Hotmail, Outlook.com and Outlook on the web: what each one is, and how it differs from webmail

E-mail·· 82 views· 3 min read

The short answer: Hotmail is the old name of Microsoft’s free e-mail, which is now called Outlook.com. Addresses ending in @hotmail, @live, @msn and @outlook are all accounts on that same service. Outlook on the web is the page where that mail is read in a browser, and it is also what companies on Microsoft 365 use. None of these is your e-mail with us: your mailbox is on our server, and the direct way to it in a browser is webmail.

Each name, and where the mail lives

Name What it is, and where the mail lives
Hotmail, Live, MSN Old brands of Microsoft’s free e-mail. The addresses still work and are now Outlook.com accounts. The mail sits on Microsoft’s servers.
Outlook.com Microsoft’s free e-mail service for individuals, with Microsoft addresses. It does not use your domain.
Outlook on the web The browser version of Outlook. It shows Microsoft mailboxes: an Outlook.com account or a company’s Microsoft 365 mailbox.
Outlook (the program) The app on Windows, Mac or the phone. It can connect to your mailbox with us over IMAP. To tell which one you have: which Outlook do I have.
Our webmail The page where you read your domain mailbox directly on our server, without going through Microsoft.

How to tell where your mail is

1 Look at the address: if it ends in @hotmail, @live, @msn or @outlook, the mailbox belongs to Microsoft and only Microsoft can recover or restore it.
2 If it ends in your domain, the mailbox is wherever the domain’s MX records point. With the domain and e-mail with us, it is on our server and managed in cPanel.
3 If your company moved its e-mail to Microsoft 365, the MX records point to Microsoft and new mail lives there: Outlook on the web is then the right place, and our webmail stays empty. See Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 on your own domain.
4 If in doubt, log in to webmail with the full address and the mailbox password. If you get in and see recent mail, it is with us. To know which password is which: which login you need.
5 To read your domain mailbox in a program, choose IMAP and our settings: webmail or an e-mail app.
Do not ask Microsoft support for your domain mailbox password, and do not ask us for a Hotmail one. Each company only has access to the mailboxes on its own servers. Your mailbox password with us is changed in cPanel; a Hotmail password, only at Microsoft.
For a business, an address on your domain says who you are, stays yours if you change provider and lets you create role addresses. The differences are in free e-mail or e-mail on your own domain.

Not sure where your mail lives? Tell us the address and we will show you where it is.

Open a support ticket

SEE ALSO

Which Outlook do I have? Classic, new, Mac or the web version

Free e-mail address or e-mail on your own domain: what changes for a business

How to access your webmail

Webmail or an e-mail app: which one to read your mail with

Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 on your own domain: MX records, and keeping your website with us

Your domain mailbox in Outlook.com or Outlook on the web: what works and where the limits are

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