Can I change the return address of my MSN Hotmail mail?

Dave, I see that you are an expert on Microsoft's MSN Hotmail service. Can you tell me whether there's any way I can configure my Hotmail account so that when I send mail from that account, it has a different 'reply to' address? That'd be super helpful and keep me with Hotmail!

Dave's Answer:

I'm an expert now, eh? Ah, I guess so, even though I still prefer the simple and elegant Gmail interface over MSN Hotmail.

There is indeed a way that you can configure your Hotmail account so that messages sent out have a different return address, rather than your Hotmail address. Be warned, however, that this won't completely mask your use of Hotmail: anyone reasonably savvy will be able to view the mail headers and recognize that it was sent from a Hotmail account because it'll still have your Hotmail address as the "from".

So let's solve your problem!

To set a different return address, click on the "Options" link in the top right of the MSN Hotmail window once you're logged into your account.

There are a bunch of different choices, but the one you want to use is Message Replies. The result will be the following display:

click on the image to enlarge it
The third section shows what you want: simply click on the radio button next to "identify the address below as the reply-to address" and enter your desired return address in the box.

Click "OK" and you're good to go!

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Reader Comments To Date: 153

tony said, on April 15, 2009 6:56 PM:

hi dave. i entered my incoming outgoing server details wrong for setup of mail. when i now go to send it wont let me imput the correct pop3 smtp and so on. it tells me of errors but wont let me go back to change the account setup. im silly. help. thanx

saminta said, on April 27, 2009 6:27 AM:

i want to change my msn id because saminta_1311@hotmail.com sends porn links to my other contacts so it'z difficult for me to have this please give me a new id thnx

lplo said, on May 7, 2009 5:25 AM:

this is my email a7rar76@hotmail.com
i want retrun it
please help me !

Phil said, on June 4, 2009 4:19 PM:

This issue just started in the past week. Many friends called me asking me if I changed to use another personal email address because when they replied to my msn.com email, a different stranger's email address shown on the Reply To column.
Then, I tested and found it is true. I sent an email from my personal account @msn.com (the email address, say, myname@msn.com) to my office Outlook email account. After receiving it, I verified the sender email address which is myemail@msn.com. On Outlook I click "Reply" to that email. And guess what, I was surprised to see the email address on the "Reply To" is not myname@msn.com. Instead, it is that starnger's email address charlbrum@hotmail.com. It is always the specific stranger's email address.
Can someone tell me what could be wrong?

Further investigation shows that the issue occurs only when emails are sent through in a browser (IE or Firefox). If I use MSN software (with a butterfly icon) to get into my email account in msn.com to send emails, the emails will not have the issue. Please help.

-Phil

Bernard J.Queen said, on June 22, 2009 9:02 PM:

Hi Dave, I have made error in one of several e-mail address,and I have tried to delete it, and it will not delete, what do I do ???? the e-mail address is in error by my typing.

sonia barrufet said, on July 1, 2009 12:42 PM:

Hi Dave,

I have forgotten my password and I never had an alternate email address, if that was not bad enough, I also seem to have forgotten some of the personal details that microsoft asked me, in order to recover my email account!

so I'm desperated to gain access to my email account but microsoft says that they can not longer provide me with help with this matter

any suggestions?

many thanks,

sonia barrufet

Byron said, on July 13, 2009 9:41 AM:

Hi I was wondering it its possible for someone to use my own ip to send an email to someone ? If this header or my email received shows the original received from IP as being my own, could someone send an email using my own IP, is that technically possible??

Osama said, on July 28, 2009 1:18 AM:

Hey all,
first, i don't have an alternate e-mail and they (support team) wanna send the link of resetting password on mail that i can't open how it comes !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i need any active solution to return back my E-mail cauze i have Company and cards have this mail on it

thanx in advanse

jane said, on November 21, 2009 4:55 PM:

how do you stop your signin page to open in spanish when you click view inbox on windows messenger live? or how do you automatically go directly to your inbox when click view inbox in msn messenger live?

Ravi said, on December 26, 2009 11:32 AM:

Dear I need your help my live.com e-mail is temporary unavailable in last 5days can you help me .

