# MS Hotmail question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 13, 2005, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-hotmail-question/335470 "2005-12-13T20:18:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2005, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-hotmail-question/335470/1 "2005-12-13T20:18:44Z")
It appears that I can only compose Hotmail while online. More to the point, I can only READ and reply to incoming mail while online. Is there any setting to be set that will allow me to download incoming emails to a folder on my computer, or is Hotmail only and always stored on MS Hotmail servers? It’d be darned convenient to be able to compose replies offline, and send a batch when I get a bit of Internet access time. Thoughts? Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2005, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-hotmail-question/335470/2 "2005-12-13T20:23:26Z")
If you have the paid version of Hotmail\*, you should be able to collect Hotmail using Outlook (part of Office) or Outlook Express (comes with IE these days I believe). Google “hotmail outlook” for lots of tips on how to set this up. I am not sure which other clients, if any, will let you do this. \*I am not sure if this is still the rule…may be able to use Outlook with free Hotmail now. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2005, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-hotmail-question/335470/3 "2005-12-13T20:31:02Z")
I’ve never set hotmail up with outlook, (I don’t have the paid version.) I set hotmail up with outlook express once, and it was pretty cool as I recall. One tip I can remember (may not be relevant any more): Just because you’ve downloaded messages into your outlook express hotmail folder, do NOT assume that you have a safe copy of them and can delete them out of outlook. The next time you start outlook express, it will ‘sync up’ with hotmail and delete those messages off your hard drive. Moving messages into an outlook express folder outside of your hotmail folder tree did the trick for that. good luck with this! ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2005, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-hotmail-question/335470/4 "2005-12-13T20:31:44Z")
Hotmail is the absolute worst webmail service and it sucks in every way imaginable. If you don’t mind changing your email address, switch to [Gmail](https://gmail.google.com) and get free POP access. Then you can use any email client you like. ---
**Author:** ![Queuing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/90ced4/32.png) [@Queuing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queuing)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2005, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-hotmail-question/335470/5 "2005-12-13T20:38:13Z")
I am about 90% sure that you can set-up your free hotmail account to download to Outlook. You just need to use the http option. I would imagine this will allow you to draft messages offline as you can work offline in outlook, however you would probably have to manually send them once you are connected. ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2005, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-hotmail-question/335470/6 "2005-12-13T21:16:08Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > Hotmail is the absolute worst webmail service and it sucks in every way imaginable. **Reply** , comments of this nature are not appreciated in GQ. Please refrain from making such comments in the future. Thanks. - **xash** General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2005, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-hotmail-question/335470/7 "2005-12-13T22:29:25Z")
If worst comes to worst and you can’t do it directly, you can, of course, always copy and paste into a wordprocessor, then write your replies and cut and paste back into Hotmail. Clunky, but better than nothing. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![antich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7c8e57/32.png) [@antich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antich)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-hotmail-question/335470/8 "2005-12-14T00:18:39Z")
If you are using Thunderbird, you can add the ‘Web Mail’ extension and the ‘Hotmail’ component for that extension to retrieve your email via pop. If you have an older account that was created outside of the US, I believe you can still retrieve hotmail via pop. Also, do a google search for ‘hotmail pop’ ( [here](http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=mozclient&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&q=hotmail+pop) ) and you should be able to find stand alone apps that will get the job done. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-hotmail-question/335470/9 "2005-12-14T00:39:57Z")
> [@xash](#): > > **Reply** , comments of this nature are not appreciated in GQ. Please refrain from making such comments in the future. All right. I just wanted to point out that better options are available, but I’ll try not to be so blunt next time 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2005, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-hotmail-question/335470/10 "2005-12-16T03:47:17Z")
> [@KlondikeGeoff](#): > > If worst comes to worst and you can’t do it directly, you can, of course, always copy and paste into a wordprocessor, then write your replies and cut and paste back into Hotmail. Clunky, but better than nothing. 🙂 Actually, I cannot. Hence my frustration. I should know better, but I forgot to mention that I am on Mac OS on the road and here at home. Apparently it matters, in many ways. For example, I cannot alter color or bolding or font when composing HotMail on a Mac. I also ( to address the quote above ) cannot compose a reply using, say, MSWord for Mac and then copy and paste it into a Hotmail Reply or Hotmail new letter. Why? Because as soon as I hit “Paste”, the entire text of what I wrote, regardless of what coloring or bolding I may have applied while composing it in MSWord for Mac, immediately reverts to the same plain font, in black. Very vexing. Similarly, I have poked around in Hotmail and haven’t found a way to import letters into Mac Mail software on my machines. Is it, perhaps, a Preference I can adjust within the Mac Mail software, and I haven’t seen it yet? Cartooniverse