Saved a mailbox from the 2000s
My old Hotmail from school days had photos and letters I did not want to lose. Signed in through the Microsoft window, chose PST, and the whole thing came down clean. Glad I did it before the account lapsed.
Core features
Hotmail Backup Tool, One Screen at a Time
The order a Hotmail backup follows, from the Microsoft login to the saved archive.
Connect
Log In With a Microsoft Account
Choose Hotmail in the provider list and the server details are filled in. A Microsoft login box then wants the Hotmail address, its password and, where set up, the Authenticator code.
Once accepted, the old folders appear. The program never stores the password, and no Hotmail app password is asked for. Log in to a family of old Hotmail addresses and save them together.
Folder selection
Choose Old Hotmail Folders
A Hotmail account opens as a checkbox tree with totals beside every folder. Rescue twenty years in one sweep, or only the folder from a past job.
Skip Junk Email and Deleted Items if they hold nothing worth keeping. Nested folders are saved in their original order and empty folders are hidden.
Message preview
Check Old Hotmail Mail Before Saving
Click any message to see it alongside four tabs. When an account is about to lapse, the preview is how people check that wedding photos, job offers and old letters are in the set being saved.
Content shows the message as its recipient saw it, message header records Received lines with time stamps, properties list size and attachments, and hex with raw message dumps the original.
Selective backup
Back Up Hotmail by Date, Sender or Size
Filters apply before the download, so only chosen mail comes down. Two decades of promotions can stay behind while family mail and receipts are kept.
Frame the backup with From and To dates, look up by sender, recipient, subject or words in the mail, keep only mail with photos or files attached, leave oversized messages behind and drop junk and repeated copies.
Output options
Select a Hotmail Backup Format
Choose where the Hotmail copy goes: a folder, a USB stick, a NAS share or another live inbox. Documents use a naming pattern, so thousands of saved letters stay easy to search.
Outlook PST, MBOX for Thunderbird or Apple Mail, EML and MSG for single letters, printable PDF and HTML, plus CSV or TXT. Hand mail over to Gmail or a new Outlook.com box with the email migration tool.