Outlook email is random numbers and letters, how do I actually set up an email

Question

I’ve had a Microsoft account for a very long time. But I’ve never actually set up an outlook email. I’ve never even logged onto the Outlook website nor do I have any apps for it. I currently need to set up a new email and I have been dissatisfied with Yahoo and AOL so I figured I should do outlook. Now since I already have a Microsoft account I can’t set up a new Outlook account. It just exists when I log in. Multiple places it’s showing my email address as random numbers and letters @outlook.com. I looked up how I could change that and everything talks about aliases. But that’s about adding a new way to sign in using an email you already have. And while fiddling around with my account now my only option as from address is my Gmail that I made my Microsoft account with. And if I select that as the from email address it doesn’t even send the email. How do I make an actual outlook email address? I don’t want to have to make a new Microsoft account.

Answer 1

Hello newfox

Hi, I'm Karl and will be happy to help you today.

The fact that you see an Outlook_longuglycode email address means that the <Primary Alias> email address for the account is a non-Microsoft email address.

This issue is explained in

Outlook.com email account appears as "outlook_[long series of letters and numbers]@outlook.com" in Outlook for Windows

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/outl...

Summary solution

#1 - Create a <NEW> Outlook.com alias email address for the account

Add or remove an email alias in Outlook.com

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/add-or...

#2 - Make the new alias the <Primary Alias> as described in the above article

>>

I looked up how I could change that and everything talks about aliases. But that’s about adding a new way to sign in using an email you already have.

<<

Just to clarify something, while you can use different alias addresses to sign into the same account it also allows you to send emails from any of the alias addresses. It is definitely not just about signing into the account.

Answer 2

>>

but it appears to be working now. Thanks.

<<

Usually the change is immediate but the important thing is that everything is working. All that matters at the end of the day

Answer 3

I had added an alias and made it primary as directed, but that’s when it changed to only having my gmail shown in outlook and wouldn’t actually send emails.

I’m not sure if the system just needed an extended time to enact the change but it appears to be working now. Thanks.