Sign in to Hotmail from iPhone Mail
As explained in our "Mobile Hotmail Sign in" tutorial, you can check your email account using the mobile Safari web browser that ships with the iPhone and iPod touch. In this tutorial, we focus on the "Mail" email program ("application") that comes with the device - just pick your favorite approach!
Because Hotmail uses its own email protocol (as opposed to standard POP3 or IMAP), setting up a Hotmail email account in iPhone Mail (the email app that comes with the smartphone) required that you access the webmail service as a regular POP account, without being able to see custom folders you created. This has fortunately changed with a recent version of the iOS operating system that runs on the iPhone (and iPad plus iPod touch), which now allows you to get the full Windows Live Hotmail experience by using a "Microsoft Exchange Server" setup. In this tutorial, we will show you how to sign in to Hotmail from your iPhone (or iPod touch) by adding your email account the right way.
Tip: if you have previously added your Hotmail account as POP3 to your iPhone or iPod touch, start by deleting it, as follows. Tap on "Settings" and scroll down to select "Mail, Contacts, Calendars"; then, tap on "Hotmail" (or however you custom named your account). You have two choices: temporarily disable the email account by switching "On" to "Off", or using the "Delete Account" at the bottom.
Add your Hotmail account to the Mail app on iPhone / iPod touch
Now follow these simple steps to setup Hotmail as a new account:
- If needed, press the round "Home" button on your device to show the Home screen. Now tap on "Settings" and select "Mail, Contacts, Calendars"; then choose to "Add Account". Tap on "Microsoft Exchange" at the top, and you will see the following sign up form:
- Under "Email" and "Username", type your full Hotmail email address, and enter your "Password". Leave the domain blank, and optionally enter something like "Hotmail" inside the as account name under "Description".
- Enter "m.hotmail.com" under "Server" ("
m" is for "mobile"). Tap the "Next" button at the top. - Your iPhone (or iPod touch) will now check your credentials with Windows Live's servers; if you entered all your information correctly, you will now be looking at a screen that contains three On/Off switches: "Mail" is enabled by default; if you wish to sync your "Contacts" or "Calendar" on your iPhone, enable both of these by pressing on their switch.
Access Hotmail and other email accounts from a single location
You are done! The Mail application has now registered your Hotmail account, along with any other email addresses you may have already setup. To sign in to Hotmail on your iPhone, just tap on the "Mail" app icon, and choose "Hotmail" from your email accounts (or choose "All Inboxes").
To access other Hotmail email folders from the iPhone (besides inbox that is), just tap on the "Hotmail" button at the bottom of the screen shown on the screenshot above, and then on the folder name.
Tip: to only check for new emails from Hotmail and leave message management to another device or computer, just setup Hotmail as POP3 on iPhone.
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.