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  • Cancelling MSN, will I lose my MSN email address?

Cancelling MSN, will I lose my MSN email address?

March 10, 2005 / Dave Taylor / Computer & Internet Basics / 76 Comments

Dave, I was wondering, if you cancel your msn account and get DSL, will you still have your msn e-mail account???

The sad news is that if you have an email address and mailbox through a Web hosting or Internet service provider like MSN, AOL, or Earthlink, and you’re using their address for your correspondence (that is, an address like “joe@msn.com” or “merilee@earthlink.net”) then when you cancel your account, your email address vanishes too.
This is one of the strong arguments for using a separate email service like Hotmail, Yahoo Mail or Gmail (among many others) or, what I recommend, registering your own domain name and using an email forward.
Imagine, if you had registered “HeckInAHandbasket.info” (I dunno, is that actually registered?) and were telling everyone that your email address was “leroy@HeckInAHandbasket.info”, putting that on your business cards, your resume, etc etc., then you could switch service providers with nary a glitch. How? Because many domain registrars have the ability to set up permanent email forwards, so every message sent to “leroy@HeckInAHandbasket.info” would actually, secretly, be forwarded to your MSN account and end up in your “leroy4324@msn.com” mailbox. When you decide to switch to Earthlink, say, you just update the forward and the printed address still works just fine.
Actually, having dug around in the MSN help system, it’s not clear to me whether you get an @msn.com address as an MSN subscriber or an @hotmail.com address. If the latter, then it’s entirely possible that you can keep your mail address even if you switch ISPs. If you cancel your Hotmail account, though, Microsoft says: “By closing this account, you are marking your account inactive. Stored e-mail will be permanently deleted and inbound mail will be refused. Your .NET Passport will still function, and your e-mail name will be reserved.”
So, if your address is something “@msn.com” then closing your account will close off your email address. If your address is something “@hotmail.com”, however, you should be okay (though I’d save / print any messages that were critical, just in case).

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Starbucks coffee cup 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!

76 comments on “Cancelling MSN, will I lose my MSN email address?”

  1. Carlos Martinez-Thiem says:
    February 5, 2012 at 11:26 am

    How do I *sign out* from MSN Secure, MSN Account Services, and finally My MSN? I’m asked for it whenever I sign out from Hotmail. Cannot remember even when and where I *signed up* to Secure …, and Accounts … Perhaps asking anything regarding my e-mail account (I don’t use Messenger). Any help? Thanks a lot in advance, CMT

    Reply
  2. Trish says:
    January 24, 2012 at 5:48 pm

    I hope msn LOOSES BIG time for this move!!!

    Reply
  3. khan says:
    October 21, 2011 at 1:49 pm

    My hotmail account has been blocked and when I try to recover it it askes for a verification code, but the code has been sent to allahaghayour@hotmail.com but how do I get into that link?

    Reply
  4. shanna Loutherback says:
    September 5, 2011 at 5:20 pm

    please may I retieve my contacts

    Reply
  5. nano says:
    November 5, 2010 at 6:30 am

    hello,
    someone is using my my msn address and i can’t log in to my messenger . i got so many friends’ addies i don’t wanna lose . please if u got asolution , help me . plzzzzzzzz

    Reply
  6. C Kurcza says:
    August 25, 2010 at 10:31 pm

    Is Outlook a software program that you buy? Years ago I had Outlook on a my first computer and used msn email. Now I use hotmail. How do you use/get Outlook?

    Reply
  7. C Kurcza says:
    August 25, 2010 at 10:27 pm

    Years ago I had a @msn.com email account. For many years I have been using a hotmail account. I want to check the msn mailbox, but how do I get to it? I believe that I still know the password.

    Reply
  8. tino jose says:
    August 9, 2010 at 7:21 am

    I remuve my msn hotmail adress

    Reply
  9. vera volpe says:
    July 28, 2010 at 9:23 am

    Please help…I am mad!!!!!!!! I have a hotmail account NOT a Windows Live account! My account mysteriously chaged to windows live and I hate it! I cant send emails now nor have my contacts anymore…….please help me switch it back now!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Vera Volpe high_priestess_enoch@hotmail.com
    my business gets its e-mails here…….

    Reply
  10. Carla says:
    April 8, 2010 at 7:11 am

    I was emailing my friends msn account and about a month ago I started getting delivary failure messages back. I have no other way of getting in touch with him so I just kept trying that email every few days just in case. Yesterday I sent a few lines and got no delivery failure message back. Would msn have given that address to someone else? or could that still be him I’m mailing? I got no responce from the emails.

