Summary: Your Alternate E-mail Address is a second email address used to recover your hacked or lost Hotmail account. You must change your Alternate E-mail Address if you lose access to that second account, or you risk not being able to recover your Hotmail account should you lose the password or get hacked.
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Can you show me how to change my alternate email address on MSN Hotmail? I looked through the options and didn't see it. |
You didn't find it because ... well, because it's not there. Apparently that would be too easy.
Can you tell I find that frustrating? Yep. Me and thousands of others, I might add. It's simple once you find it, but finding it? Aye, there's the rub.
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To the point - go here: MSN Account Services. You'll need to log in, of course, but once you do, you'll be able to change all sorts of things about your MSN Account, including your Alternate E-mail Address.
"MSN account?" you ask, "But this is my Hotmail account".
Yes, I know. There's a bit of an identity crisis going on. MSN (An acronym for MicroSoft Network) provides a number of services, Hotmail being only one of them. When you sign up for a Hotmail account, you are actually creating an account with MSN that can be used on any of the free MSN services including MSN Messenger, My MSN and more.
But wait. There's still more confusion, and identity crisis to be had...
As you navigate your MSN account settings, or even when you sign on to MSN services like Hotmail, you'll see references to something called "Passport". A Passport is that single account that you create that lets you log into all the different MSN services. In fact, Passport was originally created with the goal of being the one login for all websites from many different vendors besides Microsoft. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be happening, and even MSN seems to be shying away from the term "Passport" - but you'll still see it in various places.
So in a nutshell, to change your Hotmail account Alternate E-mail Address, visit MSN Account Services and you'll be all set.
Important: If it's your actual email address you want to change (not your alternate), then you need to read this article: How do I change my Hotmail name or address?.
Related:
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How do I change my MSN Hotmail password? Change your MSN Hotmail password with step-by-step instructions. Changing your Hotmail password is easy, and you should do it regularly.
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How do I change my Hotmail name or address? Changing your Hotmail address is not possible, but you can set up a new account.
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How do I delete my Hotmail account? Delete your MSN Hotmail account with these step-by-step instructions. Deleting your MSN Hotmail account isn't neccessary, but it's easy to do.
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How do I resolve my MSN Hotmail sign in problems? We look at a variety of potential problems with MSN Hotmail.
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Microsoft - MSN Account Services
Article C2448 - October 29, 2005
You cannot change your email address (the part before the @hotmail.com). You can only open a new account with a new address. This article has more: http://ask-leo.com/how_do_i_change_my_hotmail_name_or_address.html
Posted by: Leo at June 27, 2006 5:29 PMHow do I change my actual email address?
Posted by: Sam at July 25, 2006 10:17 AMThat's this article: http://ask-leo.com/how_do_i_change_my_hotmail_name_or_address.html
Posted by: Leo A. Notenboom at July 25, 2006 10:28 AMHi, this website is really constructive; I want to ask you something; What's the Unique Id.'s purpose in the hotmail service? what's the function of it? Is it helpful?
Posted by: charles at December 12, 2006 8:50 PMThanks
I would like to be able to read & respond to my emails from my home computer here at work. How do I go about doing that?
Posted by: Dav Vandervoort at January 9, 2008 4:10 PM-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
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If you're using Hotmail, then just login to Hotmail from
your work computer and have at it.
Leo
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Posted by: Leo A. Notenboom at January 10, 2008 2:55 PMR2ik7U1VPxrgBqDezAceWOI=
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Dear Leo:
I read the article, but was unable to find an answer to my concern. I am having trouble with certain e-mail addresses. I write the message, then press SEND, but at that point Hotmail informs me that I can't send it because it doesn't provide free access to certain services anymore. Why are we told this after it's sent and not before, and why is this policy in place?
Posted by: Doug Blackwood at February 17, 2008 1:50 PM-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
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Sounds fishy, but I'd have to see the *specific* and
complete error message.
Leo
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Posted by: Leo A. Notenboom at February 18, 2008 9:57 AMwfMjvkPiFtTfwBthAQ+FXvY=
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Hi
I have forgotten my password for both my email and alternative email address, im answering the security question to the best of my knowledge and its saying its incorrect. i am wondering weather the case you are typing in affects the answer? and if you need a gap between your postal code, eg. cf37 4ph? Thanks
Posted by: Jade Sweet at August 12, 2009 3:17 AMI click on a e mail address I want to write to and then the MSN e mail page opens but I can not get a signature put on the bottom and I want to change the settings so it will send it automatically I do not know how to change POP3 settings for incoming and out going mail and I do not use OutLook Express please help
Posted by: Brian Dillan at October 10, 2009 8:44 PM