When you are trying to login to check your emails, the Hotmail sign in screen / form may return an error message that says "Your session has timed out. Please try again". In this tutorial, we will explore the cause of this login problem, and what to do if you consistently receive it. (And you'll learn why it is not a technical glitch to worry about if Windows Live Hotmail only gives it to you on occasions.) For reference, here is a screenshot of typical the Hotmail session timeout error message discussed on this page:
Troubleshooting the Hotmail Sign-in "Timeout" error message
Whenever you login to an online service like Windows Live Hotmail, the web server on the other end tries to establish who you are - which is especially true when you are entering credentials (user name and password) in a sign in form to access your account - in the case of Hotmail, the user name being your "Windows Live ID", which is your email address.
In web development parlance, a "session" is a sort of dialog that is created between your web browser and the web server of the website or web application you are trying to access. In the case of the Hotmail sign in form, you need, for example, to have JavaScript and cookies enabled to access your emails. But you also need to have a number of other default settings left alone, which determines how your browser "talks" to remote sites on the internet. Below are the three main causes of the session timeout error:
- First, and the most common occurrence of the Hotmail timeout message on the sign in form is simply a true timeout: after a certain period of inactivity, the web server will automatically close a connection ("session"), since it can only have so many of them opened at the same time. So, if you opened Hotmail (for example by typing "www.hotmail.com" or "www.live.com" in the address bar), and left the sign in form "unattended", when you return and enter your correct email address and password, Windows Live will return this error message. All you need to do is "re-launch" or re-open Hotmail the way you typically do, and start over with your login:
- The second most common reason for getting session timeout errors on the Hotmail login form (or other sign in screens that try to let you access some kind of account) is often a "redundant internet connection" you have at work or at your school. Depending on how the dual connection is configured, you are alternating between one connection to the other, and your Hotmail sign in session is essentially "reset", since you appear to be a different user. If sounds like your scenario, contact the system administrator, and he or she will easily fix the issue.
- The third common cause of getting this session timed out error message on the Hotmail sign in screen comes from using an "anonymizer", a piece of software that makes your web surfing harder to track - for the same reasons as above, the login process can often not happen because Windows Live Hotmail perceives you to be different users! (Either return to regular browsing, or ask the closest techie if you are using some kind of utility that randomly switches IP address while you surf the net.
Tip: you may receive this error message whether you go through the regular Hotmail sign in, or whether you automatically sign in to Hotmail. The login process will in most cases not be affected at all by this setting, since the Windows Live timeout error message has to do with the way you connect to the internet, not your web browser itself, cookies, or JavaScript enabled / disabled.
Tutorial last updated on November 26, 2011
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