perfectly
safe at my end,but are you aware of any problems
concerning the safety of E-mail addresses HERE @
this end ? Cheers-Alan.
So, I have tried switching to Outlook on one of my accounts, just to check it out and become familiar with it before my main account is switch. I keep getting a message each time I try, telling me they have reached their limit for “upgrading” customers to Outlook. Just found that interesting, and wanted to share. I’m not looking forward to the switch, but thought if I could play around with it in one of my accounts, while awaiting a forced “upgrade” on the other, it would help. No can do. I’ve tried daily for 5 days, now.
@Alan – it is quite frustrating, isn’t it?, to see so many folks posting the same question here about not being able to switch back to Hotmail. The answer is posted all over the place here! I laugh when I read those!
Thanks for all the good comments here; when I do make the switch, I’ll re-read them for answers!
Thanks for that–most gratifying, & when the S**T hits
the fan,i’m available late at night cheers-Alan.
[@evolving62]
Trying to make some sense out of that “most interesting” experience you have been experiencing, could you please say from where are you trying to switch to Outlook, I mean, are you in the US or abroad?
Thanks.
[@ALAN SHEEHAN.] ‘
Alan, I am sorry but “here at this end”? Do you mean dottech? I would not have a clue, just passing through and dont know much about “here”
Obviously using an AKA/Alias (I hate aliases) because of my NDA
[@ALAN SHEEHAN.]
Alan, while we wait for Kendra’s answer to your question on the email addresses, I beg your permission for inserting the following:
You have gone to extremes in your often repeated offer of help in case one needs it. This is a very nice attitude from your part. But there’s a saying around here, where I live, that goes more or less like this (I’m translating into English, so please bear a little with me…) : Never promise to the needy nor ever be in debt to the rich…
This, of course, is a metaphor, and I hope you get the real meaning.
In my case, I would say you might just be making a promise to a needy man… I’m a computer moron, really… So, just in case this poor man ends up knocking at you door, and not willing to further abuse your kindness by waking you up in the middle of your sleeping hours, please let me know, if you will, what is your time zone?
Like I said, just in case… And many thanks!