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How to login online to outlook.com and to hotmail.com

Anonymous
2020-08-30T00:25:49+00:00

I had a hotmail account and it is still active. I also have an outlook.com mail account which is active.  I have four different email clients on my MacBook. In three of them the Hotmail and Outlook accounts are now functioning properly. The two types of account each use a single password, different from each other. But on my Spark client, somehow the Hotmail account doesn't connect and I don't remember the password.   How can I find my existing Hotmail password if I've forgotten it? Must I go through some sort of reset process and record the new password? I've read that Microsoft integrated Hotmail and Outlook mail, so could I use the same password for both, but keep them separate by using different login usernames?  I'm very confused about Microsoft's present setup concerning usernames and passwords to be used for the different functions, like My Microsoft Account, Outlook.com mail, Hotmail.com mail, Skype, Office 365, etc.  Logging in can be enormously frustrating because the system sometimes doesn't accept a password that I installed just a few hours earlier.  I use 1Password which should be very reliable. The login process seems often to prefer using the authenticator on my iPhone or code sent by email or text msg, instead of using a password.  Is there some simple underlying logic to the Microsoft logins that I haven't understood yet?  At this point, I can read Hotmail on the web, but I can't read Outlook mail on the web.  Can all my past Hotmail folders and files be transferred over to my Outlook.com mail account so I can just drop the Hotmail.com address without losing any correspondents?

Outlook | Web | Outlook.com | Settings

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-09-02T04:20:02+00:00

    I managed to solve the problem in Spark, about login to Hotmail. I logged in to Hotmail by confirmation through the authenticator, then reset the password with 1Password, so I have a record of that.  Then I entered that in the Spark login process and it gave me no more grief at that stage. In all four of my email clients I'm now able to send mail from the Hotmail address, but none of them can receive mail.

    As for creating an alias address as a way to "merge" the Hotmail and Outlook accounts in Microsoft's webmail, I tried that. I first by logged in to the @outlook.com account and tried to add the @hotmail.com address as an alias. That was rejected, with error message saying that it is a "reserved address," whatever that means. 

    I then logged in to the @hotmail.com account and tried to add the @outlook.com address as an alias. That was also rejected, saying simply that the address was not available.  

    I see that before 2013 Microsoft allowed merging accounts, but withdrew that option on grounds of concern for users' security. All in all, I think Microsoft mail is hugely inconvenient.  iCloud mail and Gmail are far more reliable and easy to use. What's the problem?  Is Microsoft so heavily weighted toward business users that they can't be bothered with individual home users' concerns? 

    Thomas

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-08-30T06:37:21+00:00

    You can't move the address to the outlook.com account, but you can add it as a connected account in Open Outlook.com's settings: Settings (gear icon) > View all Outlook settings > Sync Email. (If you use 2-factor auth, you will need to use an app password when you set it up as a connected account.)

    If you have contacts to move, you'll need to export from one account and import into the other.

    Add an alias in Sync Email page

    I tried the above process at the page shown in the URL link shown in this link. But the result was an error message saying that the system rejects this, because Hotmail is part of a "reserved domain." I later saw an explanation that only non-Microsoft accounts can be added to the Sync Email list. 

    I'm still stuck with the basic problem: how can I find the password of my presently active and functioning Hotmail account? That's the key problem I'm facing.  

    Thomas

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-08-31T01:53:21+00:00

    You can't add an existing outlook.com address there and it does not support creating a new Hotmail alias., only outlook.com

    If you want to 'merge' accounts, you need to add existing accounts as connected accounts in Outlook.com's settings: Settings (gear icon) > View all Outlook settings > Sync Email.

    https://outlook.live.com/mail/0/options/mail/ac...

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-08-30T02:22:12+00:00

    Hi Thomas,

    Sorry to hear you're experiencing this issue. When i need to log into 2 accounts, i use a private browser or a different browser . It's easier than logging in and out.

    >>

    Can all my past Hotmail folders and files be transferred over to my Outlook.com

    mail account so I can just drop the Hotmail.com address without losing any correspondents?

    >>

    You can't move the address to the outlook.com account, but you can add it as a connected account in Open Outlook.com's settings: Settings (gear icon) > View all Outlook settings > Sync Email. (If you use 2-factor auth, you will need to use an app password when you set it up as a connected account.)

    If you have contacts to move, you'll need to export from one account and import into the other.

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