What to Know
- Go to the Outlook.com sign-up screen and select Create free account. Then follow the instructions to set up an account.
- Subscribe to Microsoft 365 to unlock premium features including 1 TB of storage and a custom domain.
- Download the Microsoft Outlook desktop and mobile apps to sync your mail across all your devices.
This article describes how to create an email account in Outlook. These instructions pertain to Outlook.com.
How to Create a New Outlook.com Email Account
With a free Outlook.com account, you can access your email, calendar, tasks, and contacts from any internet-connected location. When you are ready to create a new Outlook.com email account:
- Open a web browser, navigate to the Outlook.com registration page, and click Create free account.
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Enter a username. The part of the email address that comes before @outlook.com.
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Select the dropdown arrow at the far right of the username field to change the domain from the default outlook.com to hotmail.com if you prefer a Hotmail address. Then select Next.
- Enter a password, then select Next.
Create a strong password that is easy for you to recall and difficult for anyone else to guess.
5. Enter your first and last name in the fields provided, then select Next.
6. Choose your Country/region, enter your Birthdate, then select Next.
7. Enter the characters from the CAPTCHA image, then select Next.
8. Outlook will set up your account and display a welcome screen.
9. You can now open your new Outlook.com account on the web or set it up for access in email programs on computers and mobile devices.
Outlook.com Features
An Outlook.com email account offers all the features you expect from an email client. Plus it includes:
- A focused inbox for your most important emails.
- Swipe gestures to archive and delete messages.
- The ability to schedule messages to return to your inbox at a specified time.
- An option to pin important messages to the top of your inbox.
- Text-formatting features to personalize your outgoing emails.
Additionally, Outlook adds trip itineraries and flight plans from emails to your calendar. It attaches Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, and Box files. Even Microsoft Office documents can be edited directly in your mailbox.
Outlook Mobile Apps
Download the Microsoft Outlook applications for Android and iOS to access your Outlook.com account on the go. Outlook.com is preinstalled on Windows 10 mobile phones.
The mobile apps provide most of the capabilities accessible with an online Outlook.com account, including a focused inbox, the ability to share, swipe to delete and archive messages, and a robust search engine. In addition, you may browse and attach files from OneDrive, Dropbox, and other services without downloading them to your phone.
Outlook.com vs. Hotmail.com
In 1996, Microsoft bought Hotmail. The email service has been known as MSN Hotmail and Windows Live Hotmail, among others. In 2011, the final version of Hotmail was published. In 2013, Outlook.com replaced Hotmail. At that time, Hotmail subscribers were permitted to continue using their Hotmail email addresses with Outlook.com. It is still possible to obtain a fresh Hotmail.com email address while registering for Outlook.com.
What Is Premium Outlook?
Premium Outlook was a premium version of Outlook that was sold separately. Microsoft discontinued Premium Outlook at the end of 2017, but added premium functionality to the Outlook desktop software included with Microsoft 365.
Outlook with premium features is included as part of the Microsoft 365 Home and Microsoft 365 Personal software packages. Among the advantages of Outlook for Microsoft 365 are:
- 1TB mailbox per user.
- Improved malware scanning.
- An ad-free inbox.
- Offline email composition and automatic syncing capabilities.
- Custom domain.