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1. Windows Live Mail Setup

I have used Windows Live mail since its introduction: it’s simple, clear and uncluttered. Now Microsoft is going to end it. Help! With its automatic sign-in, I haven’t used my passwords in years. How can I transfer my accounts? Tony

Windows Live Mail is a desktop email program Microsoft introduced to replace Outlook Express. It is part of the Windows Essentials suite, which includes several fine programs: Live Mail, Live Writer, Photo Gallery, MovieMaker and OneDrive. (It used to include Messenger, which was replaced by Skype.) Unfortunately, the suite has not been updated since 2012, because Microsoft switched to developing securely sandboxed, touch-oriented apps instead.

Windows Live Mail (Windows), free and safe download. Windows Live Mail latest version: As the years go by, email stands strong. Windows Live Mail is a free mail app available from Microsoft as part of the Windows Essentials 2. Windows Live Mail (Windows), free and safe download. Windows Live Mail latest version: As the years go by, email stands strong. Windows Live Mail is a free mail app available from Microsoft as part of the Windows Essentials 2.

• Microsoft phasing out of the Windows Live Essentials suite since January 10, 2017, makes getting Windows Live Mail help particularly in need now. Microsoft had announced that Windows Live Mail would stop working by June 30, 2016 – this announcement led Windows Live Mail users into thinking that.
• If you’ve been using Windows Live Mail, you might want to give the Windows Mail app a try. If you sign in to your PC with your Microsoft account, your email address is already set up in the Mail app.

Windows Live Mail 2012 will not stop working, and you can still use it to download emails from any standard email service. However, Microsoft is moving all its own email services – Office 365, Hotmail, Live Mail, MSN Mail, Outlook.com etc – to a single codebase at Outlook.com. Windows Live Mail 2012 does not support the new APIs (applications programming interfaces) required to provide full synchronisation with Outlook.com. Microsoft could update Windows Live Mail 2012, but instead, it has asked users to switch to a different email program.

Microsoft suggests ..

Microsoft suggests using either its free Mail app or Outlook, the email and personal information manager that is part of Microsoft Office. Outlook costs money, but Microsoft is offering Live Mail users a free subscription to Office 365 for one year. (You should have received this offer by email, but if not, the details are online.)

The obvious catch is that, after the first year, you’d be paying £59.99 per year for Office 365 Personal, though this does include full copies of Microsoft Office programs plus a 1TB free online storage. Alternatively, you could buy a standalone copy of Microsoft Office Home and Business 2016 (£164) or Microsoft Office Outlook 2016 instead. These don’t expire.

Either way, it is a slightly awkward choice: you can upgrade to Outlook or downgrade to Mail, but you can’t stay at the same level.

The Mail app is simpler but less powerful than Windows Live Mail: it has limited options for sorting emails, and it cannot send emails to groups. Outlook is far more powerful than Windows Live Mail and has more advanced features for emails, contacts, calendars and to-do lists. However, you may not need them, or you may already be using a range of apps instead.

The Mail app has another drawback: it runs on Windows 8/8.1/10, but not on Windows XP/Vista/7. Some people who want to use the Mail app will have to upgrade to Windows 10 to get it.

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Microsoft’s final suggestion is to do your email in a web browser. Your email address and your Hotmail/Live/Outlook.com email service will continue to work, even if Windows Live Mail 2012 doesn’t. Of course, web-based email has similar drawbacks as the Mail app – fewer features and limited sorting options – and is slower to use, but today it’s probably how most people do email.

Sticking with Windows Live Mail

Windows Live Mail 2012 is clearly on the way out, but you can still use it if you really want to. To do this, you must create a new account for your existing email address, but check the box that says “Manually configure server settings”. For the incoming server, select IMAP with the address imap-mail.outlook.com and Port 993. For the outgoing server, use smtp-mail.outlook.com and Port 587.

The settings shown in the screenshot worked perfectly for one of my old Hotmail accounts even though Windows Live Mail didn’t work with the automatic settings.

Once you have downloaded your emails using the new settings, you can use the mouse to drag-and-drop emails across from the “old” Microsoft account, but don’t delete it. Your “new” account only does email, so you will lose the address book/contacts and calendar features.

Switching clients

If you decide to switch to the Mail app or Microsoft Office Outlook, then you will need to import your emails from Windows Live Mail. There are lots of ways to do this, and Microsoft provided reasonably clear instructions along with the announcement: Windows Live Mail 2012 will not connect to Outlook.com

Windows Live Mail actually stores individual emails in industry standard .eml files, so they’re easy to back up and move between programs or between PCs. (Microsoft Office Outlook, by contrast, stores everything in one giant blob of a .pst file.)

