Did you sign up for an Outlook.com email address with Microsoft’s new Outlook.com email service, or do you still have a Hotmail account you prefer? If you’re an Android user, you have several options for accessing that account on your Android phone or tablet. Microsoft provides an official Hotmail app that works for Outlook.com addresses, too. You can also use Android’s included Email app, if you like that instead.
Outlook.com is a worthy contender in the webmail arena. It has come a long way since Google overshadowed it with Gmail’s release. While Outlook.com and Hotmail email accounts may feel the most at home on Microsoft’s Windows Phone or Windows 8 ecosystems, they work great on Android, too.
Hotmail App
Microsoft offers an official Android app for its email service. You can download it for free from Google Play. While the app’s name is currently “Hotmail,” it also works fine with Outlook.com accounts.
After downloading the app, launch it and you’ll be prompted to enter your email address and password. You can use an @outlook.com or @live.com email address instead of a Hotmail address.
After configuring a few synchronization settings, you’ll see your inbox. The official Hotmail app supports a variety of features:
- Multiple account support: You can configure several Outlook.com or Hotmail addresses and view them all in the same app.
- Contact and calendar event synchronization: If you enable these options while setting up your account, contacts and calendar events from your Outlook.com or Hotmail account will appear in Android’s included Contacts and Calendar apps.
- Push email: You’ll be notified of new emails as soon as you receive them.
Built-In Email App
Android’s included Email app supports Exchange ActiveSync accounts, and each @outlook.com email address also includes full Exchange ActiveSync support. You can use Android’s included email app instead of the dedicated Hotmail app, if you prefer. The email app offers all the same features of the Hotmail app above, including calendar event and contact sync, multiple inboxes, and push email.
To set up your new email account, open Android’s settings screen and tap Add Account. On older versions of Android, you’ll find the Add Account option under Accounts on the Settings screen.
Select the Corporate account type. On older versions of Android, this option may be named Exchange instead of Corporate.
Enter your full email address and password when prompted.
On the Account setup screen, add @outlook.com (or @hotmail.com, if you have a Hotmail email address) to the end of the Domain\Username field.
Change the contents of the Server box to snt-m.hotmail.com
After configuring your synchronization settings, your account is good to go. You can view your email by launching the Email app.
If the corporate account method doesn’t work for you, you can also select “Email” instead of “Corporate” while adding an account – Microsoft provides instructions for using POP3 and SMTP instead of Exchange ActiveSync. However, this won’t work as well, as POP3 doesn’t provide two-way synchronization of read and unread messages.
Unfortunately, Outlook.com does not currently support the standard IMAP protocol. As the Hotmail team said in our question and answer session with them, they’re investigating IMAP support, although they feel Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) is a better solution. Click here to read more about the differences between POP and IMAP.
Have you set up an Outlook.com or Hotmail email account on your Android smartphone or tablet? How’d it work for you? Did you run into any snags not mentioned here? Leave a comment and share your experience!
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I’ve read stories about people’s personal phones being erased due to them logging into Exchange servers. Apparently Exchange systems give the system admin the ability to wipe phones connected to them. Does this apply in this situation? Could Outlook wipe my phone (either maliciously or unintentionally)?
Common sense then tells you to NOT use a personal phone to connect to a business Exchange Server. If you boss, etc., wants you to collect email THAT badly then they can email YOU at an address you choose on servers you choose.
If that’s not an option, then THEY can supply the phone for the duration of the job or contract.
NEVER use your own money to supply a job unless it’s a contract job and it’s covered in the contract as well as statements regarding behavior of both parties AND penalties for failure to perform/supply and other violations of said contracts.
Contracts protect BOTH parties, but, in the case of corporate contracts (don’t care if it’s a little dress shop, if they’re incorporated it’s corporate), they protect more so the one performing the work.
I don’t know, that’s a good question — as far as I know it isn’t a concern, although I haven’t looked into it. I doubt that Microsoft’s Outlook.com is going to use those capabilities, though, even if it has it.
Still, if you use the Hotmail app, it shouldn’t be a concern.
good one
I’ve tried it with K-9 and it wasn’t too awful. I’ll have to try the Corporate route though, as it wasn’t syncing perfectly. Thanks!
