Does Hotmail still exist? Yes, as Outlook.com

Hotmail still exists, under another name. Microsoft folded it into Outlook.com, and old @hotmail.com addresses kept working through the change. If you have one, you sign in to it the same way you sign in to any Outlook.com account.

Does Hotmail still exist?

Yes. Microsoft's own help page says it plainly: "Hotmail is now Outlook.com." Your @hotmail.com address keeps working, you read it at outlook.com or in the Outlook apps, and you sign in with your Microsoft account username and password. The one catch is inactivity. Microsoft says an account unused for more than two years may have been deleted.

What changed and what did not

Question	Answer, per Microsoft
Is the hotmail.com address still valid?	Yes. Hotmail, Live and MSN addresses all sign in through Outlook.com
Where do I read it?	outlook.com, which opens outlook.live.com. Typing hotmail.com takes you there too
What is my password?	Your Hotmail password is the same as your Microsoft account password
Can I still get a new @hotmail.com address?	Microsoft's sign-up page offered hotmail.com alongside outlook.com when we checked on October 28, 2026
Can someone else take my old address?	No. Microsoft says addresses used for Microsoft accounts cannot be reused

The name on the website is the main thing that changed. The address, the inbox and the login stayed with the same Microsoft account.

How to sign in to Hotmail

From Microsoft's page How to sign in to Hotmail:

Go to outlook.com in your browser. It opens outlook.live.com.
Select Sign in.
Enter your full Hotmail address, including the ending, such as @hotmail.com.
Enter your password. This is your Microsoft account password.
If you are on a new device or traveling, Microsoft may ask you to confirm it is really you.

Microsoft's Outlook.com sign-in page gives the same instructions for Outlook.com, Hotmail, Live and MSN accounts, and lists the Outlook apps for iOS, Android and Windows among the products it applies to.

On a shared computer: Microsoft says that since February 2025 you stay signed in automatically unless you sign out or use private browsing. On a computer that is not yours, open a private window first, and sign out from your profile picture when you are done.

How to get back into an old Hotmail account

If you have not used the address in years, work through these in order.

Check the exact address. Microsoft's page on usernames that stopped working points out that Hotmail, Outlook and Live come in different country domains, such as .com and .co.uk. An address that "doesn't exist" is often the right name on the wrong ending. Check the spelling of the name too.

Reset the password. On the same page, select Recover your account, type the address, and choose where to get a security code. Enter the code and set a new password. This only works if the account still has a phone number or other email you can reach.

Forgot the address itself? Microsoft's username lookup sends a code to your security phone or email, then shows a hint of the username in a format like j********@outlook.com.

If none of that works, Microsoft's Hotmail page carries a warning worth taking seriously: "if you haven't signed in to your account for more than 2 years, your account may have been deleted." In that case the old mail is gone. And because Microsoft does not reuse addresses, you cannot sign up for the same one again.

If it does work, sign in now and then from here on, and add a current phone number or email as security info so the next recovery is easy.

Can you still create a new Hotmail account?

Microsoft's account creation page says to go to outlook.com and select Create free account if you want a new address. The sign-up link on Microsoft's Hotmail page opens the same flow.

When we loaded that sign-up page on October 28, 2026, its list of address endings contained two options: outlook.com and hotmail.com. So you can still pick a name ending in @hotmail.com. Both work identically, since they are the same service. The list we saw did not include country versions such as hotmail.co.uk.

The free account comes with the Outlook.com inbox, 5 GB of cloud storage and the free web versions of Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint, according to Microsoft.

Already have a Microsoft account? You do not need a second one to get a new address. Microsoft's page on adding an alias lets you add a new Outlook.com address to your existing account from the "how you sign in" page by selecting Add email. It shares the same contacts, storage, subscriptions and settings.

If you would rather sign up without handing over a phone number, our guide to creating an Outlook or Hotmail account without a phone number walks through what Microsoft asks for.

Is a Hotmail address still a valid email address?

Yes. Microsoft treats Hotmail addresses as Outlook.com accounts, and their owners sign in at outlook.com. An @hotmail.com address is as valid as an @outlook.com one, as long as the account behind it is still active.

If you are done with Hotmail

Some people find their old Hotmail account again and decide they want out. Two routes, depending on what you want to keep:

Keep the account, drop the address. Add a new address as an alias, then remove the Hotmail one. Your files and purchases stay.
Leave Microsoft entirely. Our guide to closing a Microsoft account covers the 30 or 60 day window and what to save first, and exporting your Outlook emails shows how to take the mailbox with you.

A fresh inbox that does not need a phone

If you are starting over rather than recovering, Secria Mail is free and asks for no phone number and no card. Sign-up takes a name, the address you want and a password, and a 12-word recovery phrase gets you back in if you forget it. Every plan, the free one included, uses hybrid post-quantum encryption (ML-KEM-1024 with X25519), and stored mail is locked with a key made from your password, on your device. There are no ads, and you can import your old Hotmail mail. You can create an account here.

Frequently asked questions

Does Hotmail still exist in 2026? Yes. Microsoft's help pages say "Hotmail is now Outlook.com." Existing @hotmail.com addresses still work, and you sign in at outlook.com.

Does my old Hotmail account still exist? It does if it has been used recently enough. Microsoft says an account you have not signed in to for more than two years may have been deleted. Try signing in, then use Recover your account if the password fails.

Is Hotmail still free? Yes. A Hotmail or Outlook.com address comes with a free Microsoft account.

Can I still make a @hotmail.com email address? Yes. Go to outlook.com and select Create free account. Microsoft's sign-up page offered both outlook.com and hotmail.com endings when we checked in October 2026.

Is my Hotmail password the same as my Outlook password? Yes. Microsoft says your Hotmail or Outlook.com password is the same as your Microsoft account password.

Can I get my old Hotmail address back if it was deleted? No. Microsoft says addresses used for Microsoft accounts cannot be reused, even if the account was closed a long time ago. That also means no one else can take it.

Hotmail never really went away. If your old address still signs in, add fresh security info today so you do not lose it to the two-year rule.