Maureen said, on December 28, 2009 10:40 AM:

I tried to get into my hotmail account entering my correct address and password .I know this as I use it daily.The answer came that it was either the wrong address or the wrong password(It wasn't)I tried resetting the password with no joy .Now it says I can't use it as it has been accessed too much with the wrong info.I need this site as all my contacts e billing etc are sent to my hotmail address.Also I can't access some of my websites using this address(game site) I have sent an email to my hotmail address and it hasn't come back.How long shall I wait before I try to access it again.Shall I try on another computer?Please help as my affairs are now in a terrible state.
Many thanks
M.Bailey

oliver khoury said, on January 14, 2010 12:06 AM:

You've tried to sign in too many times with an incorrect e-mail address or password

edward fenlon said, on February 4, 2010 5:30 AM:

Hi Dave,
I hope you can help me with my problem.
My friend set up her email address in london so it has a .co.uk ending.She has now gone to italy for a while and i need to know if it is possible for her to receive my emails in italy if i use her hotmail .co.uk address. Thank you!.edward

Dean Graham said, on March 17, 2010 6:55 PM:

I cannot access my hotmail account as i seemed to have forgotten my password and donnt have access to the alternate email address. is there any way to contact any way i can gain acess to my account

setareh said, on May 31, 2010 5:55 AM:

Hi
I had a hotmail 4 years ago but since then I have used yahoomail, now I wanted to catch my hotmail again but in 'forget the password',MSN does not accept my ID.it said its an incorrect windows live ID.I dont know what to do caz 4 years ago there was not any Windows Live ID, and I am sure about my ID spelling.What should I do now?please help me Dave.

krishna bhugai said, on June 2, 2010 10:38 PM:

some one have stolen my account password,some one told me they recive e-mails from my account but when I try to open my mail account it says wrong password.it says it is blocked now .I want to get it back my account & want to change my password please help me.....

krishna Bhugai said, on June 2, 2010 11:38 PM:

Dear Dave,

above I have read that most of the people have the problem as me, my hotmail account may use by some one & may change password may be hacker.
I forget my secret answer & I havent changed password recently but it says wrong & blocked my accound,I have creat a new account but I have important contact on my privious one .pleanse help me how do I get my account back ,you could send me on my new mail account bhugaikrishna@hotmail.com
thanks.hoping for sulutation

HAKIM said, on June 29, 2010 12:03 AM:

hello sir..i was using my hotmail id before 3-4 years now i forgot my password..also its showing that u r windows live id is incoreect in forgot password OPTION...can u help me urgent plz

Niti said, on September 28, 2010 1:06 PM:

Hi Dave,
Hope u will find me a solution to my prblm.Actually my hotmail account got lockout.Myself iam not sure y is that.Iam trying to login using my user id & pwd correctly but still i couldnt login.If i try to reset my password its asking me a security question which was set during my account creation.But the problem is that iam not sure of my answer for that security question too.Wt else i can do to reactivate my account.Its very very important.Is there any other way to come out of this problem.Its very urgent as well,I cant just,leave that account as it is,as its my official account too.Plz give me a solution as soon as possible.Awaiting for ur favourable reply.
Thanks
Niti

Prashant said, on September 30, 2010 12:18 AM:

Every time I try to log in to my hotmail account recently it says that I have entered my username or password to many times incorrectly and it has locked me out of my account for going on a whole week. I know the lock out period should have ended by now and there is no possible way that I can reset my password, no alternate email registered and security question though I know the answer does not seem to work. What can I do? Any help is a big help thank you.

Dave Taylor said, on September 30, 2010 8:10 AM:

Prashant, I would double check the URL of the page you're logging into: It sounds exactly like how phishing sites are set up. You enter your correct login information and for some bogus reason it puts up an error message because, of course, there's no actual Web site behind the login window to show you.

onaiza shaikh said, on October 17, 2010 4:15 AM:

please i want this as my email adress

Zedan said, on November 25, 2010 8:19 AM:

Hi Dave,

My father's email was hacked a few months ago but he was able to retain it. However, every time I reply to one of his emails it changes the reply address to the hacker's. I went in (with permission of course) and changed it back (according to your instructions - thanks) so that replies go to my father's and not the hacker's. When I tried replying after I changed the settings it still put in the hacker's email. Can you please advise how I can solve this.

Many thanks, and great job!

Cheers

Zedan

Saad said, on March 18, 2011 12:46 PM:

Dear Dave,

my account blocked and followed all steps to return it untill i reach sending code. i applied it and by the end of all steps i got following message after i changed my password, says :

"There was a problem and unfortunately, we have to ask you to sign in again. We're sorry for the inconvenience."

please helpppp

Ross Tanner said, on April 8, 2011 3:08 PM:

Hi Dave,
you seem to be the guy to talk to, my hotmail account shows me this message no matter how i try to get into it

There was a problem and unfortunately, we have to ask you to sign in again. We're sorry for the inconvenience.

