Windows Live Mail: Switch to Outlook.com

Outlook.com is Microsoft’s webmail service. It can be used with older Microsoft email addresses (such as @hotmail.com, @hotmail.nl, @live.com, @live.nl, @msn.com and @msn.nl). But you can also create a new e-mail account. That ends with @outlook.com

If you choose Outlook.com, you do not need to install a program on the PC. From now on you can e-mail via your favorite browser.

To use Outlook.com, you need a Microsoft account. If you use Windows 10, chances are you already have an account. If you don’t already have a Microsoft account, read the article:

• Create a Microsoft account

On SeniorWeb you will find two articles that explain the basics of Outlook.com.

• Outlook.com: Starting with Email
• Outlook.com: continue with email

Emails from Windows Live Mail can be easily archived and consulted using the Mailstore program. It is also possible, for those who really want to, to subsequently import these e-mails into Outlook.com.

You can read how to download and install the program in the Mailstore article. When the program is ready for use, proceed as follows:

• Launch Mail Store.
• click on Archive emails.
• Under ‘Email Clients’, click Windows Live Mail.
• In the window that appears, click To end.
• In the next window that appears, click OK.
• Under ‘Profiles’, double click Windows Live Mail to start archiving.
• At the bottom right of the screen you will see a progress window. Depending on the number of messages you have, archiving may take some time. When the process is complete, click in the progress window on Close.

You can now consult all your e-mails in the archive via the Mailstore program. But this program can also transfer the messages to Outlook.com:

• Click in the program on Export emails.
• Under ‘Email Servers’, click IMAP mailbox.
• In the window that appears, click Next one.
• At ‘Host’ you enter: outlook.com
• At ‘Access via’, select the option IMAP-TLS.
• Enter your Microsoft account information for username and password.
• click on Next one.
• click on To end.
• click on OK.
• Under ‘Profiles’, double click the given name to start transferring.
• At the bottom right of the screen you will see a progress window. Depending on the number of messages you have, the transfer may take some time. When the process is complete, click in the progress window on Close.

You will find all emails in a separate folder called ‘MailStore Export’.

To transfer your contacts to Outlook.com, first create a special file that contains all your contacts. You can save such a CSV file in Windows Live Mail as follows:

• Launch Windows Live Mail.
• Click on the bottom left Contacts.
• Click at the top Export.
• Then click Comma Separated Values ​​(.CSV) File.
• click on To leaf through.
• Select a folder on the computer to save the file to.
• Think of a suitable file name, for example ‘Contacts Address Book’.
• click on Save.
• click on Next one.
• You decide which data, such as telephone numbers, e-mail addresses and nicknames, you want to transfer.
• click on Complete.

The address book csv file is saved on the computer. Now it’s time to transfer the contacts to Outlook.com:

• Go to Outlook.com and sign in with your credentials.
• Click on the square with the small squares at the top left.
• click on People.
• Click in the menu under the blue/black bar on To manage.
• Then click Import contacts.
• Click on the bottom right Windows Live Mail.
• click on To leaf through.
• Go to the csv file you saved it, click on it and then click To open.
• Click on at the top of the page upload.

All contacts are now imported into Outlook.com.

Note: Sometimes the import doesn’t work this way. That has to do with the csv file. In that case, do the following before starting the import:

• Open the Windows Explorer.
• Go to the csv file.
• Right click on it.
• Select Open with.
• Then click Notepad.
• Notepad will now open. Click in the menu on To process.
• click on To replace.
• Next to “Search for,” type the semicolon: ;
• Next to ‘Replace with’, type a comma: ,
• click on Replace everything.
• Close the ‘Replace’ window by clicking on the cross.
• Click in the menu on File.
• click on Save.
• Close Notepad by clicking the cross.
• Now start Outlook.com again via your browser and follow all the steps to import the address book.

If you use an e-mail address that you have received from your provider (such as Ziggo or KPN), you can link this address to Outlook.com and receive all e-mail in one place from now on.

• Go to Outlook.com and sign in with your credentials.
• Click on the gear icon at the top right.
• Then click Connected Accounts.
• Under ‘Add a connected account’, click Other email accounts.
• Enter the e-mail address and password that you received from your provider or that you created with the provider.
• click on OK.
• Your account has now been added to Outlook.com

Note: In some cases it is not possible to add the provider mail in this way. You will then see the ‘Choose your connection type’ page. In that case you have to fill in the settings yourself. You have received these settings from your provider. It’s about ‘IMAP connection settings’. The information you need is:

• Incoming (IMAP server)
• Incoming server port
• Outgoing (IMAP server)
• Outgoing server port
• Verification
• encryption

You can find this information if you log in with your own provider.

Once you’ve transferred everything, Windows Live Mail is no longer needed. We recommend that you remove the program from your PC. Don’t do this right away, but wait a few days. Until you are sure that all your mails and contacts have been transferred to Outlook.com.

Remove the program in the following way:

• Right click on Start.
• click on Programs and Features.
• Find Windows Essentials 2012 in the list and click it.
• click on Delete Change.
• Click on All Uninstall Windows Essentials Programs.
• Check all programs and click remove.

Windows Essentials, of which Windows Live Mail is a part, has now been removed from the PC.