How to Send and Receive Hotmail from Your Gmail Account
Have you ever wanted to read your Hotmail from inside your Gmail account? Today we'll show you how to both send and receive using your @hotmail.com, @msn.com or @live.com email addresses… but from within Gmail instead.
If you would rather access your Hotmail from within a desktop client, you can setup Hotmail in Thunderbird.
Enabling Hotmail from Gmail
First go into your Gmail account and select Settings then click on the Accounts tab, now click on "Add a mail account you own".
In the next screen enter in the Hotmail or Live address into the Address field then click on Next Step.
In the next section we need to enter in the proper settings so the connections work. Enter in your username and password for your Windows Live account. Make sure the following settings are correct.
POP Server: pop3.live.com
Port: 995
Check Always use a secure connection (SSL) when retrieving mail
You can also select leaving a copy on the server and archive incoming messages, these settings are per your preference and will not affect the connection. When everything looks correct click on Add Account.
Note: If you want to leave your messages in your Hotmail account, make sure to select the option for "Leave a copy of retrieved messages on the server".
Next check "Yes, I want to be able to send mail as…" This will allow you to send email as your Hotmail or Live account then click Next Step.
Now you can verify or edit the name on the email or if you'd like replies to be delivered to another account enter in a different Reply-to address.
Finally Gmail will send a verification to your Hotmail or Live account.
Once you get the verification code enter it and click the Verify button and your done!
To send an email using your Hotmail account, just use the "From" drop-down when composing a new message.
Now you can Send and Receive your Hotmail in your Gmail Account!
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Great tutorial on how to do this. I just did it yesterday when I heard that hotmail enabled pop3 access.
Thanks for a GREAT article. Had been using IzyMail but just let my subscription expire about a week ago. So glad Microsoft is finally enabling POP3!!! Appreciate the walk-through…
There was a problem connecting to pop3.live.com
Please contact Microsoft's support team for more information on POP access.
** I can't still connect my hotmail ( following your procedure) getting above error.
@Abba:
Double check that all of the port settings are correct.
@mysticgeek
Hey Geek, thanks, I had entered my password wrong million times before I got it correct
thanks.
*pop3.live.com (995) and SSL is universal settings for any msn domain if anybody is wondering.
@mysticgeek
hey buddy, I'm in huge trouble right now..
I set up my account an most of my hotmail messages are moved on to Gmail now..
but I want hotmail messages in hotmail and gmail in gmail. Can you please help me out?? I donot like gmail interface!!
I actually prefer the hotmail interface to the google one. Interesting to see they have enabled pop3 again though.
great tutorial geek. thank you very much
Works great thank for this. I like the labeling as well, very useful.
@Abba: I don't understand what you are asking about. This article is how to get messages from Hotmail into Gmail.
If you want hotmail messages in hotmail and gmail messages in gmail then that is the default way things are and you don't need to use this article. You can just delete your hotmail account from gmail and return to that.
If you want hotmail messages in both hotmail and gmail then you can go to the gmail account settings and check the box "Leave a copy of retrieved messages on the server".
If what you want is gmail messages in gmail and hotmail (The reverse of that) you can set that up too with gmail forwarding.
If you need any more information on setting things up, I would be happy to provide more detailed instructions.
well this is site really helps in terms of getting best solution in short & simple way …
I have been trying to look out for site where u get those tweaks & tricks so that u can make ur operations in pc more secured …
well ur site is fantabulous …
appreciated
Nice tutorial… Never noticed that !!!
@Justin
I set up hotmail into Gmail. (I had checked to leave original message on to server in my second try of setting up account) Gmail has fetched All of the messages(530+ Spam) from hotmail, theses messages are also laying into Hotmail. I was told from Hotmail support center to transfer through Mail Client, but these messages arrive in hotmail AS A NEW message, they don't lay as they used in hotmail. ( by previous dates). I want to put those messages back as they were. (* I hope this clears )
Btw, thanks.
Awesome tip!
This is cool but it still gives your gmail address out. I don't really see how the recent changes are any different from how it was before when you could send from a hotmail account inside of gmail. Maybe I'm doing it wrong.
I get the same error message as Abba:
There was a problem connecting to pop3.live.com
Please contact Microsoft's support team for more information on POP access.
My port number and info is otherwise correct. Do I need to turn on POP3 in Hotmail?
Gracias por la información es muy interesante aunque como esta la situación la mayoría de los usuarios de Hotmail reciben sus correos en Windows Live Mail. Lo interesante y me parece que no han encontrado la solución serñia recibir en Windows Live mail el correo de Yahoo.
@Abba:
"Gmail has fetched All of the messages(530+ Spam) from hotmail"
Ok, so you have all the messages from Hotmail inside your gmail account.
This makes sense.
