{"id":28202,"date":"2012-08-01T22:37:40","date_gmt":"2012-08-01T17:07:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/?p=28202"},"modified":"2026-10-28T10:17:43","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T04:47:43","slug":"microsoft-outlook-com-email","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2012\/08\/microsoft-outlook-com-email\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Create an Outlook.com Email Account for Free (2026)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Want to <strong>create an Outlook.com email account<\/strong>? Microsoft&#8217;s free email service gives you an @outlook.com or @hotmail.com address, 15 GB of mailbox storage, a calendar and free Outlook apps for Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android. When Microsoft launched Outlook.com in 2012 to replace Hotmail, we rushed to grab our own address. Millions of names have been taken since, but signing up is still free and takes about five minutes.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-68379\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/create-outlook-com-email-account-mailboxes.webp\" alt=\"Row of colourful mailboxes in a green field, like picking your own new Outlook.com email address\" width=\"1200\" height=\"630\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/create-outlook-com-email-account-mailboxes.webp 1200w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/create-outlook-com-email-account-mailboxes-300x158.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/create-outlook-com-email-account-mailboxes-1024x538.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/create-outlook-com-email-account-mailboxes-150x79.webp 150w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/create-outlook-com-email-account-mailboxes-768x403.webp 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Quick answer:<\/strong> Go to outlook.com and choose Create free account. Type the name you want, pick @outlook.com or @hotmail.com, create a strong password, add your name, country and birth date, and complete the verification check. Your new address is also a Microsoft account, so it signs you in to OneDrive, Xbox, Teams and Windows.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_89 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6af508333e610\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"ez-toc-cssicon\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6af508333e610\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2012\/08\/microsoft-outlook-com-email\/#How_to_create_an_Outlookcom_email_account_step_by_step\" >How to create an Outlook.com email account step by step<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2012\/08\/microsoft-outlook-com-email\/#Choosing_a_good_Outlookcom_address\" >Choosing a good Outlook.com address<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2012\/08\/microsoft-outlook-com-email\/#What_you_get_free_with_Outlookcom\" >What you get free with Outlook.com<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2012\/08\/microsoft-outlook-com-email\/#Secure_your_new_account_straight_away\" >Secure your new account straight away<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2012\/08\/microsoft-outlook-com-email\/#Use_Outlookcom_in_other_email_apps\" >Use Outlook.com in other email apps<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2012\/08\/microsoft-outlook-com-email\/#What_changed_since_2012\" >What changed since 2012<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2012\/08\/microsoft-outlook-com-email\/#FAQ\" >FAQ<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2012\/08\/microsoft-outlook-com-email\/#Is_Outlookcom_email_free\" >Is Outlook.com email free?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2012\/08\/microsoft-outlook-com-email\/#Can_I_still_get_a_hotmailcom_address\" >Can I still get a @hotmail.com address?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2012\/08\/microsoft-outlook-com-email\/#Is_Outlookcom_the_same_as_Hotmail\" >Is Outlook.com the same as Hotmail?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2012\/08\/microsoft-outlook-com-email\/#Do_I_need_a_phone_number_to_sign_up\" >Do I need a phone number to sign up?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2012\/08\/microsoft-outlook-com-email\/#Can_I_change_my_Outlookcom_address_later\" >Can I change my Outlook.com address later?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_create_an_Outlookcom_email_account_step_by_step\"><\/span>How to create an Outlook.com email account step by step<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Open <a href=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/microsoft-365\/outlook\/email-and-calendar-software-microsoft-outlook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Microsoft Outlook&#8217;s official page<\/a> (or go to outlook.com) and select <strong>Create free account<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Type the email name you want, then choose the domain: <strong>@outlook.com<\/strong> or <strong>@hotmail.com<\/strong>. If the name is taken, Microsoft suggests alternatives.<\/li>\n<li>Create a password that mixes letters, numbers and symbols, and don&#8217;t reuse one from another site.<\/li>\n<li>Choose whether to receive Microsoft promotional emails.<\/li>\n<li>Enter your first and last name.<\/li>\n<li>Select your country or region and your birth date.<\/li>\n<li>Complete the verification puzzle to prove you&#8217;re human, and your inbox opens.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Choosing_a_good_Outlookcom_address\"><\/span>Choosing a good Outlook.com address<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Keep it professional<\/strong> if you&#8217;ll use it for job applications: firstname.lastname works best.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Short names are mostly taken.<\/strong> Try adding a middle initial, a profession or a city rather than random numbers.<\/li>\n<li><strong>@outlook.com vs @hotmail.com<\/strong>: both work identically in the same Outlook inbox. @outlook.com looks more current; @hotmail.com may have more short names free.