Quickly Add and Import Hotmail Account to Thunderbird with Best 2 Methods

  author
Written By Chirag Arora
Anuraag Singh
Approved By Anuraag Singh  
Published On December 2nd, 2022
Reading Time 4 Minutes Reading

Users very often find difficulty in importing their Hotmail email account into Mozilla Thunderbird. The reason is the typical complex Hotmail layout and the lengthy configuration procedure. In this write up we are going to suggest two best ways how to import a Hotmail account to Thunderbird step by step, both manually and automatically.

So I’ve been trying to get my hotmail account setup in Mozilla Thunderbird but I’m failing to get it to work. While hotmail IMAP is working fine in Windows Live Mail for me, how can I get it to work in Mozilla Thunderbird?

We have 2 techniques to import and add Hotmail account to Thunderbird, First, the manual configuration method, which is way lengthier and complex and secondly direct approach, that is comparatively safe and quick.

Let’s begin!

Automatically Import Hotmail Account to Thunderbird

Automated Hotmail Backup Software is a hassle-free and quick solution to import all your Hotmail mailbox data items into Thunderbird in just one shot. Also, the Software is built with advanced algorithms to export Hotmail emails to PST, PDF, MBOX, and other file formats. So, once the emails get into the MBOX file with the tool, it can be easily imported into Thunderbird mailbox.

Steps to Import Hotmail to Thunderbird MBOX File

Step-1: Download and Run tool and log in with the Hotmail account

Login to Import Hotmail Account to Thunderbird

Step-2: Select Thunderbird file format i.e., MBOX

Select MBOX

Step-3: Browse a location to Save Hotmail Emails to Flash Drive or Hard Drive

Add Hotmail Account to Thunderbird

Step-4: Click on Start button to import Hotmail emails to Thunderbird file.

Start

Manually Configure Hotmail Account to Thunderbird

In the manual configuration, there are 3 basic tasks that you have to perform, which are listed below:

  1. Add Hotmail to Thunderbird & Configure the Servers
  2. Configuring the Incoming Servers (IMAP & POP)
  3. Configuring the Outgoing Servers

1. Import Hotmail into Thunderbird & Configure the Servers

  1. Open Thunderbird and navigate to the top right corner Menu >> click on Options >> click Account Settings
Account Settings
  1. Go the left side and find Account Actions >> click on Add Account
Click on Add Account to Import Hotmail Account to Thunderbird
  1. Now enter the Hotmail account details and click on Continue to add Hotmail to Thunderbird.
Click on Continue
  1. Thunderbird will auto configure the rest settings. Click on Done. Your Hotmail account has been added to Thunderbird application.
Click on Done

2. Configure the Incoming Servers (IMAP and POP)

i. IMAP Configuration

  • Server Name: outlook.office365.com
  • Port No: 993
  • User Name: Enter your username (here my user-name is [email protected])
  • Connection Security: SSL/TLS
  • Authentication Method: Normal password
  • You can configure the other settings as you require.

ii. POP Configuration

  • Server Name: outlook.office365.com
  • Port: 995
  • User Name: your username (here my username is [email protected])
  • Connection Security: SSL/TLS
  • Authentication Method: Normal password

Also, you can add Hotmail to Thunderbird with the above configuration settings as you require.

Important Tip: While using POP, you might receive a password error in Mozilla Thunderbird account. In that case you will have to enable POP setting in your Hotmail account. For that, go to Options setting in your Hotmail account.

3. Configure the Outgoing Servers

On the bottom left, choose Outgoing Server (SMTP). You will see the configured outgoing servers on the right panel.

Find the Hotmail server name (Outlook.com) and click on it. Then click the Edit button and configure the settings as followed below to add Hotmail account to Thunderbird:

  • Server Name: smtp-mail.outlook.com
  • Port: 587
  • Connection security: STARTTLS
  • Authentication method: Normal password
  • User Name: your username (here my username is harshitajoshi199@hotmail.com)

Tip: To perform the Outlook.com Data Backup on the domain level, you can use Office 365 Backup and Restore Utility. It can add the single-user as well as domain user data to PST and EML file formats and then further you can import EML files to Thunderbird Email account.

Bottom Line

We can use any of the above solutions to import Hotmail account to Thunderbird. If the data is not large the manual configuration can be used by users, and if there is huge data, the tool is recommended in order to avoid data loss and perform the migration safely.

  author

By Chirag Arora

Having around 9+ years of experience in technical writing. Knows about the core technical areas. Also, provides easy and reliable solutions to resolve difficulties faced by users while working with different platforms.

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