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Outlook & Hotmail guides

Hotmail, Outlook.com, Live and MSN are one system. Three guides covering setup, storage and second addresses, plus the two things that differ from Gmail.

By the EuroSciCon Guides team✓ Checked against the live interfaceUpdated

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Hotmail, Outlook.com, Live and MSN are one system, so a guide for any of them applies to all four. Two things differ from Gmail in ways that matter more than the branding.

  • Storage is two separate allowances. 15 GB for mail, 5 GB for cloud files. Photos cannot squeeze out your inbox the way they can on Gmail.
  • Microsoft is retiring SMS verification. Phone numbers can no longer be added for that purpose, so an authenticator app is now the default rather than the alternative.
  • Aliases exist. Google has no equivalent, and it changes the answer to "can I have a second address" entirely.
Worth knowing before you start
  • New sign-ups get @outlook.com. A new @hotmail.com address cannot be created.
  • Existing @hotmail.com addresses work indefinitely and behave identically.
  • Addresses are never recycled, so the one you choose is off the market permanently.
  • Two years without a sign-in and the account can be closed.

All Outlook and Hotmail guides

AccountsCreate a Hotmail or Outlook accountWhy new sign-ups no longer get @hotmail.com, and why Microsoft has stopped wanting your phone number. AccountsWhat the free tier actually gives youTwo separate allowances rather than one, which is why Outlook mailboxes rarely fill up. AccountsA second account, or an alias?Four reasons people want a second address, and which of the two solutions fits each one.

The storage difference, and why it matters

Almost every comparison of free email treats "15 GB" as a single number. On Outlook.com it is two numbers, and the distinction decides whether the account ever causes trouble.

Gmail's 15 GB covers mail, Drive and Photos together. Outlook.com gives 15 GB for mail alone, plus a separate 5 GB for OneDrive files. The practical consequence: a phone backing up photos cannot fill your Outlook mailbox, because the photos draw on a different allowance entirely. On Gmail it can, and the first symptom is incoming mail being rejected.

If storage is your main concern and you take a lot of photos, that difference is the whole comparison.

Hotmail, Live, MSN, Outlook: which of these do you actually have?

Four brand names, one service. The confusion is Microsoft's doing rather than yours, and it matters only because guides written for one name often do not mention the others.

Address endingIssuedStatus today
@hotmail.com1996 to about 2013Works indefinitely. Cannot be newly created
@live.com, @msn.comVarious, now retiredWorks indefinitely. Cannot be newly created
@outlook.com2013 onwardWhat every new sign-up receives

All four sign in at the same place and behave identically. There is no feature, storage allowance or setting that differs between them, and there is no upgrade path or conversion, because there is nothing to convert: the address is a label on one account system. If a guide tells you to visit a Hotmail-specific sign-in page, it is out of date by more than a decade.

The one practical consequence is that an old address is often the more valuable one. It carries years of sign-in history, which is exactly the trust signal that recovery and unusual sign-in checks weigh most heavily. Keeping a long-held @hotmail.com active is worth more than moving to a newer address for the sake of the name.

Sign-in is the same for all of them. The old branded addresses resolve to the current Outlook sign-in page, so there is no separate Hotmail login to hunt for and no need to remember which era your address belongs to. If a page presents itself as a dedicated Hotmail sign-in, treat that as a warning rather than a convenience: a credential-harvesting page is far more likely than a genuine one, because Microsoft has not operated a separate Hotmail sign-in for over a decade.

Other providers

Gmail & GoogleFive guides on Google accounts, from setup to recovery. Compare providersCross-provider comparisons for the questions that are not specific to one company.

Frequently asked questions

Can I still create a new @hotmail.com address?
No. New sign-ups are issued an @outlook.com address. Hotmail was retired as a brand and folded into Outlook.com, though existing @hotmail.com addresses continue to work indefinitely and behave identically.
How much storage does a free Outlook account get?
15 GB of mail storage plus a separate 5 GB of cloud storage for OneDrive files. The two are distinct allowances, so photos and files do not consume your mail space. This differs from Gmail, where a single 15 GB allowance is shared across mail, Drive and Photos.
Does Microsoft still use SMS for verification?
It is being phased out. Phone numbers can no longer be added as a verification method on new accounts. Microsoft's replacements are authenticator apps, alternate email addresses and passkeys, and setting up at least two of those is now the sensible default.
Are Hotmail and Outlook.com different services?
No. Hotmail, Outlook.com, Live and MSN are the same mailbox, the same sign-in system and the same infrastructure. Only the branding changed, so a guide written for one applies to all of them.

Why you can trust this guide

  • Independently written. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Microsoft.
  • No credentials collected. Always sign in on Microsoft's own pages, never through a third party.
  • Checked against the live interface before publishing, and re-checked when it changes.
  • Last reviewed: .