# No Access to Outlook Email Accounts? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 6, 2016, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-access-to-outlook-email-accounts/765180 "2016-09-06T11:47:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-access-to-outlook-email-accounts/765180/1 "2016-09-06T11:47:14Z")
When I attempt to access my email accounts, I am continuously brought to [this screen](https://outlook.live.com/owa/languageselection.aspx?url=/owa/?bO%3d1). (Note: It may take a minute to load.) Even after populating the two requested fields, I am stuck in an endless loop. Have other SDopers experienced this? Has Outlook (formerly Hotmail) gone under? ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-access-to-outlook-email-accounts/765180/2 "2016-09-06T16:39:38Z")
No problems here. ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-access-to-outlook-email-accounts/765180/3 "2016-09-06T17:52:54Z")
Have you tried clearing out your cookies? ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-access-to-outlook-email-accounts/765180/4 "2016-09-06T19:15:57Z")
> [@crazyjoe](#): > > Have you tried clearing out your cookies? Usually, this is a good idea, but I’m not sure why in this case cookies would be causing an issue. You’d think cookies would make the website recall my last visit. Wouldn’t that be a good thing in this instance? ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-access-to-outlook-email-accounts/765180/5 "2016-09-06T19:46:08Z")
Your link takes me to a homail/outlook signin screen, not your error message screen. However, I have an old hotmail acct & there’s one screen I sometimes can’t get past. > [@crazyjoe](#): > > Have you tried clearing out your cookies? Doing this (at least the hotmail/live/outlook related ones always solves it for me. IOW, Seconded. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-access-to-outlook-email-accounts/765180/6 "2016-09-07T01:28:43Z")
> [@Jinx](#): > > When I attempt to access my email accounts, I am continuously brought to [this screen](https://outlook.live.com/owa/languageselection.aspx?url=/owa/?bO%3d1). (Note: It may take a minute to load.) Even after populating the two requested fields, I am stuck in an endless loop. Have other SDopers experienced this? Has Outlook (formerly Hotmail) gone under? Did you actually create a new _username_@outlook.com email address to replace your old _username_@hotmail.com address? And are you using that at the sign on screen? The [hotmail.com](http://hotmail.com) sign-ons may stop working eventually. Any emails sent to it are supposed to still get forwarded to [outlook.com](http://outlook.com) though. BTW, what’s the vBulletin code to stop [anything.com](http://anything.com) from auto-hyperlinking? ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-access-to-outlook-email-accounts/765180/7 "2016-09-07T09:24:38Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > BTW, what’s the vBulletin code to stop [anything.com](http://anything.com) from auto-hyperlinking? You can’t stop it. Only the person reading the message can affect it. SMDB uses a service called viglink that automatically creates links while a user is _reading_ the message in order to generate commissions. Users have reported it occasionally also modifies links, changing them to point to the same general type of thing on a different web site than the one you posted. Only the reader of the article can block viglink. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-access-to-outlook-email-accounts/765180/8 "2016-09-07T11:50:49Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Did you actually create a new _username_@outlook.com email address to replace your old _username_@hotmail.com address? And are you using that at the sign on screen? The [hotmail.com](http://hotmail.com) sign-ons may stop working eventually. Any emails sent to it are supposed to still get forwarded to [outlook.com](http://outlook.com) though. Not the plan (as of this article) > [@ZDNet article](#): > > Q: What happens if my Microsoft ID/Windows Live ID is tied to Hotmail? Do I have to get a new one and change my accounts? > > A: No. If you use an @hotmail.com, @msn.com or @live.com e-mail address as your Microsoft account, you can keep it, even after Hotmail is shuttered. “Think of this the same way as you would changing your mobile phone carrier. You are simply moving to a better service, but your ‘number’ (in this case your Microsoft account and email address) stays the same,” a Microsoft spokesperson explained. > Q: Users are being allowed to keep their Hotmail addresses if they want. Wasn’t a big part of creating [Outlook.com](http://Outlook.com) a plan to get rid of the tired/tainted Hotmail brand? > > A: “The simple fact is that many people are attached to their email address. We do expect a certain number to want a new [Outlook.com](http://Outlook.com) address (which is great); others will want to keep their Hotmail