{"id":79104,"date":"2024-03-25T21:12:10","date_gmt":"2024-03-25T21:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailrelay.com\/glosario\/hotmail\/"},"modified":"2026-10-29T13:04:06","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T13:04:06","slug":"hotmail","status":"publish","type":"glossary","link":"https:\/\/mailrelay.com\/en\/glossary\/hotmail\/","title":{"rendered":"Hotmail"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hotmail es el servicio de correo electr\u00f3nico gratuito que se lanz\u00f3 en 1996 y que hoy forma parte de Outlook.com<\/a>, el correo web de Microsoft.<\/strong> Las direcciones @hotmail.com y @hotmail.es siguen funcionando, pero se gestionan desde Outlook.<\/p>\n\n

It was one of the world’s first webmail<\/a> services. For the first time, you could read your email from any computer with a browser.<\/p>\n\n

What is Hotmail?<\/h2>\n\n

It is a webmail service: your messages are stored on Microsoft’s servers and you access them from your browser or the Outlook app.<\/p>\n\n

It was created by Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith and launched on July 4, 1996. The date was no coincidence: US Independence Day fit the idea of freeing email from the home or office computer.<\/p>\n\n

Microsoft bought it in December 1997 for around 400 million dollars. By then it already had more than 8.5 million users.<\/p>\n\n

What does Hotmail mean?<\/h2>\n\n

The name is a play on letters. Its founders wrote it as HoTMaiL<\/strong> so that it spelled out HTML<\/a>, the language used to build web pages.<\/p>\n\n

The idea was to make it clear that this was email that worked on the web. Literally, “hot mail” just means mail that is hot, but that is not why the name was chosen.<\/p>\n\n

Does Hotmail still exist?<\/h2>\n\n

Yes, although under a different name. The service went through several stages:<\/p>\n\n

Year<\/th>Name<\/th>What changed<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
1996<\/td>Hotmail<\/td>Launch as a free webmail service<\/td><\/tr>
1997<\/td>MSN Hotmail<\/td>Acquired by Microsoft and integrated into MSN<\/td><\/tr>
2007<\/td>Windows Live Hotmail<\/td>More storage and a new interface<\/td><\/tr>
2011<\/td>Hotmail<\/td>Goes back to its original name<\/td><\/tr>
2013<\/td>Outlook.com<\/td>All accounts move to Outlook<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n

Between July 2012 and May 2013, Microsoft moved all accounts to Outlook.com<\/a>. No emails or addresses were lost.<\/p>\n\n

Today, when you go to hotmail.com, you land in the Outlook inbox.<\/p>\n\n

\"Timeline<\/figure>\n\n
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Has your list outgrown Hotmail?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Send your newsletters with Mailrelay: up to 80,000 emails a month for free, with an unsubscribe link and statistics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Create a free account<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

Does @hotmail.es exist?<\/h3>\n\n

Yes. @hotmail.es addresses created back then are still active. When you sign up for a new account, Microsoft usually offers @outlook.com or @hotmail.com.<\/p>\n\n

What happened to Messenger?<\/h3>\n\n

MSN Messenger, the chat app many people used with that same account, shut down in 2013. Microsoft replaced it with Skype, which was also shut down in May 2025.<\/p>\n\n

What features does Hotmail have today?<\/h2>\n\n

As part of Outlook.com, your account has the same features as any other Outlook account:<\/p>\n\n

Feature<\/th>What it offers<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Storage<\/td>15 GB of free email storage, separate from your OneDrive space<\/td><\/tr>
Access<\/td>Browser, Outlook app for mobile and desktop, IMAP and POP<\/td><\/tr>
Organization<\/td>Focused and Other inbox, folders, rules and search<\/td><\/tr>
Security<\/td>Spam filter, phishing warnings and two-step verification<\/td><\/tr>
Integration<\/td>Calendar, contacts, OneDrive and Microsoft 365<\/td><\/tr>
Subscription<\/td>More storage and no ads with Microsoft 365<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n

Attachments count toward the 15 GB limit. If you run out of space, you won’t be able to send or receive emails until you free up space or upgrade your plan.<\/p>\n\n

Can I send bulk emails from Hotmail?<\/h2>\n\n

It’s not a good idea. Outlook.com limits how many emails you can send per day to prevent spam<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

With a Microsoft 365 subscription, the maximum is 5,000 recipients per day and 500 per message. Free accounts have a lower limit that depends on the account’s history.<\/p>\n\n

You also don’t get an unsubscribe link, statistics or a way to segment your list. And if you go over the limit, Microsoft may temporarily block your account.<\/p>\n\n

We explain this in detail in our entry on sending limits<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

What do Hotmail and Outlook require from campaign senders?<\/h2>\n\n

If you send newsletters, a good part of your list will have @hotmail, @outlook or @live addresses.<\/p>\n\n

Since May 5, 2025, Microsoft requires the following from domains that send more than 5,000 emails a day to those addresses:<\/p>\n\n