After 25+ Years, It’s Goodbye Hotmail

For me, 2024 is all about simplifying workflow and removing any speed bumps in my routine. Next stop: Goodbye to my two long-lived Hotmail accounts. I’ve had these accounts since forever, set up way back in 1998. For the first few years, I used my Hotmail accounts for everything. Then I got into web development and learned how to host my own email. As time went on, I used the Hotmail accounts less and less. Until now they are mostly there as backup or junk emails for any “just in case” scenarios. I could use them, but really don’t anymore. Now they’re just dead weight and another “thing” that I have to deal with every time I get a new device and have to set up my email app. So this is the story of how I “let go” and finally cut the cord..

Contents

• Tired of dealing with it
• Cutting the cord (is a process)
  • Step 1: Remove Hotmail from apps
  • Step 2: Check Hotmail manually
  • Step 3: Replace Hotmail at any sites
  • Step 4: Keep an eye on things
  • Step 5: Clean up and move on..

Tired of dealing with it

After 20+ years dealing with it, I am tired of having to fiddle with Hotmail’s perpetual (and weird) little issues. Like suddenly Hotmail addresses aren’t working with my mail app, so I have to make a separate trip and log in to the Microsoft labyrinth to check my email manually, like a neanderthal. I am just tired of it.

Tired of unexpected service outages and downtime. Tired of perpetual account changes where settings are hidden or buried within some new nonsensical over-engineered UI. Tired of randomly getting locked out of my own account for no reason. Tired of the endless false-positive blocking of important email messages.

Tired of Microsoft straight-up blocking legit replies to my own messages, for flip’s sake. Tired of waiting for expected emails that never arrive, either getting sent to spam or just blocked outright, defeats the whole point of having a “junk” email address in the first place.

Basically Hotmail is like most 3rd-party email services: a constant learning curve and endless micro-hassles just to check my email. No wait, let me spend half a day trying to restore access to my account because I refuse to give Microsoft my personal phone number. Or let me spend my afternoon trying to figure out why suddenly Hotmail accounts stopped working in my mail app. Because the genius engineers at Microsoft decided to change something again.

So “yes”, while it’s nice to have the extra 3rd-party backup emails, the perpetual chore of chasing around Hotmail and fussing with ever-changing configurations no longer is worth my time.

Cutting the cord (is a process)

I can hear someone out there saying, then “just delete the stupid accounts”. Well that would be great, but it’s not that simple. If I were to just delete the accounts outright, I could miss out on some important or at least interesting or maybe useful email message sent from something I’ve long-since forgotten about.

Or maybe I listed my Hotmail account as a backup email to restore access to some online service or something. Bottom line is, especially for older email addresses that have been heavily used, it’s not wise to just delete the account. Doing so could result in “I no longer have access to that email account” headaches.

So yeah, deleting old email accounts is a process, that goes something like this..

Step 1: Remove Hotmail from apps

The first step is to remove hotmail accounts from any/all apps like Mail, K9, and so forth. So no longer checking Hotmail with all other daily emails, etc.

Step 2: Check Hotmail manually

After removing your Hotmail accounts from all mail apps, you’ll want to make sure to manually check them by logging in to Microsoft every now and then. You don’t want to just delete your Hotmail account, unless it’s never been used for anything. Instead you want to keep an eye on it for a while, in order to catch any messages still coming thru. And if any important messages do roll in, make sure to visit the source and update your email address to something current.

Step 3: Replace Hotmail at any sites

At this point, you should go through your password manager and look for any sites or services where you are using the Hotmail account. Then systematically log in to each of those accounts and update your email address. Eventually, depending on the number of accounts using your hotmail address, you will have replaced all of them. This is an important part of the process, so be as thorough as possible.

Step 4: Keep an eye on things

Lastly, as time passes and you continue to check your Hotmail accounts periodically. Every now and then an important email message may arrive to your Hotmail account. This is good because it’s like a big sign that “hey you missed one”. As this happens, be diligent and promptly update the address at its source. This is the BIG reason why it’s so important not to delete your Hotmail account outright. You want to give it enough time like at least a year, so that you can sort out any sites or services that are still sending you mail at the old address.

Step 5: Clean up and move on..

As time goes on and you continue to keep an eye on your old Hotmail account, continue cleaning up any stragglers that might roll in, making sure to update the email address for anything important. And basically wash, rinse, and repeat. At some point your Hotmail account will not be used for anything important, and you will be ready to finally pull the plug and say..

Goodbye Hotmail.

When the time is right and everything is all cleaned up, it finally will be time to log in and delete your Hotmail account(s) permanently. And then move on with your life :)

About the Author

Jeff Starr = Web Developer. Book Author. Secretly Important.