Helping people with computers... one answer at a time.
Changing your Hotmail address is not possible, but you can set up a new account.
My MSN Hotmail name is "something@hotmail.com". I really don't like the "something". What I'd really like is to be "soemthingelse@hotmail.com". How do I change it?
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This is another one of those seemingly simple questions that I get several times every day.
What you're asking for is not to change your name, but your email address. Unfortunately, your email address is how MSN Hotmail identifies you. A different email address means a completely different MSN Hotmail account.
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Let's clarify something first, though. Your MSN Hotmail identity consists of two parts: your display name (like "Leo Notenboom") and your email address ("something@hotmail.com"). You can easily change your MSN Hotmail display name. I've covered that in a previous article.
But you cannot change the email address of your Hotmail account. You can only create a new account with a new email address. To do that:
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Sign Out of your Hotmail account by clicking on the "Sign Out" button.
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Visit Hotmail.com - but instead of signing in, click the Sign Up button under the "New to MSN Hotmail?" section. This will lead you through creating a new Hotmail account.
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After you select the free option, the next step will be to select your new email address. Good luck finding something you like that hasn't already been taken.
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Be sure to pick a good password that you can remember, and that others will not be able to guess.
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Select a secret question from the list, and give an answer that only you would know. Do not forget this - without it, you could lose your account.
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Enter an alternate email address that your password could be sent to in case you forget it. Make sure it's a different email address that you control, preferably on a different service.
After your new account has been created, you can start using it.
But your old account still exists. You will need to manually move all your contacts from your old Hotmail account to your new one. You will need to tell all your contacts that you have a new email address, and that they should stop using the old one. You will need to change anywhere else you use your old email address, for example in MSN Instant Messenger.
And when you're all done, you may, or may not, want to delete your old MSN Hotmail account. Remember, some time after you close your account, your old email name will become available for someone else to take and use as their own.
As you can see, it's a lot of work, and it's definitely not easy to do.
It's yet another reason I don't recommend free email services for anything important.
Article C2632 - April 22, 2006
Leo A. Notenboom has been playing with computers since he
was required to take a programming class in 1976. An 18 year career as a programmer at Microsoft soon followed.
After "retiring" in 2001, Leo started Ask Leo! in 2003 as a place for answers
to common computer and technical questions. More about Leo.
i followed all the instructions to change my email address and hit submit and all was well. Then when i came back to send an email my old email address came up. Can you advise me what has gone wrong? many thanks sir!
28-Oct-2010
Posted by: KINGNEBS at October 28, 2010 6:51 AM
I just logged into my hotmail account and it asked me" If for password recovery I used 214-923-****, yes or no?" what does this mean? I dont know whose # this is!
10-Nov-2010
Posted by: momy at November 11, 2010 1:18 PM
Dear Sir,
with due respect it is stated that some one hacked my e.mail address and unnecessary mail coming in my sending box and my in box how i can stop that. pls help me in this matter. i shall be very thankful to you for this regard.
yours sincerely,
m.naeem qureshi
13-Jan-2011
Posted by: M.NAEEM QURESHI at January 12, 2011 3:37 PM
I want my email hotmail acct. unblocked. Realize that I HAVE BLOCKED MANY EMails, THE ONLY EMAIL i wish to recevie will be from bulen
14-Oct-2011
Dear Sir,
Posted by: liv parkin at November 6, 2011 4:52 AMFor a long time I have wanted to change my email address on Hotmail, as I was 13 when I set it up and now that I have matured I realise that its silly. But I understand that you cannot change your email address without setting up a completely different account, however I found something on the settings that says I can change my preferred email address. Brilliant! But it won't let me change it. Is there a way that I can get around that and change it?
Many thanks :)