I cant seem to get round it to recover it or anything. Validation and account recovery all leads to that message. Any help asap would be great

Cheers

Donna Gow said, on May 10, 2011 5:08 AM:

Hi Dave,

Hopefully you can help? I have the same hotmail problem as the last two people have posted.

my account blocked and followed all steps to return it untill i reach sending code. i applied it and by the end of all steps i got following message after i changed my password, says :

"There was a problem and unfortunately, we have to ask you to sign in again. We're sorry for the inconvenience."

Any thoughts or help would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

ahmed said, on June 7, 2011 1:14 PM:

my hot mail is block and i have mcp certification how i get my certification again ?

kelly said, on June 25, 2011 10:52 AM:

Dave,

I attempted to log into my hotmail account Thursday and it said sign-in blocked and gave reasons, too many attempts at signing in. Well it was obviously someone trying to get into my hotmail account. So I went through the whole HOTMAIL process of verifying my account and changing password. The hotmail team? Sent me notice with that temp user verification number on their private page and stated my account was verified and I need only follow steps in their email message, as stated above I did, was able to change my password and all, in FACT, since this still didn't clear up the issue I again changed my password seeing if that would work.

I have rebooted my computer, I've done it all, it appears HOTMAIL has my account sign in blocked, why would the rep helping not unlock my account, telling me to change password is useless if they have not removed the block from my account. I am beyond frustrated, have you any advice?

Neil said, on July 27, 2011 7:13 PM:

This is 2011 and I'm helping a friend use MSN. I find gmail easier to use. Dave, It looks like you wrote this post in 2006. Still relevant in 2011..

shoaib said, on July 30, 2011 3:54 AM:

How would I find out if someone blocked me or deleted me on his / her MSN Messenger?

Maine Jewel said, on August 26, 2011 8:16 AM:

How do I unblock my hotmail account when it has been temporarily blocked?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have been blocked out my hotmail account since yesterday. I can't get to my emails and need to urgently. The email account has important contact details and am waiting on replies to jobs. When I've tried to go the Microsoft and Windows Forums to post my questions, I am asked for my sign in details! This is the reason why I'm contacting the forum's in the first place - I can't get in - am blocked from my own email.

shiva said, on August 28, 2011 4:41 AM:

Need Help To Open Blocked Hotmail Account

asim said, on September 8, 2011 6:19 AM:

dear sir

plz help me my hotmail account is not working not a login my account my passward is ok an login but err my account plz read the massage.

( Message: Script error.
Error Code: 34
Host: security.live.com)

Your account has been blocked
Why are you seeing this?
Someone may have used your account to send out a lot of junk messages (or something else that violates the Windows Live Terms of Service).
We're here to help you get your account back.
What do you need to do?
We'll walk you through a few steps to verify that you own the account, then have you change your password in case someone else has been accessing your account. It should only take a few minutes and then you'll be unblocked and on your way.
We've cleaned your account settings
Often customers get here because someone else has access to your account and are using it without your knowledge to send spam. To protect you and your contacts, we've removed any Hotmail auto-replies or linked accounts you may have had.

sam cooper said, on September 8, 2011 7:26 AM:

Hi,

For a number of years hotmail.co.uk has saved my log-in details, but recently this has stopped and I have to enter my address and password which is tedious. Please advise me how to restore the save mode.

Regards.

dave said, on September 9, 2011 1:56 PM:

hello my email has been blocked and its telling me to give a visa card number

barry parkes said, on September 26, 2011 2:50 PM:

Cant sign into cressway@hotmail.co.uk because i have used wrong password to many times can you help me thankyou Dave

oscar said, on October 10, 2011 2:33 AM:

Hi I have used the wrong email address when sign up to facebook, and I decided register from facebook for while now when I try to log in again and facebook send me the link to wrong address I used. help

DerekJauch said, on October 27, 2011 11:01 PM:

welll hi there someone hacked into my msn and it says temperary blocked. please help me get back on . i need my e-mails ok.

sam said, on December 6, 2011 4:18 PM:

worked a treat even though hotmail has changed its interface i found the right area once i knew what to look for and its all systems GO! thanks!

waseem said, on December 8, 2011 8:08 AM:

i want to sign in my msn email account but i cant would u please help me to sign in its old msn email id
please help. This is the address that i want to access (wasimafzal7862002@msn.com)

Isabel said, on December 10, 2011 5:49 AM:

hi,
I forgot my password for one of my windows live messenger accounts but when i try to change my password but it tells me that my windows live ID is wrong. please help.

