Old Hotmail address not accessible although linked to my Microsoft account

Question

Old Hotmail address not accessible although linked to my Microsoft account

ROAH SALAMAH 5

Hello,

My Microsoft account is working and I can sign in normally.

However, the old Hotmail address: <Mod remove PII> @hotmail.com

which is linked to this account is no longer accessible.

When I try to sign in using this Hotmail address, the system says the account does not exist.

But when I try to create a new account with the same address, it says the username is already taken.

This Hotmail address is very important to me and was my main email for many years.

I need your help to restore this address or correctly re-activate it as an alias on my account.

Thank you very much for your support.

Locked Question. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

Florian 0 Reputation points

2026-06-15T13:23:48.0366667+00:00

Hi, I am experiencing exactly the same issue.

My old Hotmail address was previously linked to my Microsoft account, but I can no longer access it. When I try the recovery form, I am told that the Microsoft account does not exist. At the same time, the email address cannot be registered again because it is not available.

I have already tried account recovery, but without success.

Has anyone found a solution or a way to contact support directly about this kind of situation?
Hornblower409 16,335 Reputation points

2026-06-16T06:41:25.65+00:00

@Florian said

I have already tried account recovery, but without success. Has anyone found a solution or a way to contact support directly about this kind of situation?

Microsoft Account Security is an automated process. There is no direct phone number for account recovery. Microsoft Support Agents can not unlock an account or reset your password.

If you do not feel that this answers your question, you need to start a new thread using the "Ask a question" button at the top of this page to create a new Question and include the details for your specific problem.
Cindy Burns 0 Reputation points

2026-08-31T21:08:57.2266667+00:00

Hello,

My Microsoft account is working and I can sign in normally.

However, the old Hotmail address

which is linked to this account is no longer accessible. Please help.
Hornblower409 16,335 Reputation points

2026-08-31T23:12:36.69+00:00

@Cindy Burns said

My Microsoft account is working and I can sign in normally. However, the old Hotmail address which is linked to this account is no longer accessible.

Not sure what you mean by "linked".

Did you used to have a Hotmail address listed as an alias on the page at https://account.live.com/names/manage and you could send and receive mail using that email address, but now the alias is not listed on your Manage page and you can not send and receive with that address?
Cindy Burns 0 Reputation points

2026-08-31T23:45:35.8+00:00

@Hornblower409 yes, i can see the hotmail account and can sign in but when I go to check mail I get this. Apparently Outlook (as Hotmail is now outlook) is having issues .
Hornblower409 16,335 Reputation points

2026-08-31T23:58:39.6766667+00:00

@Cindy Burns said

i can see the hotmail account and can sign in but when I go to check mail I get [error]

There are multiple possible causes of this error. You need to start a new thread using the "Ask a question" button at the top of this page to create a new Question and include the details/screenshot that you put in your comment here.

A new Question will get someone to look at your specific problem and provides much higher visibility to your issue than adding on to an existing post, which is only seen by people who are already following this question.
Hornblower409 16,335 Reputation points

2026-09-01T00:18:22.5933333+00:00

@Cindy Burns said

I get [error 500]

I am seeing multiple reports of some Microsoft Mail servers being down. This might just be a temporary error because of the outage.

2 answers

Florian 0 Reputation points

2026-06-15T13:23:48.0366667+00:00

Hi, I am experiencing exactly the same issue.

My old Hotmail address was previously linked to my Microsoft account, but I can no longer access it. When I try the recovery form, I am told that the Microsoft account does not exist. At the same time, the email address cannot be registered again because it is not available.

I have already tried account recovery, but without success.

Has anyone found a solution or a way to contact support directly about this kind of situation?
Hornblower409 16,335 Reputation points

2026-06-16T06:41:25.65+00:00

@Florian said

I have already tried account recovery, but without success. Has anyone found a solution or a way to contact support directly about this kind of situation?

Microsoft Account Security is an automated process. There is no direct phone number for account recovery. Microsoft Support Agents can not unlock an account or reset your password.

If you do not feel that this answers your question, you need to start a new thread using the "Ask a question" button at the top of this page to create a new Question and include the details for your specific problem.
Cindy Burns 0 Reputation points

2026-08-31T21:08:57.2266667+00:00

Hello,

My Microsoft account is working and I can sign in normally.

However, the old Hotmail address

which is linked to this account is no longer accessible. Please help.
Hornblower409 16,335 Reputation points

2026-08-31T23:12:36.69+00:00

@Cindy Burns said

My Microsoft account is working and I can sign in normally. However, the old Hotmail address which is linked to this account is no longer accessible.

Not sure what you mean by "linked".

Did you used to have a Hotmail address listed as an alias on the page at https://account.live.com/names/manage and you could send and receive mail using that email address, but now the alias is not listed on your Manage page and you can not send and receive with that address?
Cindy Burns 0 Reputation points

2026-08-31T23:45:35.8+00:00

@Hornblower409 yes, i can see the hotmail account and can sign in but when I go to check mail I get this. Apparently Outlook (as Hotmail is now outlook) is having issues .
Hornblower409 16,335 Reputation points

2026-08-31T23:58:39.6766667+00:00

@Cindy Burns said

i can see the hotmail account and can sign in but when I go to check mail I get [error]

There are multiple possible causes of this error. You need to start a new thread using the "Ask a question" button at the top of this page to create a new Question and include the details/screenshot that you put in your comment here.

A new Question will get someone to look at your specific problem and provides much higher visibility to your issue than adding on to an existing post, which is only seen by people who are already following this question.
Hornblower409 16,335 Reputation points

2026-09-01T00:18:22.5933333+00:00

@Cindy Burns said

I get [error 500]

I am seeing multiple reports of some Microsoft Mail servers being down. This might just be a temporary error because of the outage.

Answer 1

JANSHER LIWAG 8,955 Independent Advisor

Hi Roah,

Thank you for reaching us, My apologies to here that you unable to access or log in your Hotmail account and getting this problem. This is very annoying let me help you regarding this problem and guide you on how to recover your account.

Some reason you are getting this problem is due to Account is inactive for a years, Microsoft account name might be changed or rename.

To confirm the status of your account please try to check the mail that you are using Microsoft sign in helper.

https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2214157

enter the email address or mobile phone number you're trying to sign see if it gives any status of your account.

Looking forward to help you out. Please let me know if you have any more question.

Regards,

Jansher

Florian 0 Reputation points

2026-06-15T13:24:56.8266667+00:00

I am having the same problem as well.

The recovery tool says the account does not exist, but the email address is still not available for registration, which makes the situation very confusing.

I already tried the recovery form and got the same result.

Is there any way to escalate this to Microsoft support or confirm whether old Hotmail addresses are permanently removed or still reserved in the system?

I hope you can help

Answer 2

If your old Hotmail address is linked to your Microsoft account but is no longer accessible, there are a few steps you can take:

Check Account Recovery Options: Since the Hotmail address is associated with your Microsoft account, you may want to try recovering it through the Microsoft account recovery process. Visit the Microsoft account recovery page and follow the prompts to recover your account.
Contact Microsoft Support: If you cannot recover the Hotmail address through the recovery options, contacting Microsoft Support may be your best option. They can assist you in restoring access to your account or help you understand why the account is not accessible.
Use a Different Email Alias: If you cannot regain access to the Hotmail address, consider adding a different email address as an alias to your Microsoft account. This will allow you to continue using your Microsoft account with a different email.

Unfortunately, if the system indicates that the username is already taken, it suggests that the Hotmail address is still associated with an account, but you cannot access it. Microsoft Support will be able to provide more specific assistance regarding this issue.

References: