Tip #4679 - Changing Your Hotmail E-mail Address: Yes or No?
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Q:
Is there any way I can change my Hotmail e-mail address? I want to
make it sound a little more professional, but I'm not sure where to
begin. Can you please help?
A:
I surely can, but I'm not promising
you'll like what I have to say. Allow me to explain! I'm a fellow
Hotmail user as well and I have often wondered about this myself.
When I first set up my Hotmail account, I was much younger and I wasn't
really thinking about how I would want my e-mail address to sound
five years down the road. Therefore, my current address is a little
on the goofy side and I've wanted to change it numerous times. I'm
sure any of you who use Hotmail have been in the same boat, am I right?
Well, you might
as well get comfy, because it looks like you're going to be there
for a long time. Unfortunately, Hotmail does not provide you with
the means to change your e-mail address on a whim. The one you have
is the one you're stuck with until you either create a whole new account
or change e-mail providers. Now, I know when you first created your
Hotmail account, you probably did it so fast, you weren't even thinking
about what you really wanted your address to be. Either that or the
name you did want was already taken. And while it seems a little unfair
to have the same address forever, Hotmail has to do what they have
to do.
Since everyone
has to have a different e-mail address, Hotmail can only allow one
name per person. Otherwise, everyone would be changing their e-mail
address on a regular basis and they would run out of options for new
users. I know there are several combinations you can use to create
an e-mail address, but if every single Hotmail user in the world changed
their address even once, new users wouldn't have much to choose from.
And that's why Hotmail has to lay down some guidelines for you to
follow.
Now, like I said
before, there is one way around this. If you want to take the time
to create a whole new Hotmail account, you can change your e-mail
address. But, before you go and do that, allow me to take you through
the process. First of all, you have to click on the Sign Up button
on Hotmail's homepage, which will lead you through the beginnings
of creating a new account. You can then select your new address. And
to that, I say good luck! You may not be able to use your first choice
and it might be a little difficult to find an alternative you like
that hasn't already been used.
Once you finally
find a new name, you then have to create a new password, a new secret
question and you have to provide an alternate e-mail address where
your password can be sent if you ever happen to forget it. After all
that, your new account will be created and you can then start to use
it. But remember, your old e-mail address still exists as well. Because
of that, you'll have to go in and transfer all your contacts, all
your saved e-mails, you'll have to tell all your friends and family
that your address has changed and you'll have to update all the services
you use online with your new address. Plus, you have to go through
the hassle of deleting your old account, which can take some time
as well. Wow, that sounds like a lot of work to me!
As you can see,
changing your Hotmail account may not be worth it. And just for your
information, the same goes for any free e-mail account, such as Yahoo!,
Gmail, etc. It applies to several paid services as well. So, if you
desperately want to change your e-mail address, you can go ahead and
do so, but you better make sure it's one you'll want to keep for a
very long time. Otherwise, you might as well just stick with the one
you have!
~ Erin
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