address. Either is fine since they will all get to use the new service,” a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-access-to-outlook-email-accounts/765180/9 "2016-09-09T00:12:28Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally Posted by ZDNet article > Q: What happens if my Microsoft ID/Windows Live ID is tied to Hotmail? Do I have to get a new one and change my accounts? > > A: No. If you use an @hotmail.com, @msn.com or @live.com e-mail address as your Microsoft account, you can keep it, even after Hotmail is shuttered. “Think of this the same way as you would changing your mobile phone carrier. You are simply moving to a better service, but your ‘number’ (in this case your Microsoft account and email address) stays the same,” a Microsoft spokesperson explained. > Q: Users are being allowed to keep their Hotmail addresses if they want. Wasn’t a big part of creating [Outlook.com](http://Outlook.com) a plan to get rid of the tired/tainted Hotmail brand? > > A: “The simple fact is that many people are attached to their email address. We do expect a certain number to want a new [Outlook.com](http://Outlook.com) address (which is great); others will want to keep their Hotmail address. Either is fine since they will all get to use the new service,” a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed. Yeah, hopefully forwarding will remain in force, but who knows. 5-10 years is an infinitely long time in the IT world and Microsoft might some day decide to retire Hotmail all together. Something that effected me however, was that as of a month or so ago the Windows Live Mail program no longer works with Hotmail or [Outlook.com](http://Outlook.com). I switched, first to the Windows Mail App in Windows 8.1 then to Windows 10 altogether and I found that, with both of those newer Microsoft email client apps, they will still _ **retrieve** _ email from a Hotmail account & ID but they will not \*\*send \*\*anything from them. I had to create and use an [outlook.com](http://outlook.com) ID and sign-on to be able to send mail from the Microsoft email programs. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-access-to-outlook-email-accounts/765180/10 "2016-09-09T03:25:51Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Yeah, hopefully forwarding will remain in force, but who knows. 5-10 years is an infinitely long time in the IT world and Microsoft might some day decide to retire Hotmail all together. > > Something that effected me however, was that as of a month or so ago the Windows Live Mail program no longer works with Hotmail or [Outlook.com](http://Outlook.com). I switched, first to the Windows Mail App in Windows 8.1 then to Windows 10 altogether and I found that, with both of those newer Microsoft email client apps, they will still _ **retrieve** _ email from a Hotmail account & ID but they will not \*\*send \*\*anything from them. I had to create and use an [outlook.com](http://outlook.com) ID and sign-on to be able to send mail from the Microsoft email programs. The outlook app on my phone did that, it would receive but everything sat in “Outbox” folder & wouldn’t send no matter what. There were a few emails that I left there rather than bothering to delete. They all sent yesterday & now the app is working just fine to send emails again. (I kept it because it would receive notifications faster than what I got as a replacement, BlueMail). I’d be interested to know what happens if you try it again. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-access-to-outlook-email-accounts/765180/11 "2016-09-09T03:53:14Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > The outlook app on my phone did that, it would receive but everything sat in “Outbox” folder & wouldn’t send no matter what. There were a few emails that I left there rather than bothering to delete. They all sent yesterday & now the app is working just fine to send emails again. (I kept it because it would receive notifications faster than what I got as a replacement, BlueMail). > > I’d be interested to know what happens if you try it again. This definitely seemed permanent. Every time I tried to send it would show the message: ‘There is a problem with [username@hotmail.com](mailto:username@hotmail.com) right now’ and every message that was created with my Hotmail address wouldn’t send. I recreated them using my [outlook.com](http://outlook.com) account and they sent immediately. This all happened a day after I got an email from Microsoft saying that Hotmail would soon stop working with Live Mail. I had gotten these messages before so I waited until it actually stopped working. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-access-to-outlook-email-accounts/765180/12 "2016-09-09T09:36:13Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > BTW, what’s the vBulletin code to stop [anything.com](http://anything.com) from auto-hyperlinking? You use the [noparse][noparse][/noparse][/noparse] tags.