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Want more than one address?<\/strong> You can add an alias in your Microsoft account settings instead of creating a whole new account.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_you_get_free_with_Outlookcom\"><\/span>What you get free with Outlook.com<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>15 GB of mailbox storage<\/strong> and 5 GB of OneDrive cloud storage.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Outlook apps<\/strong>: built into Windows, free on Mac for personal use, and free on iPhone and Android.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Calendar and contacts<\/strong> that sync across your devices.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Free web versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint<\/strong>, so you can open attachments without installing Office.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Spam and malware filtering<\/strong>, plus focused inbox sorting.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A Microsoft 365 subscription raises mailbox storage to 100 GB, removes ads and adds the desktop Office apps. For most people, the free plan is enough.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Secure_your_new_account_straight_away\"><\/span>Secure your new account straight away<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Add a phone number and a backup email for account recovery.<\/li>\n<li>Turn on two-step verification in your Microsoft account security settings, ideally with the Microsoft Authenticator app or a passkey.<\/li>\n<li>Sign in regularly. Microsoft can close accounts that stay unused for a long time, so log in at least once a year.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Use_Outlookcom_in_other_email_apps\"><\/span>Use Outlook.com in other email apps<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>You can read Outlook.com mail in Apple Mail, Thunderbird, Gmail&#8217;s app and other clients. Since September 2024, these apps must sign in with Microsoft&#8217;s modern sign-in (OAuth2) rather than a plain password. Our separate guide covers the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/03\/free-hotmail-pop3\/\">Hotmail and Outlook.com POP, IMAP and SMTP settings<\/a> step by step.<\/p>\n<p>Prefer Gmail? See how to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2015\/03\/open-mailto-links-in-gmail\/\">open mailto links in Gmail by default<\/a>, and check our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/02\/email-tips-for-saving-money\/\">email tips for Gmail and Outlook<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_changed_since_2012\"><\/span>What changed since 2012<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Our 2012 post celebrated the brand-new Outlook.com preview: a clean, Windows 8-style layout, a fast reading pane, social network integration with Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, and the renaming of Windows Live ID to Microsoft account.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28204\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/outlook-layout.png\" alt=\"Outlook.com preview layout with folders, message list and reading pane\" width=\"500\" height=\"147\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/outlook-layout.png 500w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/outlook-layout-300x88.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28205\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/outlook-new.png\" alt=\"Outlook.com new message screen with contacts on the left\" width=\"500\" height=\"205\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/outlook-new.png 500w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/outlook-new-300x123.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Since then, all Hotmail users were moved to Outlook.com, the social feeds were dropped, SkyDrive became OneDrive, the interface was redesigned several times, and the free Outlook apps arrived on every major platform.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"FAQ\"><\/span>FAQ<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Is_Outlookcom_email_free\"><\/span>Is Outlook.com email free?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Yes. An Outlook.com account is free and includes 15 GB of mailbox storage. Microsoft 365 is optional.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Can_I_still_get_a_hotmailcom_address\"><\/span>Can I still get a @hotmail.com address?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Yes. When you sign up, you can choose @hotmail.com instead of @outlook.com.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Is_Outlookcom_the_same_as_Hotmail\"><\/span>Is Outlook.com the same as Hotmail?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Yes. Hotmail became Outlook.com in 2012-2013. Hotmail addresses still work and use the same Outlook inbox.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Do_I_need_a_phone_number_to_sign_up\"><\/span>Do I need a phone number to sign up?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Microsoft may ask for one to verify you, and adding one is strongly recommended for account recovery.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Can_I_change_my_Outlookcom_address_later\"><\/span>Can I change my Outlook.com address later?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>You can&#8217;t rename an address, but you can add a new alias to the same account and make it your primary address.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Want to create an Outlook.com email account? Microsoft&#8217;s free email service gives you an @outlook.com or @hotmail.com address, 15 GB&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":68379,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[111],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-apps"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28202"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68386,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28202\/revisions\/68386"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}