# Does email sent to Hotmail end up in a formless abyss? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 19, 2008, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-email-sent-to-hotmail-end-up-in-a-formless-abyss/468606 "2008-10-19T03:06:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Anise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anise/32/21721_2.png) [@Anise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anise)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-email-sent-to-hotmail-end-up-in-a-formless-abyss/468606/1 "2008-10-19T03:06:49Z")
Hi all… I can’t seem to find the answer to this question anywhere, so I’ll try here, because everyone is so smart and helpful. 🙂 I sent an email to a friend I hadn’t contacted in about 2 years or so (maybe a little more?), and all I had was his hotmail address. Hotmail disappeared and turned into Windows Live, at least as I understand it. So my question is, what happens to email sent to an old hotmail address? Is it forwarded, or does it disappear into a black hole, or what? It hasn’t bounced back to me. Thanks infinitely, Cathy ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-email-sent-to-hotmail-end-up-in-a-formless-abyss/468606/2 "2008-10-19T03:08:33Z")
I’ve had a Hotmail account since Ye Olde Dayes. After the switchover to Windows Live, my address remained the same and has continued to work as before. ---
**Author:** ![VernWinterbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c67d28/32.png) [@VernWinterbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VernWinterbottom)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-email-sent-to-hotmail-end-up-in-a-formless-abyss/468606/3 "2008-10-19T03:20:34Z")
It’s simply that many folks have simply ignored their Hotmail accounts when they moved on to another email service and only check them every two years or so. . . ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-email-sent-to-hotmail-end-up-in-a-formless-abyss/468606/4 "2008-10-19T16:47:29Z")
Hotmail didn’t disappear. It’s still there at [www.hotmail.com](http://www.hotmail.com), and addresses are still unchanged. Most people have about a trillion junk messages in their inbox, though. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-email-sent-to-hotmail-end-up-in-a-formless-abyss/468606/5 "2008-10-19T17:12:28Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Hotmail didn’t disappear. It’s still there at [www.hotmail.com](http://www.hotmail.com), and addresses are still unchanged. Most people have about a trillion junk messages in their inbox, though. It varies. I get about a dozen times as many as in my Gmail account, which I’ve hardly used, as in my Hotmail account, which I’ve used regularly for all sorts of things for the past ten years. Both take the same form, too, myunusualname@… ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-email-sent-to-hotmail-end-up-in-a-formless-abyss/468606/6 "2008-10-19T18:10:47Z")
the abyss isn’t really formless though - it’s kind of a roundish vortex with some nice scalloping on the edges. It’s actually kind of pretty, if you’re into that shapeless void style of architecture.