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Outlook · Accounts

Create a Hotmail or Outlook Account

Three minutes, no payment card, no expiry. One thing to know first: new sign-ups no longer get a @hotmail.com address, and it matters less than it sounds.

By the EuroSciCon Guides team✓ Checked against the live interfaceUpdated September 2, 2026

Short answer

Go to outlook.com and choose Create free account. It takes about three minutes and costs nothing, permanently. One thing to know before you start, because it disappoints people three screens in:

You cannot choose a @hotmail.com address any more. New sign-ups are issued @outlook.com. It is the same service under a different name.
Existing @hotmail.com addresses still work and always will. Nobody is being migrated off them.
The free tier gives 15 GB of mail storage, and unlike Gmail that is mail alone rather than shared with cloud files.

Key points

Hotmail, Outlook.com, Live and MSN are one system. A guide for one applies to all.
Addresses are never recycled. Once one has existed it cannot be claimed again.
Microsoft is phasing out SMS for verification, so set up an authenticator app.
Sign in at least once every two years or the account is treated as inactive.

Can you still get a Hotmail address?

Not a new one. Microsoft retired Hotmail as a brand and folded it into Outlook.com, so every new sign-up is issued an @outlook.com address. This is worth being direct about rather than letting you discover it partway through a form.

What has not changed matters considerably more:

Concern	Reality
Do existing @hotmail.com addresses still work?	Yes, indefinitely. No migration is planned
Is Outlook.com a different service?	No. Same mailbox, same sign-in, same infrastructure
Does mail to either arrive differently?	No functional difference at all
Can I get @hotmail.com from the dropdown?	Occasionally offered in some regions. Do not count on it

If you wanted Hotmail for familiarity, that option is effectively gone. If you wanted it because you believed it was a different or better service, it never was.

Creating the account, step by step

Type outlook.com into the address bar yourself. Not through a search advert or a link in an email. Sign-in pages are heavily impersonated.
Select Create free account. The paid Microsoft 365 options are a separate product you do not need for a mailbox.
Choose your address. Type the part before the @. If it is taken you are told immediately. The domain dropdown offers outlook.com and, in some regions, hotmail.com.
Set a password from a password manager. Generate it rather than inventing it. This is the decision most likely to cost you the account in two years.
Enter your name. It appears on outgoing mail and can be changed later.
Enter country and date of birth. The date decides whether this is treated as a child account, which requires a parent or guardian to complete setup.
Solve the puzzle. A short image or audio challenge confirming you are not automated. If it fails, request another rather than retrying the same one.
Add recovery details when prompted. Do this now. See below for why the options you are offered have changed.

The address is permanent in one direction. You can add further addresses to the account later and even change which one you sign in with, but the original is never released back to the pool. Choose something you would be content to have on file for years.

When every address you want is taken

Outlook.com has hundreds of millions of accounts and every short, plain address went years ago. Worse, addresses are never recycled: Microsoft states an address used for an account cannot be reused even if that account was closed long ago. You are competing against every account that has ever existed, not just the live ones.

Approach	Shape	Worth it?
Middle initial	firstmlast	Yes. Natural and professional
Dot separator	first.last	Yes. Permitted and readable
Location or role	firstlast.leeds	Reasonable, but ages if you move
Birth year	firstlast1994	Works, but publishes your age on every message
Random digits	firstlast8842	Last resort. Hard to read out loud

Setting up recovery, and what changed

This part has genuinely moved, and most guides still describe the old behaviour.

Microsoft is phasing out SMS as a verification and recovery method. Phone numbers can no longer be added for that purpose on new accounts, and the replacements are what you should be setting up:

An authenticator app, with its recovery codes saved somewhere that is not the mailbox they unlock.
An alternate email address at a different provider. Not another Outlook address. One outage should not take both.
A passkey on a device you keep.

An account with two of those is in a far better position than one with a phone number alone, which is the arrangement most people still assume is best. If you want to understand what happens when none of it was done, see recovering any email account.

What the free tier includes

Generous for personal use, and worth knowing before a limit surprises you.

Item	Free tier	Note
Mail storage	15 GB	Mail only, not shared with cloud files
Cloud storage	5 GB	Separate allowance for OneDrive
Office apps	Browser versions	Word, Excel, PowerPoint on the web
Ads in the mailbox	Yes	Removed on paid tiers
Inactivity limit	Two years	Sign in occasionally to keep it

The 15 GB and 5 GB figures are separate allowances and are frequently confused with each other. A fuller breakdown is in what a free Outlook account actually gives you.

What the free tier includesThe 15 GB that is mail-only, the 5 GB that is not, and the two-year rule. A second account, or an alias?Two options that look identical and behave completely differently. Compare free providersOutlook against Gmail, Proton and Tuta on storage, privacy and sign-up friction.

Sources

Microsoft: How to create a new Microsoft accountThe sign-up route, child accounts, and the rule that addresses cannot be reused.
Microsoft: Outlook help and learningMicrosoft's hub for account and mailbox settings.

Frequently asked questions

Can I still create a new @hotmail.com email 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. Some regions still show hotmail.com in the sign-up dropdown, but availability varies and it should not be relied on.

Is an Outlook.com account genuinely free?

Yes. There is no trial period, no payment card required, and no expiry. The free tier is funded by ads shown in the mailbox. Paid tiers add storage and remove those ads, and nothing requires you to take one.

How much storage does a free Outlook account get?

15 GB of mail storage, plus a separate 5 GB of Microsoft cloud storage for OneDrive files. The two are distinct allowances and are commonly confused. Unlike Gmail, the mail allowance is not shared with photos or cloud files.

Do I need a phone number to create a Microsoft account?

You are not required to add one as a verification method, and in fact phone numbers can no longer be added for that purpose on new accounts. Microsoft is phasing out SMS for authentication and recovery. Use an authenticator app, an alternate email address, or a passkey instead.

What happens if I never use the account?

You need to sign in at least once in any two-year period, or the account is treated as inactive and its content can be removed. Because addresses are never recycled, you would not be able to recreate the same address afterwards.

Can I change my Outlook address later?

You can add further addresses to the same account and change which one you sign in with, but the original is never released. It stays associated with the account and cannot be claimed by anyone else.

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: September 2, 2026.