Outlook.com

This article is about the web consumer software. For other platforms, see Microsoft Outlook and Outlook on the web.

Outlook.com
Outlook.com inbox with open Skype windows
Type of site
Webmail, calendaring, contacts, and tasks
Available in106 languages
OwnerMicrosoft
URLoutlook.com
CommercialYes
RegistrationRequired
Users500 million[1]
LaunchedJuly 4, 1996; 28 years ago (1996-07-04) (as Hotmail)
July 31, 2012; 12 years ago (2012-07-31) (as Outlook.com)
Content license
Proprietary

Outlook.com, formerly Hotmail, is a free personal email service offered by Microsoft. This includes a webmail interface featuring mail, calendaring, contacts, and tasks services. Outlook can also be accessed via email clients using the IMAP or POP protocols.

Founded in 1996 by Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith as Hotmail, it was acquired by Microsoft in 1997 for an estimated $400 million,[1][2] with it becoming part of the MSN family of online services, branded as MSN Hotmail.[3] In May 2007, the service was rebranded to Windows Live Hotmail, as part of the Windows Live suite of products.[4] It was changed back to Hotmail in October 2011[5] and was fully replaced by Outlook in May 2013,[6] sharing the same brand as the Microsoft Outlook software which is offered via a Microsoft 365 (formerly Microsoft Office) subscription.[7]

Outlook is offered with any Microsoft account, using @outlook.com, @hotmail.com, @msn.com,[a] as well as @live.com and @passport.com domains. The @live.com and @passport.com domains, as well as various other domains are no longer offered.[8]

  1. ^ a b Law, David (July 18, 2016). "Outlook.com leaves preview as the world's fastest growing email service going from 0 to 60 million in just 6 months". Microsoft News. Microsoft. Archived from the original on January 18, 2017. Retrieved February 19, 2013.
  2. ^ Thurrott, Paul (July 31, 2012). "Outlook.com Mail: Microsoft Reimagines Webmail". Supersite for Windows. Penton Media. Archived from the original on August 3, 2012. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  3. ^ "MSN Hotmail: From Zero to 30 Million Members in 30 Months". Stories. February 8, 1999. Archived from the original on September 6, 2023. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
  4. ^ "Windows Live Hotmail Launches Worldwide in 36 Languages". IT News Online. May 7, 2007. Archived from the original on May 3, 2008. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
  5. ^ Wilhelm, Alex (October 3, 2011). "Microsoft announces massive Hotmail update to better combat Gmail". The Next Web. Archived from the original on January 7, 2012. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  6. ^ "Microsoft Completes Hotmail Upgrade, Has 400 Million Outlook.com Users". Yahoo. May 3, 2013. Archived from the original on May 27, 2024. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
  7. ^ "Upgrade to Outlook with Microsoft 365 | Microsoft 365". www.microsoft.com. Archived from the original on September 6, 2023. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
  8. ^ Lambert, Joan (2017). Windows 10 Step by Step (2nd ed.). Microsoft Press. ISBN 9781509306824.


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).