Outlook is a free web-based email service introduced by Microsoft. It’s almost similar to Gmail but has combined Hotmail and Windows directly into one email service. You can create an Outlook email account if you don’t have it yet. You will get access to a number of features that are not in other email services.

If you don’t know how to create an Outlook email, read more to get simple instructions to set your own Outlook account.

Set up an Outlook email

Register for an Outlook email account using the steps listed below:

1.First of all, go to the Outlook sign-in screen by visiting this link- https://outlook.live.com/owa/ and click on ‘Sign in’.

2.On the next page, you will be given multiple options such as ‘Sign-in options’, ‘Sign-in with a security key’, you have to click on the option ‘Create one!’.

3.Next, you will be asked to create a username and select the domain name out of ‘outlook.com’ or ‘hotmail.com’. If you are going to create an Outlook account go for the former one and if you want to create a Hotmail account, click on the latter.

4.Once your username is verified, the next step is to create a password for your Outlook account and press ‘Next’.

5.Then enter your first name, last name and press ‘Next’.

6.Enter your birth date and the country you belong to, and press ‘Next’.

7.You will be shown some characters on the screen that you have to enter to make sure a real person is creating this account, press ‘Next’ when verified.

8.That’s all! Your Microsoft account is ready, press ‘Continue to Site’ to proceed.

9.This is how your Outlook account inbox will appear as shown in the image below.

This is how you can sign up for Outlook account but before proceeding to use it, you must know what useful features it will offer you.

Noticeable Features of Outlook 

Every email client has the general features of sending or receiving an email, here are the exceptional features that you will get along with your new Outlook email account:

• Schedule messages so that you can return to your inbox whenever required.
• Pin important messages to keep them at the top of your inbox.
• Personalize your outgoing emails using text-formatting features.
• Archive and delete your messages using swipe gestures.
• Ability to switch between Email, People, Calendar, Tasks, Notes, Folders, Shortcuts, and Add-ins as you can open multiple Outlook windows.
• Use the clean-up button to delete the duplicate messages from your inbox.
• Add travel itineraries and flight plans from emails to your calendar.
• Attaches files from Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, and Box.
• Edit Office files right from your Outlook inbox.

Outlook Mobile App

You can even access your outlook email address for Android and iOS by downloading the free app of Microsoft Outlook on your mobile device. Then sign in to your account and use all the features of Outlook on your phone. For Windows 10 phones, there is a built-in app for Outlook. Access emails, calendar, and contacts from your smartphone or tablet on the go.

What is the difference between Outlook.com vs. Hotmail.com?

Hotmail email service was launched in 1996 but was acquired by Microsoft in 1997 when the email client brand as MSN Hotmail. In 2005, Hotmail was reactivated as Windows Live Hotmail. Over the years, it made a number of users confused when they searched Hotmail and were directed to the Windows Live page. Outlook.com was the last attempt by Microsoft to bring all email services with one name. So, if you are going to ‘hotmail.com’, or ‘Live.com’ in your browser, you will be directed to Outlook.live.com which currently runs Microsoft email services.

If you still want to have a free hotmail account, you can go to the Link https://outlook.live.com/owa/ and when registering, use ‘hotmail.com’ as a domain. The remaining steps are the same and you will get the same feature as you get with a free Outlook email account.

Get Premium Outlook for an Advanced Experience 

Premium Outlook is the pay version of Outlook, however, it was discontinued in 2017 but later on premium features were added to the Outlook desktop app that has been added in Office 365. If you have subscribed to Microsoft Office 365 Home or Office 365 Personal software packages, you are going to get Outlook with premium features as part of the package.

Given below are the perks of using Outlook for Office 365:

• It lets you work from anywhere.
• Get extra data security and control
• Get all your emails, contacts and meetings synchronized
• Say hello to 50GB mailbox with Office 365
• Compose emails offline
• Automatic Sync
• Customized Domain