So here I was thinking I would have to go checking my Hotmail inbox every now and then, and not being able to download them to Yahoo or Gmail, which I can get on the iPhone or my Mac, but there is a way! I found it! After looking for reference links and ideas, I finally got it. Hotmail added POP3 support, and I’m thinking this works on most hotmail accounts (I read it’s not been released worldwide yet). This will enable you to download automatically the Hotmail emails to your Gmail account through POP. Now, on to the good stuff:
- First, login to your Gmail account and go to Settings
- Go to Accounts tab and look for Get mail from other accounts, there you can click on Add another mail account.
- A pop-up will show up and there you’ll have to enter your Hotmail email address (username@hotmail.com). Click Next.
- Now comes the trick! Write up this settings:
- Username and Password: username@hotmail.com – That should be your email, no matter if it’s @hotmail.com, @live.com or @msn.com. The Password, well that doesn’t need much explaning!
- POP Server: pop3.live.com, Port: 995
- Click the check box for SSL: Always use a secure connection (SSL) when retrieving mail
- I personally prefer to erase all from Hotmail once it’s downloaded into Gmail, I don’t want a new Category for these messages and I certainly want to see what the emails are, so I don’t use any of the next options:
- Leave a copy of retrieved message on the server
- Label incoming messages with an identity (move to a folder)
- Archive incoming messages (Skip the Inbox)
- Click Add Account and you’re all set to go.
If you want to send emails from Gmail with the Hotmail account, you can do that after completing the wizard and verifying the confirmation link that Gmail will send to your Hotmail Inbox. This is also a good way to test it if worked, since it should show on your Gmail inbox.
Extra bit of info: If you already have your Gmail account to download your messages into Mail.app or Thunderbird, they will download too. Just one thing, the Junk Mail folder is not retrieved by Gmail- just FYI.
So, here you go, Hotmail from Gmail. Hope it’s useful for you as it is for me!