"theses messages are also laying into Hotmail."
It sounds like you are saying the messages also sit inside your Hotmail account.
Is that correct? Or are the Hotmail messages no longer in your Hotmail account?
"I was told from Hotmail support center to transfer through Mail Client, but these messages arrive in hotmail AS A NEW message, they don't lay as they used in hotmail. ( by previous dates)."
What Mail Client did you use to try and transfer the emails?
"I want to put those messages back as they were. (* I hope this clears )"
Ok, this sentience makes since though I'm not sure what they were before.
Do you mean the messages are not in Hotmail anymore and you want them to be back in the same folders they were in? Or something else?
"Btw, thanks."
You're Welcome. I'm glad to help.
@Abba: I just tested this to get an idea of what was happening and it seems without that checkmark all the messages in Hotmail get moved to the folder "Deleted" on Hotmail and copied to gmail's inbox or a label depending on how it was setup.
So you should be able to just to the "Deleted" folder in Hotmail, Select all the messages (By clicking the check box by "Sort By", click Move to and select Inbox to return all the messages to the Inbox by date.
Hi I changed my windows word because the trial had run out to open office
I have since been given a copy of windows word which I have installed could you explain to me how do I reverse my actions and make windows word my default letter writer.
My Regards and compliments on your wonderful site.
Mr Mike Ford..
For anyone getting the problem moving over hotmail to gmail:
n the next section we need to enter in the proper settings so the connections work. Enter in your username and password for your Windows Live account. Make sure the following settings are correct.
USERNAME: ENTER YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS AND NOT JUST YOUR USERNAME
POP Server: pop3.live.com
Port: 995
Check Always use a secure connection (SSL) when retrieving mail
You can also select leaving a copy on the server and archive incoming messages, these settings are per your preference and will not affect the connection. When everything looks correct click on Add Account.
I was *so* looking forward to this. But, I get the same error message as others above. I use Google Apps, though, so perhaps that's the problem?
I've been getting this error message since the official announce of worldwide POP3 (in Thunderbird and Gmail): "Server denied POP3 access for the given username and password. Please contact Microsoft's support team for more information on POP access."
I guess that the POP3 is not yet available worldwide… I'm from Mexico.
Any ideas?
I get this error:
There was a problem connecting to pop3.live.com
Server returned error: "Account misconfig: hostname contains unsafe characters."
@Justin:
Justin, you are FREAKING AWESOME !!!!
I don't know how to thank you!! but all of the transferred messages were in deleted folder as well as in gmail inbox. I moved those messages from Delete folder to Inbox from what you mentioned. AND I have all the messages back as before.
YOU ARE THE BEST, JUSTIN. THANKS!!!
GOD I LOVE HOTMAIL!!!!!!!!!
Thank you sooooo much for writing this. The feature on Lifehacker pointed me here. I've been dying to switch over my hotmail ever since gmail's inception, but this was the clearest tutorial on the net.
Thank you SO MUCH. Now I never have to log onto hotmail or enter a msn site ever again. I've been waiting on this for a very, very long time. Great instructions. You can have my bebbiez now.
I can't get it to work.
"There was a problem connecting to pop3.live.com
Please contact Microsoft's support team for more information on POP access.
Show error details Server returned error: "Account misconfig: hostname contains unsafe characters."
like one or two others here I cant get this to work . I follow all the advice given but still get the contact microsofts support team .
howdoyougetapasword
Works like a charm… people should actually read the tutorial before asking questions.
Server returned error: "Account misconfig: hostname contains unsafe characters."
Why would even want to use hotmail???
I'm in Canada and get a similar error to a few users:
I can't get it to work.
"There was a problem connecting to pop3.live.com
Please contact Microsoft's support team for more information on POP access.
Show error details Server returned error: "Account misconfig: hostname contains unsafe characters."
Is there a solution to this? or is it that pop not emabled for some users yet in hotmail?
I'm guessing it doesn't send items that end up in Hotmail Junk box. So one would need to set junk email filtering in hotmail to low in order to receive these. Correct?
A few weeks back, the only way I found to retrieve email from Hotmail was to change my profile, setting my home and work locations to London (I found a post that said POP access was first enabled in UK).
I've tried to set up Hotmail-from-Gmail for a friend, but it didn't work. I'm thinking maybe POP access is still not available for some countries (like Mexico).
…in any case, you can still change your Hotmail profile and get access, no matter where you REALLY are.
first i tried firefox and i get Server returned error: "Account misconfig: hostname contains unsafe characters." but ie6 did
thanks
Same error message when setting are entered:
There was a problem connecting to pop3.live.com
Please contact Microsoft's support team for more information on POP access.
any idea how to fix? Go with the MS suggested settings? Thanks
I was able to set this up without problem but now all of my Hotmail messages are arriving in my Gmail inbox as new messages.