    Reply
  11. Theo Gifford says:
    January 31, 2010 at 3:26 pm

    I am moving from “myname”@msn.com to gmail.com. Is there a way to keep the “myname” part of the address and use it at gmail?
    Thanks
    Theo

    Reply
  12. Darla Martin says:
    January 22, 2010 at 12:46 pm

    I had someone get into my old E-Mail address and copies all my familys and friends E-Mail addresses and sending stuff that I didn’t send to them,what can I do stop them for sending them stuff ,PLEASE HELP ME ASAP.
    Please write to me ASAP.
    Thank You,
    Darla

    Reply
  13. margaretlinam says:
    November 8, 2009 at 10:28 am

    cancel all my msn accounts please. email,homepage,and all

    Reply
  14. Sunny Chan says:
    October 11, 2009 at 7:11 am

    how I wan to do a e-mail, i want 2 e-mail, because the facebook don’t know you knoe or not.because the facebook i want to do a thing~

    Reply
  15. Pete Sufka says:
    October 10, 2009 at 7:52 am

    When I send or receive email on my MSN account, the posted time on it is always six hours off. The person on the other end always has the correct time. Any ideas? I have checked and rechecked my computer time and time zone so it is not that. Hoping for help,
    Pete

    Reply
  16. Dave says:
    September 7, 2009 at 10:16 am

    Thanks,
    several of the comments I read here answered my question. I want to cancel my msn account but still be able to access my mail through hotmail or outlook.
    The main reason, because I access my account through another ISP’s broadband through outlook or hotmail.com all the time.
    And IMO, paying the 10$ for an account, only to be able to use the MSN Software that I don’t use just isn’t worth it, specially since the msn software doesn’t want to install on my windows 7 machine and it is not available for macs, either… and I can access it for free through (as earlier and redundantly said) a web browser, windows live mail client and outlook (that I know of).
    I’ll contact msn billing to get this done.
    Thanks!!

    Reply
  17. lahkamgyidu says:
    August 23, 2009 at 9:23 pm

    plase, how can i get my email number

    Reply
  18. Reginald brown says:
    August 10, 2009 at 2:20 pm

    i recently had a system crash, when i got back on the internet i had no msn mail through my qwest dsl. how can i get this fixed

    Reply
  19. Terry K. says:
    June 4, 2009 at 7:52 am

    Why can’t I suddenly sign in to MSN on my computer? I can sign into it on my wives, but not mine. It says, “MSN has encountered a problem and needs to close” every time. Have rebooted, unplugged, nothing helps.
    Can you help??
    Thanx. Terry

    Reply
  20. Mr Sir says:
    April 1, 2009 at 2:44 pm

    I wish to cancel my MTV.
    I was directed here by the google.
    Please now telling me to have quit.
    I am thanking you.
    Please now, goodbye.

    Reply
  21. jose miranda says:
    March 20, 2009 at 4:30 pm

    I don’t want more this account, becase is to much mesages many that I don’t want continue to send me e-mail.
    Truly .. Jose Miranda

    Reply
  22. andy says:
    March 6, 2009 at 9:55 am

    how do i get a phone number for msn to cancel my account. i donot need them to be my internet provider

    Reply
  23. x says:
    January 19, 2009 at 12:10 pm

    i want to cancel my account

    Reply
  24. Bert says:
    January 14, 2009 at 11:08 am

    Hello: I’m new to computing. I have msn. Now I understand that they are closing it in Feb/09. How
    can I save my files? and is it true that Live.ca will not accept the files? Is it true that Google is one of the best? as I am needing a free site and I despise those pop up screens. I appreciate
    your time and help. One thing for sure, life on
    the computer is never dull. There is so much to
    learn. Thank you.
    Bert in freezing Manitoba Canada
    (January 14/09)

    Reply
  25. Gwen says:
    December 6, 2008 at 12:46 pm

    I am sorry that I have to cancel my msn account. I found another account that I prefer. There is nothing wrong with msn and the services I received. Thank you.

    Reply
  26. Zurab says:
    November 29, 2008 at 8:54 am

    I loose My password ( I forgott to sign out from share computer in office) and somebody change My password !!!! alsow I cant remember secret answer… what shell I do?! please…

    Reply

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