Sync Your Hotmail Account With MacOS Mail

If you thought Hotmail was a thing of the past, you were right ... sort of. Although Microsoft discontinued the service years ago and replaced it with Outlook.com, many users still have Hotmail addresses, and it is even possible to get a new Hotmail address. Users access their Hotmail addresses in their Outlook.com mail screen, and Outlook.com can be set up to automatically copy the mail it receives to macOS Mail.

Linking Current Hotmail Accounts to Apple Mail

If you already have a working Hotmail email address, your mailbox is located at Outlook.com. Check there first to make sure your account is still active. If you haven't used your Hotmail email address for a year or so, it may have been deactivated.

Log in to Outlook.com with your Hotmail email address and password.
Confirm your Hotmail email address is active. If you don't see it, it probably isn't.

Setting Up Mail on Your Mac for Hotmail

Click the Mail icon on your Mac.
From the Mail menu, select Add Account.
Select Other Mail Account in the screen that opens and click Continue.
Enter your Hotmail email address in the field provided for it.
Enter your Hotmail email password.
Click Sign In.

Look in the Inbox section of your Mail app and you'll see a new mailbox named Hotmail. It will have a number next to it indicating how many emails have been copied over to the Mail app. Click the Hotmail mailbox to open it and review your email.

You can respond to mail and send new mail using your Hotmail email address from inside the Mail application on your Mac.

How to Get a New Hotmail Account

If you wish you'd gotten a Hotmail address back when they were available, it isn't too late, just a little tricky. Hotmail is considered legacy email by Microsoft, but the company still supports it.

Go to Microsoft.com in a browser.
Click Sign In at the top of the website to open a sign-in window, but don't sign in, even if you have an account.
Instead, where it says "No account? Create one," click Create one.
On the Create an Account screen, enter your name.
Enter your desired email address in the Username field in the format YourName@hotmail.com. You may have to try several times to find an email address that isn’t already taken.
IMPORTANT: Select Hotmail from the drop-down arrow at the far right of the Username field.
Enter a password and fill out the rest of the form.
Click Create account at the bottom of the screen.
Go to Outlook.com and enter your new email address and log-in information when requested. You’ll be taken to your new Outlook Mail screen.