Hotmail vs Outlook: What’s the Difference?

Hotmail and Outlook are the same email service wearing two names: Microsoft retired the Hotmail brand in 2013 and moved every @hotmail.com mailbox onto Outlook.com, so the only real differences left are your address suffix, your storage tier, and which app you open. If you already own an @hotmail.com address, keep it — it signs in at the same place, shares the same inbox, and gets the same features as a brand-new @outlook.com account. If you’re starting fresh in 2026, you can no longer register a Hotmail address at all; new accounts are issued @outlook.com (or a regional variant), and storage is a separate decision you make afterward.

The head-to-head at a glance

Why “Hotmail vs Outlook” isn’t really a fair fight

1996–2013: the Hotmail era

Hotmail launched in 1996 as one of the first free webmail services, and Microsoft acquired it in 1997. For roughly fifteen years, “@hotmail.com” was what a free email address looked like. Microsoft opened the Outlook.com preview in 2012 and finished migrating the Hotmail user base by 2014, per the company’s own transition announcements.

2013 onward: two products, one name

The confusion most people run into is that Microsoft already had a product called Outlook — the desktop email client bundled with Office since 1997. So the rebrand created a naming collision: Outlook.com is the webmail service, while Outlook (for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android) is the app that connects to it. Neither is a different email provider from Hotmail. They are the same mailboxes with a new coat of paint and a new app suite on top.

Address suffixes: what you can still get

Microsoft also lets you attach aliases — extra addresses that deliver into the same inbox. The documented cap is 10 aliases per Microsoft account, and any one of them can be set as your primary sign-in name. The catch: once you remove an alias, that address is gone from your account permanently, and it may eventually be reissued to someone else.

Sign-in: one door with several signs on it

Typing hotmail.com, live.com, or outlook.com into a browser lands you on the same Microsoft sign-in page. One password, one two-step verification setup, one account recovery profile. That account also unlocks OneDrive, Xbox, Microsoft 365 web apps, and Windows device sign-in — which is why abandoning a Hotmail address is more disruptive than abandoning a typical email account.

The 2024 authentication change that broke older mail apps

In September 2024, per Microsoft’s own deprecation notice, the company ended basic authentication for personal Outlook.com accounts. Older third-party clients that only know how to send a username and password — some legacy Thunderbird setups, older phone mail apps, older scanners that email documents — stopped connecting. The fix is to use a client that supports modern authentication (OAuth 2.0), not to change your address. This affects @hotmail.com and @outlook.com accounts identically, because they are the same accounts.

Storage: where the real difference lives

Storage is the one area where your choice actually costs money, and it is tied to your subscription, not your domain.

Two ownership realities worth knowing before you subscribe. First, message attachments are capped at roughly 20 MB when you send from the web, so larger files get shared as OneDrive links instead — which means your cloud storage tier doubles as your “can I email this video” budget. Second, if you cancel a paid plan while you’re over the free 15 GB, your account drops into a restricted state where you can read and delete mail but can’t send or receive new messages until you get back under the limit. Budget a cleanup session before cancelling, not after.

Microsoft also throttles outbound volume on personal accounts — a few hundred recipients per day — to discourage bulk senders. That’s fine for normal use and a genuine ceiling if you’re running a small mailing list out of your inbox.

Security: identical by default, different by what you switch on

There is no security advantage to one domain over the other; the controls are the same. Both support two-step verification, passkeys, sign-in alerts, and recovery email or phone. The practical difference comes from how you use aliases. A sensible setup is one alias for shopping, one for banking, one for newsletters, all delivering into the same inbox. When a retailer leaks your address, you retire that one alias and the spam stops — without touching your primary address. With only a single Hotmail address, you have nothing to burn. Note too that Microsoft’s published policy allows it to close accounts after two years without a sign-in, so a Hotmail address you care about should be logged into periodically even if you forward everything elsewhere.

Apps: which “Outlook” are you opening?

• Outlook.com — the browser version, no install required.
• Outlook for Windows — the desktop client, now shipping in a redesigned “new Outlook” version alongside the classic one. The old Windows Mail and Calendar app was retired at the end of 2024 and replaced by new Outlook.
• Outlook for Mac, iOS, and Android — same mailbox, same rules and calendar.

All of these read and write the same account. A rule you set in the web interface applies in the mobile app and vice versa.

Migrating: three realistic scenarios

Scenario A — You have a Hotmail address and it works

Do nothing. Your address is already an Outlook.com mailbox. Optionally sign in and check that two-step verification is on and a recovery phone or email is set.

Scenario B — You want a cleaner @outlook.com address but can’t lose old mail

1. Sign in at account.microsoft.com and go to Your info → Manage how you sign in. Reason: alias changes live in the account settings, not the mail settings.
2. Add a new alias ending in @outlook.com and verify it. Reason: verification confirms you control the new address before it becomes your sign-in.
3. Set the new alias as primary. Reason: the primary is what appears when you send mail, so this is the step that changes how recipients see you.
4. Leave the @hotmail.com alias in place — do not delete it. Reason: password resets and verification emails from old services will keep arriving at the old address for years.
5. Update the “send as” or account name in every mail app and tell frequent contacts. Reason: replies go to whatever address the recipient sees, and a mismatch causes missed messages.

Scenario C — You’re leaving Microsoft entirely

Set up forwarding to the new provider, then sync the archive with an IMAP client so old folders come across, then wait a month before deleting anything. Deleting the Microsoft account immediately destroys the mailbox contents along with the address.

Which should you pick? A decision matrix

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Hotmail still working in 2026?

Yes. Every @hotmail.com mailbox is a live Outlook.com account. Mail sends and receives normally, hotmail.com redirects to the Outlook.com sign-in page, and the mobile and desktop Outlook apps connect to it without any special configuration.

Can I still create a new @hotmail.com address?

No. Microsoft closed the Hotmail domain to new registrations after the 2013 rebrand. New accounts are issued @outlook.com or a regional equivalent. The legacy @live.com and @msn.com domains are in the same position — existing mailboxes keep working, new ones can’t be created.

Do I lose my old emails if I switch to an @outlook.com address?

No. Adding an alias and setting it as primary changes your sign-in name and the address you send from, but the mailbox, folders, and message history stay exactly where they are. Nothing moves because nothing was ever stored per-domain.

Is Outlook.com more secure than Hotmail?

They are the same system, so neither is inherently safer. The security that matters comes from what you enable: two-step verification or a passkey, a current recovery phone number, and separate aliases for high-risk services so a single leak doesn’t expose your main address.

Why did my Hotmail stop working in my mail app?

Most likely basic authentication. Microsoft retired username-and-password logins for personal Outlook.com accounts in September 2024, which broke older clients that don’t support modern authentication. Updating the app or switching to a client with OAuth 2.0 support restores access — your password and address are not the problem.

How much does Outlook.com cost?

The service is free with 15 GB of mailbox storage and 5 GB of OneDrive space, with ads shown in the web interface. Paid Microsoft 365 plans run roughly $2 to $10 per month depending on tier and whether you buy annually, and they remove the ads, raise the mailbox allowance to around 100 GB, and add cloud storage from 100 GB up to 1 TB per person.