How to Sync Your Hotmail Account With macOS Mail

This article explains how to receive messages sent to your Hotmail email address with macOS Mail. While Hotmail is discontinued, users with Hotmail email addresses can still retrieve messages from Outlook.com, which Mail can access automatically.

Set Up Mail on Your Mac for Hotmail

If you have an active Hotmail email address, you can set it up quickly in Mac Mail.

1. Select the Mail icon on your Mac's Dock. (It can also be found in Launchpad or the Applications folder.)

2. From the Mail menu, select Add Account.

3. Select Other Mail Account in the screen that opens, then choose Continue. Depending on your macOS version, you may have to select Mail Account in the next screen.

4. Enter your name, Hotmail email address, and password in the fields provided for them. Select Sign In.

5. Leave Mail and Notes checked in the list of available services. Choose Done.

6. Look in the Mailbox sidebar at the left of the Mail window. Open the Inbox if it is closed by clicking the arrow next to it to see all available Mailboxes. Choose the new Hotmail mailbox to access your Hotmail account in Mail. If it is a new account, you'll have only a welcoming email. If it is an older account, the number next to Hotmail in the Mailboxes list indicates the number of emails in the inbox.

You can read and 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 don't have a Hotmail address, it isn't too late to get one. Microsoft considers Hotmail to be legacy email, but the company still supports it. To sign up for a new Hotmail account:

1. Go to Microsoft.com in a browser and 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.

2. Where the sign-in screen says "No account? Create one," choose Create one.

3. On the Create Account screen, select Get a new email address. Then enter your desired email address in the format Username@hotmail.com by typing a name and selecting @hotmail.com from the drop-down arrow that appears to the right of the name field. You may have to try several times to find an email address that isn't taken. Choose Next.

4. Enter a password for your new Hotmail account and select Next.

5. Enter your first and last names, country, and birthday in subsequent windows. Choose Next after filling in the requested information on each screen.

6. Enter the CAPTCHA code and choose Next to create your account.

7. Outlook.com opens on your new Outlook Mail screen. 

How to See if Your Hotmail Account Is Still Active

If you have a working Hotmail email address, your mailbox is located at Outlook.com. Check Outlook.com to ensure your account is active. If you haven't used your Hotmail email address for over a year, it may have been deactivated.

Log in to Outlook.com with your Hotmail email address and password. If you don't see it, it probably isn't active. Don't worry. You can set up a new Hotmail address.