find old accounts

There is no tool that lists all historical Hotmail/Outlook.com accounts created with a name, but there are a few supported checks that can be done:

1. Check which email addresses are Microsoft accounts
   • Go to the Microsoft account sign-in page at https://account.microsoft.com and enter any email addresses that might have been used (old personal, school, ISP, etc.).
   • If a password prompt appears, that address is a Microsoft account.
   • If the message "We couldn't find an account with that username" or "That Microsoft account doesn't exist" appears, that address is not an active Microsoft account. It may never have been one, or it may have been closed.
2. Use the sign-in helper if the address is forgotten
   • If the exact email address is not remembered but there is a suspicion that a Microsoft account exists, use the Sign-in Helper tool linked from the same article to try to locate it based on information that can still be provided.
3. Check products and services where a Microsoft account might have been used
   • On any Windows 10/11 device already signed in, select Start > Settings > Accounts. Under Email & app accounts, look for any old usernames.
   • In Office apps (Word, Excel) on devices that might still be signed in, go to File > Account and look under Belongs to for associated usernames.
   • Check all current email inboxes for old receipts or messages from Microsoft (for example, Xbox, digital purchases, subscriptions). These messages often show which Microsoft account was used.
   • If an Xbox gamertag was used, follow the Xbox "Find your Microsoft email address" walkthrough referenced in the article to see which Microsoft account is tied to that gamertag.
4. Understand deletion of very old Hotmail accounts
   • If a Hotmail/Outlook.com account has not been signed into for more than 2 years, it may have been permanently deleted. In that case, the mailbox and its contents cannot be restored, and the email address cannot be reused to create a new account.
5. If the username or password is known but no longer works
   • If a username and password are remembered but sign-in fails, use the guidance in "My username and password have stopped working" from the referenced articles.

If none of the above surfaces any old addresses, and there has been no sign-in activity for many years, those old Hotmail accounts are likely deleted and cannot be recovered.

References:

• How to check if your email address is a Microsoft account
• Check products or services where you used your Microsoft account
• How to sign in to Hotmail
• Deleted hotmail email address from account - can I get it back? - Microsoft Q&A
• Attempting to access old email - Microsoft Q&A