How to Create a New Outlook.com Email Account

This article explains how to create a Microsoft Outlook email address. These directions are the same whether you want an Outlook.com or a Hotmail.com address.

How to Create a New Outlook.com Email Account

It's incredibly easy to make an account with Microsoft's free email service. Just answer a few questions and you'll be sending and receiving mail in minutes. Here's how it works through their website:

1. Open Microsoft Outlook online and select Create free account.

2. Type the username you want. This is the part that precedes the @ sign.

3. Select the drop-down menu and choose outlook.com or hotmail.com, then press Next.

4. Enter a password, then select Next.

   Create a strong password that is easy for you to recall and difficult for anyone else to guess. If you make it really complex, you'd be wise to store it in a password manager.

5. Enter your first name and last name in the fields provided, then select Next.

6. Choose your Country/region, enter your Birthdate, then select Next.

7. Solve the CAPTCHA or puzzle, then select Next or Submit.

8. You're asked if you want to stay signed in. Press Yes if you want that.

   You can now open your new Outlook.com account on the web or set it up in any other email client.

Outlook.com Features

An Outlook.com email account offers all the features you expect from an email client. It also includes:

• An option to pin important messages to the top of your inbox.
• A focused inbox for your most important emails.
• Swipe gestures to archive and delete messages.
• The ability to snooze messages to be reminded about them later.
• Text-formatting features to personalize your outgoing emails.

Outlook also adds travel itineraries and flight plans from emails to your calendar. It attaches files from OneDrive and you can even edit Microsoft 365 files right in your inbox.

Outlook Apps

A Microsoft Outlook email account can be used in any modern email client. The web client at outlook.live.com is where you're defaulted to when you log in from your web browser. But there are other ways to access your mail.

To access your Outlook.com mail from your desktop, install an email client and then log in with the same credentials you used when you signed up. Microsoft Outlook is the name of Microsoft's desktop app, but there are plenty of free email clients that also work.

If you're on the go, get the Outlook app for Android or iOS. Both are free and easy to use.

Outlook.com vs. Hotmail.com

Microsoft bought Hotmail in 1997. The email service went through several name changes including MSN Hotmail and Windows Live Hotmail. The last version of Hotmail was released in 2011. Outlook.com replaced Hotmail in 2013.

At that time, Hotmail users were allowed to keep their Hotmail email addresses and use them with Outlook.com. It's still possible to get a new Hotmail.com email address when you go through the Outlook.com signup process explained above.

What Is Premium Outlook?

Premium Outlook was a standalone premium paid version of Outlook. Microsoft discontinued Premium Outlook in 2017 but added premium features to the Outlook desktop app that is included in Microsoft 365.

Anyone who subscribes to Microsoft 365 Home or Microsoft 365 Personal software packages receives Outlook with premium features as part of the application package. Benefits of Outlook for Microsoft 365 include:

• 1 TB of OneDrive storage
• Improved malware scanning
• An ad-free inbox and calendar
• Advanced Microsoft Editor