Artie Caton said, on December 11, 2011 12:37 PM:

First off, for all those who are screwed by Microsoft, here are the Phone #s... (3)... 1 - 866 - 795 - 2574
1 - 855 - 575 - 5142
1 - 877 - 854 - 6885

The # for MSN if you are paying customer is > 1-800-386-5550.

All Microsoft Tech Support numbers that I found and then tested...

Artie Caton ----> 4now ---> artiec55@hotmail.com -or-
ArtieCaton@gmail.com
__________________________________________________________
Now 4 Dave! Hey Dave, Artie here. I am running Linux - FC8 and I just got told that they cannot help me because I have Linux on my system... Can you help me to get back my ArtieC1 Hotmail account , which by the way, has been blocked do to code of conduct violation... Dam, I guess I farted too dam loud... I said sorry, but no good yet... Can you help me Dave? I am a dieing fireman who has a broken spine loaded with Arachnoid which is eating me alive from the inside, and ALL OF MY MEDICAL RECORDS AND ADDRESSES are in my stinking email account which I cannot get into any longer, can you help me?

Artie Caton
300 Company,
Utica, NY ---> now! 315-796-7840 PLEASE? HELP ME?

Isabel Lyon said, on December 15, 2011 3:25 AM:

Hi Dave,

A while ago i changed my password for facebook but forgot it. i cant get into my emails to verify that the facebook account is mine because i forgot the password for that to. So i went to change my password for my windows live messenger but it told me that the ID that i was using was wrong but it cant be wrong because i have been using it for facebook. Do you have any way of helping me ?

thanks - isabel

jojo said, on January 18, 2012 5:12 AM:

hi i have just had to reset my password on my msn hotmail and when i finally get to my emails its in a differnet language but my emails in english the rest of it in arabic

Jaawiye said, on January 31, 2012 10:08 AM:

Every time I try to log in to my hotmail account recently it says that I have entered my username or password to many times incorrectly and it has locked me out of my account for going on a whole week. I know the lock out period should have ended by now and there is no possible way that I can reset my password, no alternate email registered and security question though I know the answer does not seem to work. What can I do?

marie ysais said, on February 9, 2012 9:33 AM:

okay, this helped and issues solved! wish someone would buy me a cup of coffee after this one!

TulissaT said, on February 16, 2012 5:21 AM:

Hello Dave
I have a Hotmail problem or rather my partner does! He is recieving loan applications for a woman who must have applied for at least 20 'pay day' loans. She has the same first initial as him and same last name which corresponds with his email adddress.
He has contacted the companies and said he is not the person involved and to contact their fraud company. We don't know how she could have used his email address and he has changed his password several time but still they keep coming. Is there anything you could advise to stop this? Would it be best to ditch the account altogether? Thanks and I tried to send you virtual coffee but to no avail I am afraid :)
Tuli

alexis armstrong said, on February 21, 2012 4:46 PM:

hello dave.i need to email someone that has a hotmail.co.uk account but everytime i try to email them it says in my inbox: failure notice the email you tried to send did not go through.So may you help me with that please?

Marie said, on February 26, 2012 3:24 PM:

thanks for the post as it helped me stop pulling out all of my hair!

taguer said, on February 27, 2012 9:40 AM:

thank you , that's really help me to change the return address of my msn.

Karen said, on March 2, 2012 8:26 AM:

Hi,

I accidently gave out an incorrect gmail address which contained underscores, and i desperately need to get the mail sent to me.

I have subsequently realised that this gmail address is incorrect and that gmail dont accept underscores. If there anyway of redirecting mail from the incorrect email address to the correct gmail address, or is there a way of getting around gmail and creating a gmail with underscores.

Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks

sherry gore said, on July 10, 2012 9:57 AM:

To whom it may concern. I need to get another email account due to the fact that my house was broken into and my computer was stolen, I would like for the system to generate me an email account for me if possible. Also will all my other emails in the old account be transfered over to the new account.

Thanks,

Sherry Gore

oliver khoury said, on July 18, 2012 1:30 AM:

You've tried to sign in too many times with an incorrect email address or password.

I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!

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Can I change the return address of my MSN Hotmail mail?

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