Hi Tug, Could please share the settings you used in K9?
Thanks.
people still use hotmail?!
Have you tried the new Outlook?
The new Outlook.com actually has a really nice, clean interface, although I’m still a Gmail user.
Good article with necessary info.. thankx
I just use the email that come with the phone.
Unfortunately, using the Hotmail app I am unable to edit/add anything for a Hotmail contact besides their name. Can’t enter/edit an email address, phone number or address. Besides that huge oversight, the email side of the app works great.
The hotmail app’s lack of editing contacts led me back to Gmail as my master email for my phone. Last night I setup my Outlook.com address using the corporate route and I was able to edit my Outlook.com contacts just like my Gmail contacts.
Awesome. Thanks, I will give it a try as well.
Too bad — if they’re going to have a dedicated app, they should make it solid and not half-baked.
Great! This worked for my main account perfectly! Thanks. But what about the alias account I have set up through my new outlook username?
Maddie, I’ve posted something below that may help answer your question … If you need more information please give me a shout ..
I’m adding it to the android side of my Nook Color; I already have apps for gmail and yahoo mail, might as well complete the trilogy. Don’t see it replacing gmail for everyday use, though.
Fritz,
You can use the default mail app built into ICS & JellyBean
Hello,
In answer to the questions,
Firstly I have not heard of either Hotmail, or Outlook.Com wiping any phones. If the telephone connects to a corporate Exchange server, then I would expect the ability for a corporate admin to wipe the phone should it have been lost or stolen. This functionality is nothing new and was originally introduced for Exchange 2007, as an improvement to security. Plus it also stops the loss of corporate data – Sarbains Oxley ect.
If you have migrated your Hotmail account to Outlook.Com, then your original account will have been migrated as an alias, which means that your e-mail is delivered to your Outlook inbox, but then moved into the alias folder. It would appear that in order to read your mail you have two options.
1. Scroll down to the folder, and read your mail or
2. Log-into Outlook.Com using a web browser, and
* click on the options button (cog in the top right corner) clicking on “more mail settings”.
* Under “Customize Outlook” click “Rules for sorting new messages”
* Here you will see the rules that have been applied automatically to your e-mail account. If you wish to read all your mail in a single inbox then select the rule that moves messages into the alias-inbox and click delete.
**
**Please note, that this will deliver your mail to the Outlook inbox, and you will then need to move your mail manually to the alias.
As my partner has established several “alias accounts” she chooses to select the given folder.
If you are using Outlook to read Outlook.com then you also need to be aware that by default it uses Exchange ActiveSync (AES) and that the server is “m.outlook.com” or “m.hotmail.com” – I have also seen “snt-m.outlook.com” used.
Currently you are also able to read your mail using POP3, and IMAP using the following
pop3.live.com
smtp.live.com
imap.hotmail.com
A word to the wise, if you want to alter/modify your Outlook.Com account details, and have the MS Office Outlook e-mail client open you need to close this before you log-in using the web app; otherwise you will not be able to change certain elements of the account details (namely rules ect)
Hopefully this helps
Arthur
Regarding aliases:
I’m using the native email client in ICS and have yet to figure out a way to send messages using a Hotmail alias in the From field. Any suggestions?
(This is possible in Windows Live on the desktop by adding email accounts with dummy incoming server settings and the usual Hotmail outgoing server settings)
No need for an app. Just surf gmail in the browser, settings, “Accounts and Import”, in the section “Send mail as:” click “Add another email address you own” and follow the wizard. you will be able to receive emails from / send emails with the addresses you specified. You can add up to 6 different addresses. Depending on how many emails you receive, I suggest to set up also filters and labels.
Thanks! Ever heard the song by Suzanne Vega? Ah???
Ahhhh,Suzanne Vega, the Queen of the MP3 …
You can also use the default mail app installed in ICS & JellyBean, following the process of adding a new account …
Don’t forget
POP3 – pop3.live.com
smtp.live.com
IMAP – imap.hotmail.com
AES – m.outlook.com
m.hotmail.com
snt-m.outlook.com
Hopefully this helps
Arthur
Does Hotmail actually support IMAP? From what I understand, it doesn’t.
