How Do I Reactivate My Hotmail Account?

To reactivate an expired Hotmail account, visit the Hotmail website and sign in with your Hotmail email address and password. Click “Activate My Account” and accept the terms of use on the subsequent page. Click “Continue” on the following two pages to reactivate the Hotmail account.

To restore the email address, visit the Windows Live Email Support page and enter the address of the deactivated Hotmail account in the first text box. Enter an alternate live email address in the next text box, which can be accessed with the information given. Select the desired response from the drop-down menu and click “continue” to submit your request. Record the confirmation number given on the subsequent page for future reference.

Hotmail email accounts delete or become inactive after 360 days of inactivity. Emails sent to inactive Hotmail accounts will bounce back to the sender. Hotmail accounts are serviced through outlook.com, a free email service from Microsoft. There is no longer an option to switch back to Hotmail accounts. Therefore, reactivating an old Hotmail account transfers the Hotmail address, password, saved emails, calendars, contacts and settings to a new outlook.com inbox. Users are given the option to keep the @Hotmail address or switch to the @Outlook.com address.