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Anankha
Problem sorter

With the introduction of the new Outlook.com, when an individual's Microsoft email account has been upgraded to use it, Windows Live Mail 2012 may no longer work with Hotmail, Outlook, or Live.com email addresses. Does the new sync profile mean the end of the line for Windows Live Mail?

Some have read this news and believed it to mean the end of Windows Live Mail itself, but that (at the moment) is not the case.

Not quite yet, anyway.

Reading your mail

You can still use Windows Live Mail 2012 to download your Microsoft email if you use IMAP.

You will have to recreate the account but you will no longer be able to sync your contacts or calendar.
The email settings for IMAP are:

  • Server name: imap-mail.outlook.com
  • Port: 993
  • Encryption method: SSL
  • Server name: smtp-mail.outlook.com
  • Port: 587
  • Encryption method: SSL

Alternative options

Microsoft recommends that Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 users can begin to use the built-in Mail app, which is free. Currently it is very basic, but you can sync your contacts & calendar with this app, and your messages will all move across manually.

You could also try another 3rd-party email client, such as Thunderbird, but it's likely that some of these will have the same problem with the new sync protocol.

This may spell the beginning of the end for Windows Live Mail as the app appears to be no longer supported by Microsoft who are offering free trials of their Office 365 software, which includes Outlook.

What next?

If calendar and contact syncing isn't important to you, and you don't send emails through your Microsoft account, then you should be able to stick with Windows Live Mail for now at least, using the IMAP settings above.

If you do need these features though, then do try the inbuilt email client of your Windows device, if only just for your Microsoft account.

 

Doctor9fan enjoys reading, videogames (Legend of Zelda, Resident Evil, Silent Hill) & watching old horror movies. In case you hadn't guessed, she's a fan of Christopher Eccleston's work - especially his portrayal of the 9th Doctor. She's been a Community Superuser since 2015.

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