That works, if you’d like to connect your Outlook.com/Hotmail account to Gmail
THis is cool.
I recently installed the native app from hotmail.
But it’s better to use the built in app.
Thanks for the tutorial :-)
Nice informative, like to give a try….
Thanks for the info on setting up hotmail with the built-in email app. The Hotmail app is too buggy for my taste (shuts down, not FCs, when switching to different folders… and also the problems mentioned above).
It’s great to be able to use the built-in one for aesthetic consistency :)
Acho mais fácil direcionar seus emails para o gmail…
In my case don’t work. “Can’t Connect to the Server”. I have my e-mail and password right, and I don’t have any idea of why isn’t working.
I have same problem-can’t connect to server” problem-out of the blue for no reason. My transformer prime tablet set up & worked with the built in email at first. A month or 2 later stopped working & haven’t been able to fix it since. It’s REALLY annoying! Used to work so great…an update did this? can’t even repair or reinstall this..all other issues I ever had I fixed, except this one :(
Waiting for it .. and now got .. previously used browser to log in!.
wonderful
what is the difference in functionality for EAS on android non-hotmail-app between the “m” and “snt-m” subdomains?
I actually have no idea, all i know is this method works.
Check out Emoze Secure PushMail application.
With Emoze you can easily synchronize multiple email accounts simultaneously as well as your ?contacts, calendar events ?and sub-folders. ?
Emoze provides a complete secure experience, enabling you, among other things, to remotely ?locate, lock, and wipe ?the data on the device if lost or stolen.?
The application is available free of charge.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.emoze.Emozesync
Hi Chris,
I’m new to android and I’m using the buit-in mail app of my android tablet (4.0.3).
There is one problem with this app – maybe you can help with a hint: when opening the sent folder I can see that I have sent the mails showing up there – but I rather would like to see to whom I sent these mails. How can I manage not to see my address but the recipient’s address in the sent folder?
Regards,
Oliver
I use the Gmail app instead of the Mail app, so I’ve never run into this. I looked into it for you and this seems to be a known bug with the Mail app: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=4658
That really should be fixed. Unfortunately, it looks like only Google can fix this.
I downloaded the ap on my Samsung G3- then the program on my computer – then tried to enter my company email address/pw into the ap (my.name@companyname.com) – it won’t accept, says “Sign in incorrect….invalid email address or password”……..any ideas?
This is for Hotmail and Outlook.com. if you have an Exchange account with your company, you’ll need to follow a different process and specify a different Exchange server.
If you have an IMAP or POP3 account, you can access it in the standard, included Email app on Android.
Brilliant.
After hours of phaffing about and searching the net email worked 1st time using this guide.
5 stars
My Hotmail was working fine on my Samsung Galaxy SIII at first, but then it stopped. I couldn’t fix it, so I deleted the account and reconnected. Fine…for about two weeks when it died again, just stopped syncing with no errors. Couldn’t fix, so repeated the above process. Fine for a couple weeks again, then stopped, again.
I tried a couple of fixes I found via a Google search, one very much like this one, and it didn’t work. Your fix had all the info I needed! Thank you!! (We’ll see if it lasts more than a few weeks, but it seems like it should, all things considered.)
One note of clarification: I followed these instructions, but chose to add a new email account and connect via Exchange. That failed. You really do mean it when you say to choose Exchange/Corporate, not email! I didn’t quite understand that at first.
Great job.
HNK
I have done everything to set up my hotmail on my Nexus tablet but each time, i get stuck on the synchronisation step i.e. it synchronizes for ever. Help
I receive all my emails of my Hotmail account on my Hotmail app (I have now deleted it and I’m using my phone’s email app, Samsung Galaxy 2) but can’t reply directly from it (either of them). I don’t know what to do!
I tried this with K9 but I could not get it to work. Are there in instructions on how this is done. Anyone here who has set it up on K9?
The simple way to do it is by following the steps in this article: http://www.ambrose-services.co.uk/blog.how-to-synchronise-hotmail-with-your-android.html. It works equally well with Outlook. I’ve done it easily with both.
Thanks for this, however my android says “couldn’t open connection to server”. Any ideas where I’ve gone wrong (yes it is connected to the internet),