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MSN Hotmail: how long will Hotmail keep my account open?

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Summary: MSN Hotmail will delete your information, and even delete your account, if you don't use it often enough. I cover those numbers, and what you should really be doing instead anyway.

I'm about to go on a trip for a while, and I want to make sure I don't lose any of my on-line information. I keep a lot of important emails and contact information in my MSN Hotmail account. If I don't login for a while, how soon will Hotmail discard it?

You keep important things in your Hotmail account?

And only in your Hotmail account?

SIGH

In case you haven't guessed, that's one of my pet peeves. Let's look at why, and what you should be doing. And we'll answer your question too.

The answer to your specific question is easy. From MSN Hotmail's on-line help:

If you don't sign in to your Hotmail account for more than 30 days, or within the first 10 days after signing up for a new account, all messages, folders, and contacts are marked for deletion, but the account name is still reserved. If the account stays inactive for a further 90 days, the account name is permanently deleted.

Let's analyze that a bit.

  • If you create a Hotmail account, and then don't use it for 10 days, your email and contacts are deleted.

  • If you've been using your Hotmail account and for some reason fail to login for 30 days, your email and contacts are deleted.

  • If you fail to login for 90 days the account name will be deleted - meaning that someone else could come along and create a new account, reusing that same name.

What's this "marked for deletion" thing? What it means is that your email might not actually be deleted on (say) the 31st day of inactivity - but it could be, when Hotmail gets around to it.

And once deleted, it cannot be recovered.

"...I regularly get reports of people losing important information from their MSN Hotmail accounts."

So now that I've answered your question, why am I so concerned about you keeping important things only in your Hotmail account?

Because I regularly get reports of people losing important information from their MSN Hotmail accounts. Be it because of account inactivity as I've discussed here, connectivity issues, accounts being lost or hacked ... it's a regular occurrence.

And there's no recourse.

I strongly encourage you to read my article on free email accounts: Are free email services worth it? for more details, and what I believe you need to be doing instead.

But if you insist on staying with only Hotmail, then yes, make sure you login at least once every 30 days, or your information my be irretrievably lost.

Related:

Article 10846 | Posted October 25, 2006

Recent Comments
35 Comments

why in the hell would they replace completely their old setup with this new one and not tranfer information to it? thievery is why. this is the second company to completely switch over to a whole new format and not save the information to the new format. how can they do this with absolutely no notice to their customers? MS wants yahoo only to f*** it up more than it already is. both companies steal emails and close accounts, this is just not right. anyone doing any kind of business with either will be extremely dissappointed. yahoo groups is the pits as well.

Posted by: cheryl at July 16, 2008 8:41 AM

telephone number for grandmas kitchen

Posted by: Jean Edwards at August 16, 2008 12:34 PM

THIS USELESS HOTMAIL DELETED ME, MY ADDRESS AND PASSWORD AFTER LESS THAN 2 WEEKS. NOT 30DAYS, 90 DAYS. NO ACCOUNT IS FOUND! THIS IS FOR A BUSINESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've said it over and over and over again: never use a free service like Hotmail for anything important, especially a business. More: Are free email services worth it?

-Leo

Posted by: DOUG MASSEY at August 20, 2008 1:53 PM

I switched from ATTT to COM cast some how my hotmail account password (doorgunner) got changed my hotmail was rick_mustered@ I have it for years yes bring out the ruler and I'll hold my hand out. I've stored letters jokes pictures having to due with Am Vets post 30 when I try to change it it sends the msg there if I try to go though live it wants me to change that password TY in advance for your time and help.

Posted by: Richard Mustered at September 13, 2008 10:33 PM

I have many information in my account, how can Hotmail delete my information ? It is not good . They have very bad thinking.

Posted by: Aftab Ahmed at October 15, 2008 8:51 AM

since they have changed the format I can receive my mail but I cannot scroll down to read it, and I see no place to send mail out,

Posted by: Vertie at October 17, 2008 7:18 AM

I've read several of your comments here but I have one question. If an account owner has not used the account in 90+ days and an email is sent to that acct., will it bounce back mailer daemon or will it appear to have gone through as though the acct. is still operable?

It may, or it may not. We don't know, and even if we did, we couldn't count on it. This article has more: When will Hotmail return an undeliverable message?

Realize also that after some period of time a new user could come in and open a new account with the same email address, at which point email "shouldn't" bounce, but instead be delivered to this new account.
- Leo
19-Oct-2008

Posted by: Betty at October 18, 2008 11:28 AM

I logged on my hotmail yesterday and it was a totally new version and it lost alot of my attached pictures...Im a dog rescuer and I need the pics of these dogs Im trying to save.

I have no answer on recovering anything lost in your Hotmail account. It happens with unfortunately regularity for various reasons. It's one of the reasons I so strongly recommend that you never use a free email account as the sole repository for anything important. Back it up, somehow, and/or use a commercial email account with support.
- Leo
08-Nov-2008

Posted by: jules at November 8, 2008 2:14 AM

How can I open my e-mails.I have been a member of msn since 1996.I have new e-mails and I cannot even read my new ones.I can see senders but I cannot open or read them.Do I need to pay every year or did I cancel my account accidentally?I need answers to these questions.ASAP

Posted by: Imelda J.Grantham at November 11, 2008 12:29 AM

Where did my email account go, it just stopped working.

Posted by: Anne Alban at November 25, 2008 6:02 PM

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