Home » Blog » Tips » Know If Hotmail Is Still Around in 2025

Know If Hotmail Is Still Around in 2025

Justin Cener ~ Modified: June 27th, 2025 ~ Tips ~ 8 Minutes Reading
In 1996, Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith developed one of the first webmail services that changed the way people communicated. While it initially rose, competition grew over time, its popularity decreased, and Microsoft took over Hotmail. Now in the modern era, when most of the world has moved on with plenty of advanced email clients that offer robust features, there remain a few that still use this web-based application. The answer to this might surprise you if you. Stick around to the end to explore how a user can keep their old emails secure in the digital age.
Table of Contents Hide

At the time, when emails and the internet were beginning to become more accepted across the world. A new email client Hotmail was introduced in the market. It was the first webmail that provided free email services, offered free 2 MB storage space, basic spam filter and access to account from any devices. At the time it was the biggest email client where its popularity increased day by day.  Thus, to answer the question of is Hotmail still active? Let’s look at the history of the program over the years.

The History of Hotmail Rebranding

The software has gone through several rebranding since it was introduced. From being an individual webmail to being a part of Microsoft. It goes through so many changes. Here’s a glimpse of the flow chart to better comprehend the history of Hotmail.

  • Year 1996: On July 4, 1996 Hotmail was launched as the world’s first webmail service. The name was inspired by HTML as they used HTML technology.
  • Year 1997: In December 1997, Microsoft bought the application and rebranded it as MSN Hotmail. They further integrated the MSN messenger and other products with the Hotmail program.
  • Year 2005-2011: In 2005, Microsoft merged Hotmail with Windows Live Mail to make the program more accessible on the user’s computer/PC or laptop.
  • Year 2012-13: In 2012, Microsoft transitioned Hotmail to Outlook.com with modernized email attributes. In 2013, the company completely moved all of the features of the application and users to Outlook.com. Now users can access their accounts at Outlook.com.

Thus, Microsoft phased out the app and combined it with Outlook.com. However, users can use their old @hotmail.com email address on Outlook.com, but cannot create a new account.

Significance of Using Hotmail in 2025

  • Filtering of Virus and Spam: This web-application provides crucial attributes like scanning of anti-virus for attachments and filtering of spam, ensuring users with a safe space to hold their emails in.
  • Communicating Globally: It offers a wide access point to users as the software facilitates global communication allowing individuals to connect with each other across geographical boundaries without facing any kind of digital complexities.
  • Long Term Usage: A great deal of users have had Hotmail for so long, utilizing them for vital services, personal communications and subscriptions containing important history of the data.
  • Suitable for Secondary Backup: Users often use Hotmail essentially for secondary motives like receiving newsletters, backup account recovery, app registrations, etc. with the purpose of keeping the primary inbox streamlined.
  • Personal Data Vault: This desktop-based application is considered to be more suitable for users who have been using it for decades as it operates as a data vault for users holding attachments, conversations, contacts, and emails from the 2000s.

Difference Between Hotmail and Outlook.com

Is Hotmail still active? The answer is no, as Microsoft has closed the program and the user can only access their old account. So, before we go any further. Let’s compare it with Outlook.com to have a better understanding of the improvements made over the years.

Features Hotmail (1996-2013) Outlook.com (2013-present)
User Interface & Design The interface is simple and provides a limited number of customization options. Has a modern UI and offers custom features and tools.
Free Storage Initially it provided 2 MB of free storage, later increased to 5 GB. Offers 15 GB of free storage. Users can increase the storage capacity with Microsoft’s 365.
Security Measures Has a basic spam filter and limited protection. Provides advanced AI-powered spam detection, strong anti-phishing and Two-Factor Authentication.
Accessibility & Account Management Users can simply login to your account with @hotmail.com email address Users can sign up with their Outlook account or an old account.
Email Features Can attach maximum 10 MB and provide basic folders with no filtering option. Attach files upto 34 MB per email and offer categories and various filter options.

How to Access Old Hotmail Emails in Outlook?

As the world is aware that Hotmail is no longer available. Now the question that arises on many minds is does Hotmail still work? How can users access their emails? Are Hotmail emails still valid? If the user still has the old account and wants retrieve their old data, then simply follow the steps below to get your old emails.

  1. First, run Outlook.com in your web browser.
  2. On the Sign in page, enter your @hotmail.com email address and password. Login to your account.
  3. If everything is correct, the program will take you to your account and you can now access your emails.

By following the above steps, you can open your old Hotmail account and extract your old emails and save your data in a secure place. Since there are plenty of chances of data corruption, it is essential to secure Hotmail data.

How to Secure Old Hotmail Email Account?

Most users are switching to another better email client. For those who still use it or those who want to migrate to another account, finding a way to preserve their old Hotmail email account. This process can be done manually, however, it may cause users problems such as being unable to access the account, losing some of the emails during the process. So, to avoid that use Corbett Hotmail Backup Tool.

Download Now Purchase Now

A professional tool that can easily save emails to your desktop. This software is a great way to secure the user’s location. As it provides multiple backup options and preserves the data integrity throughout the process. Moreover, Hotmail emails can easily be exported to another account.

Advantages of Using a Modern Backup Tool

  • Protects Against Data Loss: One of the key merits of such modern software is that it sustainably safeguards essential emails, calendars, contacts and other mailbox elements with the intention of eradicating any chance of accidental deletion, hacking, account issues and other technical and server problems.
  • Sustains the Integrity of the Data: Does Hotmail still exist? The application guarantees users of preserving the original formatting, metadata such as From, To, Bcc, Cc, Date, etc. and file structure during the backup process.
  • Flexible File Formatting: Similarly, this application allows users to easily save their Hotmail data information into numerous supported file formats such as PST, MBOX, MSG, EML, HTML, CSV, PDF, etc. offering utmost flexibility to access data with distinctive email platforms.
  • Provides User-Friendly Interface: Another resilient feature of this software is that it perfectly suitable for both technical and non-technical users giving a simple and intuitive interface along with advanced filter options.
  • Unplugged Access: This backup tool also provides its users with the feature of backing up the files on their local storage so that they can easily gain offline access to their emails in case of sudden loss of internet connectivity.

To Conclude

In conclusion, to answer the question “is Hotmail still active” is that Microsoft shut down this web-application services. However, old users can still access their emails from their existing email addresses. Throughout this article, we have explored the journey of the application, compared the characteristics of Hotmail with Outlook.com, and discussed the steps to access and secure old Hotmail account. With this, we have provided all the information related to this topic, so if you have any queries feel free to contact our support team.

Frequently Asked Queries

Q: Can I still open and use my Hotmail account?

A: Now, Hotmail as a brand no longer exists, but old accounts are still accessible through Outlook.com.

Q: Do people still use Hotmail accounts?

A: You cannot create a new account. However, old Hotmail users can still use their account in Outlook.com.

Q: Can I still receive emails from this web-based application?

A: If you have an old account, sync it in an email client. Your email address is still active and you will get an email.

Q: Is it necessary to change my Hotmail account to Outlook?

A: Well, it depends on you. But it is better to switch to Outlook as it is relevant in today’s time. This application service no longer exists, so you may have difficulty in sending and receiving emails.