Hotmail Sign up: create a Hotmail account or get a new email address
The Hotmail sign in page appears on the right of the Outlook.com homepage when you are logged out: on the left is either the sign-up form and button that you will use when you want to create a Hotmail account, or an ad for other Microsoft services - your first Hotmail account, or a new email address. You may also see a "Don't have a Microsoft account? Sign up now" text with link. We will explain how to quickly sign up for Hotmail and get your own "@hotmail.com" or "@live.com" free email account!
Tip: now that Microsoft has redesigned the service to look like Windows 8's Metro / Modern interface, some of the screenshots below may vary - for a full, in-depth overview, see how to create a Hotmail account using the modern look!
Sign up for your new Hotmail, Live.com, or Outlook.com email address
Follow these steps to get your own Hotmail account:
- Go to the Hotmail sign up page in a new window by clicking on this link. (If the link didn't open the "Create your Windows Live ID" page, you are still logged in: click on the "Sign up" button on the left side of your screen.) The sign up form that loads may use the default Outlook theme.
In both cases, you will end on the Hotmail sign up form, which looks like this:
- Under "Windows Live ID", type the first part of your email address: then either choose hotmail.com, live.com, or outlook.com for the second part of your new email address. (Since Hotmail is still much more well known than Windows Live, we recommend you first try with Hotmail, but the newer Outlook.com has more usernames still available!)
Then, click on "Check availability" to see if this email address is already taken or free. - Once you found an email address at Hotmail or Live, type and confirm your account password.
- Under Alternate email address, you can enter another email account you have that will be used in case you ever forget your password and need to reset it. If you prefer to use a "secret question", click on the "Choose a security question for password reset" link instead.
- What you enter under "First Name" and "Last Name" will be see when someone looks at your Windows Live profile, or when you send them an email from your Hotmail account.
- Next, pick your "Country/region", "State", and "ZIP Code" - you may not need to enter state and ZIP depending on the country you pick. Make sure that these answers and the following ones are correct, since they may be used as confirmation checks when you have forgotten your Hotmail password (and you may not easily remember made-up information!)
- Finally, indicate your "Gender" and your "Birth Year", and type the verification code at the bottom of the Hotmail sign up form to confirm that you are not a spammer / robot.
- After you've read the Microsoft service agreement and privacy policy, click on the "I accept" button to create your Hotmail account and get your new email address.
Hotmail sign up is complete: now what?
Now that your new email address is active and you have finished the sign up process, you can go through Hotmail sign in to send and receive emails from your new Hotmail account. You will also find a welcome email in your inbox, titled "Getting started with Windows Live Hotmail".
This is all it takes to sign up for Hotmail and get a free email address you can use for years to come; unlike work email addresses, email accounts provided by your internet service provider, or a student email address, your new Hotmail account will not expire when you change job, school, or ISP.
Tip: to prevent users from hoarding email addresses for no useful purpose, Windows Live Hotmail will automatically cancel and delete email accounts that are not used. So make sure to login to your new Hotmail email address at least once every two months to avoid disconnection (canceled email accounts are released into availability, and will show as available in the Hotmail sign up form for others!)
New Hotmail, MSN Hotmail, Windows Live Hotmail & Live email are all referring to the same free webmail service offered by Microsoft and Windows Live Team (works on Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Mac OS X). Microsoft Corporation, Apple, and other companies own the copyright or trademark to these and other terms mentioned.