Free Hotmail accounts have always been accessible via a web browser but access with an email client previously required premium services. Microsoft made the switch in January 2009 to allow free POP account access in an email client.
This article will help you setup your Windows Live Hotmail account in Outlook for Mac 2011 and explain your options to access your data that does not directly download. To setup Microsoft Entourage as POP see this article. The FAQs below apply to both Outlook and Entourage.
Note: September 12, 2013 Outlook.com now has IMAP More info
Account Setup for Outlook Mac:
Open the Account setup window under Tools in the Menu bar or select Accounts in Outlook Preferences. To setup Microsoft Entourage as POP see this article
Select the + sign at the bottom left of the account window to create a new E-mail account.
Enter your email and password then select “Add Account”
Click on the Advanced tab to select your options. “Leave on server” is useful if you need to access your mail on another device. Note: this can lead to mail being duplicated. More info
Using Hotmail with Outlook & Entourage
What is a POP account and how does it affect my Hotmail account?
- POP works by downloading your mail to your computer. Unless you have selected to “leave on server”, when a message is downloaded, it is deleted from the server after downloading.
- If you read a message it will not be reflected as read on other devices.
- If you send a message, the sent message will not be synced to your other devices.
- Only messages in the browser Inbox will be downloaded into Outlook.
- Only deleting a message will be reflected back to the server. This will not delete the message on another device only the server.
- If you move a message from the Inbox to a subfolder this will not be reflected on another device.
See this chart Compare Sync options for POP, IMAP & Exchange Accounts for more info.
Can I switch my Hotmail to an IMAP account? No! You could get a Gmail account(free), set that up as IMAP then forward all of your Hotmail mail to the Gmail account.
Is there a Hotmail connector for Mac Office 2011, equivalent to the Hotmail connector offered for Windows?
No! A free plug-in is available for Microsoft Outlook Win users for syncing mail, contacts, calendar items with Hotmail, but Mac users are restricted to POP and can only access messages.
Why doesn’t Microsoft offer the Office Outlook Connector for Mac users? The plug-in architecture used does not work on a Mac. Send Microsoft feedback http://www.microsoft.com/mac/product-feedback to let them know you would like this option.
How do I get the mail that is stored in my other folders?
In order to download messages you have saved in your other folders, you will need to log into your Hotmail account in your browser.
- In your browser, move mail from sub folder to the Inbox folder. Do one folder at a time.
- Switch to Outlook > Select Send & Receive
- Outlook will download all mail you moved to the Inbox in your browser.
- Move to folder you create in folders “On My Computer”. *see note
- Repeat until you get all your mail.
* Note: Obviously, you’ll have to check for new mail from other accounts that comes in during the process. Sorting by sent should help you distinguish new mail.
How do I get my Hotmail as Push or check every minute?
Some accounts like Windows Live Hotmail require 15 min schedules. Open Schedules in Preferences or under Tools in the Menu bar. Select Edit Schedules. You can try every 10 minutes, but you could get server is busy errors.
Can I sync my calendar in Hotmail? This option is not available for Mac users. There is no export option in the Hotmail Calendar. You can try the directions here to share your calendar with a Gmail Calendar. You can sync a Gmail Calendar with iCal.
Can I sync my contacts with Outlook for Mac? You cannot sync your contacts but you can export from Hotmail as .csv file and import the .csv file into Outlook.
Export contacts in your browser. Under Manage select Export. This will create a WLMcontacts.csv file.
Import WLMcontacts.csv file in Outlook.
Drag Fields from Unmapped to Mapped. You only have to do this once. Not all fields will map like “E-mail Type”: “SMTP”
Other Options to access your Hotmail account:
How-to connect your iPhone to Hotmail using EAS See Hotmail now supporting Exchange ActiveSync
mBoxMail – Hotmail with Push $9.99
mBox Mail is a fast, full-featured Hotmail client for iPhone and iPod Touch. It offers full access and control of your Windows Live Hotmail. From folder management to Windows Live Contacts
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I find it funny that Microsoft does not support their messaging system with their own email client. Just because you sell a product to be run on a different OS doesn’t mean that you should toss support out the Windows (pun intended).
Seriously though…with push enabled, and working in other OSes there should be something that can be done.
Microsoft either needs Hotmail to support IMAP or have Outlook for the Mac support Hotmail.
POP is so outdated this isn’t even a funny suggestion (move all my mail to my inbox…be serious!). Come on Microsoft…let’s get out of the 80s!
You do realize you are only talking to your peers? We are not Microsoft. Look at the banner…..your unofficial source for help.
Send your feedback to Microsoft:
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/product-feedback