One problem: some users may have emails stored on their PCs that are no longer on the server. In that case, see “Special instructions for users of locally stored data in Windows Live Mail 2012 application” on the same page.

Of course, rather than switching to the Mail app or Microsoft Office Outlook you could switch to an alternative from a third-party supplier. Examples include Mailbird, eM Client, and Thunderbird. I’d try them in that order and see which one you like. Both Mailbird and eM Client are “freemium” programs, while Thunderbird is open source and free.

Password recovery

It is not clear if you still know your password, but you will need it to set up a new mail program. Fortunately, some free utilities can extract passwords from Windows Live Mail. Two examples are NirSoft’s Mail PassView and the Live Mail Password Decryptor from SecurityXploded.

The alternative is to ask for a password reset so that you can enter a new password. You can do this via a Microsoft page: Forgotten password and other sign-in problems, or use the password reset wizard at account.live.com.

Password resets require authentication, so Microsoft will send a security code to the alternative email address listed in your email account, or send an SMS to the mobile phone number listed.

Once upon a time, you could open an email account without providing an alternative email address or phone number, but most email providers now require one or another. If you have not provided an alternative, you can use the Recover your Microsoft account page, which allows you to supply a new contact email address.

Timing

Microsoft started rolling out the new system last year, in preview mode. Once your account is converted, you will no longer be able to use it with Windows Live Mail. In Windows 7, you will either get server error 3219 or Windows Live Mail error 0x8DE00005, or both.

It would therefore be a good idea to switch in the next week or two. For accounts where Microsoft has detected Windows Live Mail use, the deadline is June 30, 2016.

Have you got another question for Jack? Email it to Ask.Jack@theguardian.com

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This article explains alternatives available for accessing your @outlook.com, @hotmail.com, @live.com, or @msn.com account now that the Windows Live Mail 2012 email application has stopped connecting to these email accounts.

Note: Windows Essentials 2012 suite reached end of support on January 10, 2017. It is no longer available for download.

Background

Email accounts ending in @outlook.com, @hotmail.com, @live.com, or @msn.com are powered by Outlook.com. Outlook.com has been upgraded to a new infrastructure that delivers innovative email and calendar experiences with enhanced performance, security, and reliability.

Windows Live Mail 2012 application will not connect to Outlook.com

Windows Live Mail 2012 will no longer synchronize email, contacts, and calendar events from these accounts because Windows Live Mail 2012 does not support the modern synchronization technologies used by the new Outlook.com.

You will continue to have access to your existing email, contacts, and calendar data that is currently stored in Windows Live Mail 2012 on your personal computer. However, to access new email, new calendar events, and new contacts data from your Outlook.com account, you will need to switch to one of the alternatives mentioned below.

Alternatives available:

Here are some alternatives you can use now that Windows Live Mail 2012 has stopped connecting to your Outlook.com account.

Web browser

Go to www.outlook.com using a web browser and enter your @outlook.com, @hotmail.com, @msn.com, or @live.com email address and password to sign in to manage your email, contacts, and calendar data.

Mail app on Windows

The built-in Mail app on Windows is the recommended replacement for Windows Live Mail 2012 and is the most-used email application among Outlook.com users today. It's designed to work with the new Outlook.com, offers a more modern and touch-friendly interface, and integrates elegantly with the Windows platform. The Mail app comes pre-installed in Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. Avery 8163 blank template download. Like Windows Live Mail 2012, the Mail app on Windows is free.

How to use the Mail app on Windows 8.1

1. Select .

2. Select the Mail tile to launch the app.

3. Navigate to Setting > Accounts > Add an account.

4. Choose the type of account you want to add, and then follow the on-screen instructions to enter your @outlook.com, @hotmail.com, @live.com or @msn.com email address and password and Sign in.

How to use the Mail app on Windows 10

1. Select > All apps > Mail to launch the app.

2. Select Get started > Add account. (If you've been to the Mail app before, select > Manage Accounts > Add account.)

3. Enter your @outlook.com, @hotmail.com, @live.com or @msn.com email address and password, and select Sign in.

4. Select > Manage Accounts, select your account, and select Change mailbox sync settings to set how far back in time you want to synchronize your Outlook.com data with the Mail app.

See Mail app on Windows 8.1 or Mail app on Windows 10 for additional instructions. With the above steps completed, your calendar events will synchronize with the Calendar app on Windows, and contact data will synchronize with the People app on Windows.

If you're using Windows 7, you can upgrade to a newer version of Windows to enjoy the Mail app and other benefits, or you can use a web browser to access your email account.

Outlook 2016 for Windows

Office 365 subscriptions include the Outlook 2016 email application as well as other productivity applications such as Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Outlook 2016 works on Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1, and Windows 10. To get started with Outlook 2016, see Add your Outlook.com account in Outlook 2016 for Windows.