I didn't want all of these clogging up my inbox and tried to delete the account, but the Hotmail emails are still slowly appearing in my Gmail inbox.
Is there a way I can select all unread messages in Gmail, not just the unread messages on the page? Or is there another way to delete all of these Hotmail messages? Thanks.
@Brad: Just select "Label Messages as" and "archive incoming messages" when adding the hotmail account to gmail and the messages will only appear in the listed label instead of the inbox.
For the messages you already have you can just type to:myid@hotmail.com in the search box and click the All link to select all the messages and then you can move them or delete them.
If you're getting the "unsafe characters" error, make sure there's no space after the pop3.live.com.
Hey man, I think I got it to work - but my hotmail emails are in the "All Mail" section of Gmail. How do I get it to come right to my inbox? I never check the all mail section, and even if I periodically did, the new hotmail emails would be buried.
Jason: Choose to label all mail from hotmail with "Hotmail". Separate your mail with the Labs plugin Multiple inboxes and you can see both gmail and hotmail simultaneously.
On the screen where you put your username and password, you must put your entire email address or it won't work. For example:
Username: dpete47@hotmail.com
Username: dpete47 - it will give you an authentic error
Great tutorial! Just configured it, and works great. Too bad it brought ALL my hotmail emails (10 years worth of messages…) Otherwise, just great!
Does anybody know if having the account configured on gmail counts as "opening" your hotmail account (my question is because of the fact that you need to visit yout hotmail before a number of days in order to avoid it being closed).
Good advice, Ben…
quote:
If you're getting the "unsafe characters" error, make sure there's no space after the pop3.live.com.
Thank you!
I get the following error:
"Server denied POP3 access for the given username and password.
Please contact Microsoft's support team for more information on POP access."
Help!!!
Thanks so much…took a bit but finally figured it out!
These tips did the trick:
*remove space after pop3.live.com if you're copy-pasting
*write your whole email address under username (name@msn.com not name)
Thank you so very much for posting this, it was most helpful.
God bless you,
~Martha~
Great Tutorial, thank you very much you are a tribute!
Oh thank the dear and fluffly lord! your how to saved me alot of frustration!!! Cheers
I have 3 hotmail accounts directed to 1 gmail account. Working just fine so far. But I have 2 questions: 1) I checked my hotmail inbox yesterday and I noticed that all the hotmail mails that I received in my gmail account were sent into the 'trash' folder in the hotmail account! :/
2) I noticed too that gamil only verifies new emails for time to time but in long periods…sometimes I see that the last verification was 30 minutes ago…that is too long obviously!
Yay! This is great. This is the first time I've managed to do this, thanks to your instructions.
Thanks for sharing!
Really frustrated. Fetching mail from my hotmail to my gmail is worrking like a charm, but when I try to set my hotmail as a from adress the confirmation email gmail sends never arrives in my hotmail.
Is hotmail blocking that mail somehow. I have tried by deleting, and recreating, the hotmail account i gmail several times but no luck.
Any ideas?
Hi, I used to use this method, but now I deleted it. However, when I send mail from gmail to my hotmail, they come to both inboxes…
great tutorial, thanks! the guys who typing right the userinfo but still get an error (like the fellow from Mexico, sorry, i don't recall his name) is 'cause POP only allowed in:
"Note that free POP access is currently available to users in
* Australia
* Brazil
* Canada
* France
* Germany
* Italy
* Japan
* the Netherlands
* Spain
* the United States and
* the United Kingdom. "
there is a workaround. you need to change your personal info in the hotmail settings (note, i am not recommend it' 'cause it is like providing false info) f.e. to UK, and then you can set up your hotmail account via Gmail…
thanx for the tip guys.. i just wana ask if they already enabled the sending (SMTP) option for hotmail if u try to put it in a mail client? thanx..
Will this transfer all emails in the folders I have organized them in on my hotmail account? Because if not and I go through with the transfer my inbox will be a huge giant mess.
Cool site, love the info.
Is there any way to make that all emails from hotmail to be labeled hotmail ?
how do you change the preferences on a Hotmail Account to allow client email settings to leave email messages on the server ?.
thanks
ALF
I've tried this procedure many times, and the verification email from Google (to send email as my hotmail account user) never shows up. I've sent the verification email from Google dozens of times, and it never gets there. It's not in my trash, not in my junk mail, it's not in my inbox, it's not anywhere. Is hotmail filtering these things out?
Interesting post as for me. It would be great to read more concerning this theme.
Anyone else got this message? "Error: server is temporary unavailable". To receive the new messages, I have to click on "edit information" and then in "save changes" even if I do not make any change, then I receive the unread mails. I think this would be automatic.
@Rob: try again and again and again to send the verification email. I did it and finally I get it.