Like many of you, I’ve had a Gmail account for many many years, but I’ve decided to make the move from Gmail to Hotmail. I’ve stuck with Gmail for so long because it was just easier, but I’m really tired of all the spam. I didn’t make this major change without a lot of Gmail to Hotmail research (yes, Gmail to Hotmail is a major change for this tech mom.)
Why Gmail to Hotmail?
I knew that I wanted an option that is available everywhere, both online and offline, so that limited my options a bit. I decided to move from Gmail to Hotmail because of the following features:
- Sweep away mail you do not want
- Integration with SkyDrive & Microsoft Office
- Alias email addresses
- Integration with Facebook and LinkedIn
- Spam protection
Gmail to Hotmail Aha Moment!
Believe me when I say this was a HUGE decision for me. I have spent years organizing my email with hundreds of tags in Gmail and I do not want to start all over. I was at Best Buy a few weeks ago and a Windows Phone Rep was there and we got to talking about the Windows Phones integrating with Hotmail. That was when I mentioned my Gmail to Hotmail dilemma.
He asked me, “how often do you go to those “folders” in Gmail or do you just search all my mail when looking for a particular email?”
That got me thinking….99% of the time I do a search of all my mail. I can easily search in Hotmail.
So my decision is made and I’m moving from Gmail to Hotmail. Here are some details and videos I watched which helped me make the big decision to go from Gmail to Hotmail.
Sweep Away Unwanted Mail
I love the idea of being able to sweep away email that I do not want to see now or in the future. I have some newsletters that I click “unsubscribe” every time I get them, but I still get them. Yes, it’s easy to hit delete, but I don’t even want to see the email in the first place.
Integrate SkyDrive With Hotmail
The integration of SkyDrive with Hotmail makes sending photos so easy. This is HUGE for me. I send a lot of photos and I’m tired of splitting it up into 5 emails to get all the pictures sent. Look at this video of how easy it is to do in Hotmail.
Alias Email Addresses
This feature will help me so much. I plan to create some aliases for newsletters, etc.
Spam Protection
This one was a no brainer for me. I have had an email address with Hotmail for some time, I just didn’t use it for my main email. When I would check it, there was no spam mail. I used this email address to sign up for things that I was unsure about which would be a perfect target for spam.
This last video is an overview of the Hotmail options, but it’s the video that sealed the Gmail to Hotmail deal for me.
I will be making the switch from Gmail to Hotmail next week and I will follow-up with directions on the process and let you know how it goes.
Disclosure: I am a Windows Champion and I received a Sony VAIO laptop to use for 1 year in exchange for my posts. All opinions about my move from Gmail to Hotmail are 100% my own.
Let’s Talk About Moving From Gmail to Hotmail!
What are your thoughts on the newest features on Hotmail? Have you moved from Gmail to Hotmail? Any advice?
Ariella
November 14, 2011
I’m interested in learning more about how to switch. My main concern is that like you I have tons of labels/IMAP folders and Hotmail is POP3 so I don’t know how to easily migrate mail from one folder on Gmail to a folder on Hotmail. I’m guessing the solution will involve getting GMail to fetch to a local e-mail client to create mail archives like .mbox, then import these into Hotmail (if it has a mail import feature — don’t know yet.)
Looking forward to your next article!
Ariella
November 14, 2011
I have a tip!
Decide if you want to migrate messages in groups by folder through an intermediary step BEFORE you turn on POP3 forwarding from GMail to Hotmail. I turned that on and now my entire GMail history is coming into the Hotmail Inbox unsorted lol.
OOPS!
I’ll be working hard in the coming weeks re-sorting it all! Or, I should disable it and see if I can find a group move option… Common addresses are easy to Sweep on, it’s the messages from a myriad of sources dealing with the same topic that will be tough.
Ariella
November 15, 2011
I figured out how to switch:
https://plus.google.com/114937621656446068255/posts/YnZMu4SULjn
Nishadha
November 16, 2011
This is a really interesting move. After switching to Gmail a while back I have never even thought about another online email client. But hotmail looks to have some great benefits.
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john
November 17, 2011
Hello michele , i have been using hotmail (paid) for personal uses for years.
But i never explored much into it , as long as i could send and receive mail it was fine with me. But reading this post just made me aware there is so much more i can do with it.
For one , the fact you can use aliases was unknown to me !
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Michele
November 17, 2011
Awesome! So glad the post was helpful to current hotmail users. I didn’t even think about that when I wrote it.
Ariella
November 17, 2011
Stop! I found an even easier way! Such a duh moment.
Do it this way and it will take minutes:
Easy Way (discovered after the hard way)
1-Install Windows Mail (part of Windows Live Essentials)
2-Add your Hotmail and Gmail accounts
3-Create a folder in the Hotmail account to match the Gmail IMAP/label folder
4-Drag and drop messages to move, or CTRL+Drag and Drop to copy between folders
5-Repeat for each Gmail folder’s contents, what’s in the inbox etc.
DONE!
Michele
November 17, 2011
Ariella, You are brilliant!!! I don’t know why I didn’t think of that either. I am going to do that tonight.
Ariella
November 17, 2011
I was so excited to find that solution! Being a Mac person I didn’t know anything about the Windows Mail client. I tried it for fun tonight, saw that despite Hotmail’s POP3, Windows Mail treats it like IMAP and syncs! Then the lights went off: heeeeeeey! If it’s going to immitate IMAP, I’m gonna try the traditional IMAP folder moving technique, and it works!
For addresses, log into Hotmail on the web, go to contacts, import, and gmail is a choice there. Some garbage entries get created but they’re easy to clean up.
For calendars, tell Google to export as .ICS and import into the Web interface, calendar section.
Michele
November 17, 2011
I didn’t think about it either because I knew Hotmail couldn’t do IMAP. Good to know that it syncs back to Hotmail. I have Outlook, so I’m going to try it using Outlook 2010.
Ariella
November 17, 2011
Great! If Outlook doesn’t work by default, I think there’s an extra layer of connectivity that you can install called “Office Connect”. I’ve seen some articles on how that improves the sync between Outlook and Hotmail, and the way the articles talked about it they made it sound like it was necessary to install it. Maybe it’s because they were writing about an older version Office. I’m not sure. Either way, keep that in mind as a potential extra step.
Wardell
February 7, 2012
Funny seeing this post after Gmail recently asked me to import my Hotmail. It seems that for me my Hotmail account seems to get all the spam and Gmail seems to do a pretty good job of filtering, but I’ve had my Hotmail account since before there was a such thing as Gmail, the skydrive integration looks pretty sweet I’ve been considering creating a fresh now Hotmail/Live Mail account.
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Deep Soni
February 16, 2012
Am making the move just cause I got a Windows Phone. Post and links in the comments were helpful
Thanks
Frank
March 29, 2012
Interesting to read, but I’m actually missing the “I did it” follow-up post..