Special instructions for users of locally stored data in Windows Live Mail 2012 application

Note: This section applies only to users who have locally stored emails in Storage Folders or locally stored contacts in Windows Live Mail 2012 application.

Windows Live Mail 2012 application allows you to move emails out of your Outlook.com account and store it offline in local storage folders. Similarly, contacts data can be locally stored offline. If you have used this feature to take data out of your Outlook.com account, we recommend that you move that data back into your Outlook.com account prior to the upgrade so that it can synchronize with any new email application you may want to use. The following steps describing how to move data will ensure that your data is accessible in the Outlook.com account via a web browser, and in your new email application when you connect it to your Outlook.com account.

Moving data to Mail app for Windows

Follow these steps to move locally stored data from Windows Live Mail 2012 application to your Outlook.com account. Complete this prior to the account upgrade starting at the end of June 2016:

For locally stored emails

1. Open the Windows Live Mail 2012 email application.

2. Create one or more folders in the list of folders that synchronize with your Outlook.com account. Your Outlook.com account may be of the form @outlook.com, @hotmail.com, @live.com or @msn.com. It may also be referred to as Windows Live or Microsoft account.

3. In the list of Storage Folders, open the folder with the emails that you want to move.

4. Select all messages (Ctrl+A) in the local folder and drag and drop or copy/paste the emails to the new folder created in step 2. Perform this step for all local Storage Folders that you wish to upload to your Outlook.com account.

5. Synchronize your email account to create the folders on Outlook.com and upload the emails.

6. Log in to your email account on a web browser at www.outlook.com to confirm that the emails were uploaded.

For locally stored contacts

1. Export locally stored contacts from Windows Live Mail 2012.

   1. Open the Windows Live Mail 2012 email application.

   2. Select Contacts.

   3. Select the locally stored contacts that you want to upload.

   4. Click Export on the ribbon.

   5. Select .csv file format in the drop-down menu.

   6. Click Browse and select where to save your contacts.

   7. Enter a file name and click Save.

   8. Click Next and then select the check boxes next to the fields that you want to export. Only selected fields are exported, so make sure to select everything you might want later.

   9. Click Finish.

2. Import .csv file to People (contacts) on the web.

   1. Log in to your email account on a web browser at www.outlook.com.

   2. Click on the app launcher icon and select People.

   3. Click Start import to import contacts on the People main page.

   4. Select Windows Live Mail 2012.

   5. Browse for and select the file created in the steps to Export locally stored contacts.

   6. Click Upload.

      Note: Calendar items are not stored locally in Windows Live Mail 2012 when you're connected to the Outlook.com account. When Windows Live Mail 2012 synchronizes data with your Outlook.com account after you sign in with your email address, calendar items are automatically synchronized.

Moving data to Outlook 2016 for Windows

If you choose to use the Outlook 2016 for Windows application, you can move data directly from Windows Live Mail into Outlook 2016. Refer to detailed instructions at Export Windows Live Mail emails, contacts, and calendar data to Outlook to learn how to move emails and contacts to Outlook 2016.

Note: You'll continue to have access to locally stored data in Windows Live Mail 2012 after the Outlook.com account upgrade.

Frequently asked questions

Why is Microsoft making this change?

We are upgrading Outlook.com to a new infrastructure, powered by Office 365, that helps you collaborate effortlessly with Office documents, get more done using partner add-ins, and focus on what matters. This new infrastructure uses modern synchronization protocols that provide enhanced performance, security, and reliability. Windows Live Mail 2012 uses an older synchronization protocol that is incompatible with this new infrastructure.

Who needs to take action?

Anyone who currently uses Windows Live Mail 2012 application to connect to an email account ending in @outlook.com, @hotmail.com, @live.com or @msn.com from Outlook.com needs to switch to an alternate email application or start accessing their email via web browser. People who use Windows Live Mail 2012 application to connect to email services other thanOutlook.com, including Gmail, Yahoo Mail, or others that use POP3 or IMAP protocols, do not need to take action. Outlook.com users who do not use Windows Live Mail 2012 application also do not need to take action.

I'm having trouble using the Mail app on Windows. Can someone at Microsoft help me?

If you need technical assistance, contact our community support in the Mail on Windows 8.1 community forum or Mail on Windows 10 community forum.

What are my options if I am on Windows 7 and cannot upgrade to a newer version of Windows to use the Mail app?

You may always continue to access Outlook.com from any web browser at www.outlook.com. Alternatively, you may use Outlook 2016 application, which works on Windows 7, 8/8.1, and 10. Office 365 subscriptions include the Outlook 2016 desktop app as well as other productivity applications such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote.

What if I have more questions about my Outlook.com account not answered here?

Windows Live Mail Setup

If you have more questions, you can refer to the Microsoft support page.