How To Erase Hotmail Account | Close It Forever

Erasing a Hotmail account requires closing the entire Microsoft account tied to it — a process that takes about 10 minutes and gives you 30–60 days to change your mind.

Deleting that old @hotmail.com address isn’t a simple checkbox. Microsoft doesn’t let you kill the email while keeping the rest of the account alive. Close the Hotmail, and you also lose Outlook.com access, OneDrive files, Xbox saves, Microsoft 365 subscriptions, and every other service hanging off that single Microsoft identity. Here’s how to do it right — with the exact steps, the data you must back up first, and the traps that trip people up.

What Actually Happens When You Erase a Hotmail Account

That Hotmail address is your Microsoft account’s sign-in name. There is no separate “delete Hotmail only” button. The official process at Microsoft’s closure portal marks the whole identity for deletion. After a waiting period of 30 or 60 days (you choose), everything vanishes permanently — emails, contacts, calendar events, OneDrive files, Skype history, game saves, and any store purchases tied to that login.

Pre-Closure Checklist — Do This First

Rushing into the closure page without preparation cooks your data. These three steps take 15 minutes and prevent permanent regret.

• Back up everything. Export your Hotmail emails, contacts, and calendars to a new account using Microsoft’s built-in export tools or a migration service like VaultMe. Download any files stored in OneDrive. Write down critical contact info manually.
• Cancel active subscriptions. Go to account.microsoft.com, open the Payment options tab, and cancel any Microsoft 365, OneDrive Premium, or Xbox Game Pass subscriptions tied to this account. Unpaid balances can block the closure.
• Add a backup email or phone number. Microsoft will send a verification code during the closure process. If your only verification method is the Hotmail address you’re trying to kill, you’ll hit a dead end. Add an alternate email under Security info in your Microsoft account settings.

Step-by-Step: How To Close Your Hotmail Account

The whole sequence takes about 10 minutes on any device with a browser. Follow these steps in order.

1. Open account.live.com/closeaccount.aspx in your browser.
2. Sign in using the exact Hotmail email address and password you want to erase.
3. Complete any identity verification Microsoft requests — usually a code sent to your backup email or phone.
4. Read the closure checklist. Microsoft lists every service you’ll lose. Scroll to the bottom and click Next.
5. Choose your reopen window from the dropdown: 30 days or 60 days. Thirty days is the minimum; 60 gives you a longer safety net.
6. Select a reason from the Select a reason dropdown list. Any option works — this is for Microsoft’s data.
7. Check every acknowledgment checkbox confirming you understand what you’re about to lose. The closure button stays grayed out until all boxes are ticked.
8. Click Mark account for closure. The page reloads with an exact expiration date.
9. Click Done. You’ll get a final confirmation email at your backup address.

The screen displays a closure date, and you receive a confirmation email within a few minutes. The account is not gone yet — it’s in the waiting period and can still be reopened.

What the Waiting Period Means

Nothing happens immediately. For 30 or 60 days (your choice in step 5), the account stays fully accessible. You can still sign in, read old emails, and even reverse the whole process by clicking a “Reopen account” link Microsoft sends in a follow-up email. After that window closes, the Hotmail address becomes unreachable permanently — no recovery, no second chances.

Three Common Mistakes That Ruin This Process

These errors fill support forums with frustrated users who thought they had erased their Hotmail.

• Only removing it from the Outlook app. Opening Outlook, going to File > Account Settings > Remove, only deletes the cached local copy. The Hotmail address stays alive online — you’ll still receive mail. This is the most common mistake by a wide margin.
• Trying to kill just the email address. Microsoft’s system won’t allow it. You cannot delete the Hotmail while keeping the rest of the Microsoft account. The entire identity goes or stays.
• Assuming it’s deleted immediately. The 30 or 60-day waiting period surprises people who check their email the next day and find the account still active. It’s not broken — that’s the designed safety window.

Can You Delete a Hotmail Address Without Losing Everything Else?

No. Microsoft does not offer a way to detach an @hotmail.com alias from the main account. The only workaround: create a new Microsoft account with a different email address (like @outlook.com), migrate your data and subscriptions to it, then close the old account. This Microsoft account closure guide spells out the same hard rule — closing the account closes everything.