Email Tutorial | Free Email Tutorials
 
Home Email Clients Tutorials Email Clients Tutorials General Email Tutorials General Email Tutorials Feedback

Hotmail TutorialHotmail Tutorial

Hotmail Tutorial Table of Contents The new Hotmail Hotmail.com Create a Hotmail account Hotmail sign in Hotmail sign out
Reading Your Emails Read your emails Show images and content Downloading attachments Deleting email messages How to unsubscribe from mailing lists (newsletters) Mark spam email as junk mail Report phishing scam emails Mark emails as Unread / Read Compose & Send Emails Hotmail email Reply to emails Forward emails Compose a new message Formatting your emails Send attachments File attachment size limits Add pictures to your emails Create a Hotmail signature Sending your email Send Hotmail emails from different email accounts Send plain text emails Change importance of emails Select multiple emails Standard Hotmail Folders The standard folders Hotmail Inbox Hotmail Junk folder Hotmail Drafts folder Hotmail Sent folder Hotmail Deleted folder Custom Hotmail Folders Create a new folder Rename a folder Empty a folder Delete a folder Hotmail Contacts Hotmail Contacts Add a sender as contact Create a new contact Edit contacts' information Delete a contact Merge or remove duplicate Hotmail contacts Import contacts in Hotmail Export Hotmail contacts Contact categories Hotmail Tips and Tricks Hotmail Tips View Hotmail email headers Hotmail X-Originating-IP View emails full screen Check for new emails Print Hotmail emails Hotmail Help Setup another email account in Hotmail (to send emails) Check another email account from Hotmail Sort your emails Search for emails (How to find an email in Hotmail) Create email filters Automated vacation replies Use Hotmail as default email program Configure Hotmail Settings Customize Hotmail Options Hotmail Login Hotmail account Change the name displayed with your email address Change your password Retrieve or reset your WL Hotmail password Forward your emails to another email account Skip "Hotmail Today" Hotmail.com in English Hotmail.com en Español Keyboard Shortcuts Delete your Hotmail account Change Hotmail Theme Save or delete your sent email messages Change Hotmail address (alternate email address) Change Hotmail picture in your account profile Change Hotmail account Other Products & Services Hotmail Messenger Hotmail Messenger Download Hotmail Plus Contact Hotmail customer service (Hotmail Plus & billing) Cancel your Windows Live Hotmail Plus subscription Hotmail Live Hotmail Kids POP & Mail Server Settings Hotmail POP3 settings Hotmail IMAP Settings Incoming Mail Server Setup Hotmail on your iPhone or iPod touch Hotmail Outlook settings You've reached the daily limit Outlook Connector Hotmail Gmail Hotmail Yahoo!
You are here: Free Email Tutorials › Hotmail Tutorial › Use Hotmail as default email client

Hotmail as default email program Use Hotmail as default email client

Hotmail as temporary default email program We all know that all versions of Windows let you set the default email program that will be called whenever you click on an email link, for example, but what about setting Hotmail as the default email client? In this tutorial, we will show you how to use Hotmail as the default mail client in a particular case, without actually having to change your default email program for Windows. This tutorial assumes that you are using Internet Explorer 8, the latest and current version at the time of this writing. (What version of Internet Explorer do I have?) Because you do not need to change your default email client, this means that you will be able to choose in which case to use Hotmail or use Windows' default mail handler.

Use Hotmail as default email program

Some of our other tutorials explained how you can email a link from Internet Explorer, email an entire web page from IE, and how to email a picture from IE. In all three cases, Internet Explorer will automatically use your default Windows email program.

Right-click to email a link using Hotmail by default Right-click on a web page in Internet Explorer: towards the middle of the context menu, you should see an "E-mail with Windows Live" menu item. If you do not see it, download the Windows Live Essentials package for free. If you have installed Windows Live Mail on your computer (since Windows 7 ships without built-in email program, computer manufacturers often install it for you), you should see the E-mail with Windows Live menu item when you right-click on a web page.

If you click on it, this action will load a new tab with Hotmail's email editor preloaded, using the web page title as subject and the URL (web page address) inside the body of the email. Regardless of your default email program, clicking E-mail with Windows Live will always send the email with Hotmail. This, in effect, makes Hotmail your default email program in addition to Windows' default email application!

Use Hotmail as default email client in Internet Explorer 8 If your command bar is showing on the right of the browser tabs, you can also go to the Page menu, and choose E-mail with Windows Live.

This has exactly the same effect as the command in the context menu, and will email a link to the current page using Hotmail as the default email application - you can pick your favorite approach to sending emails with Hotmail as default handler!

For this method of sending emails to be feasible, however, you should (and only from a trusted computer), configure your Hotmail sign in settings so that Hotmail logs you in automatically, instead of presenting you with a form asking for your email address and password. (Our Hotmail login tutorial explains how the process works in detail.)

Cannot email a page with Hotmail!

Cannot email link from secure page in Internet Explorer If the E-mail with Windows Live menu item is grayed out, this is because you are on a secure page ("HTTPS", with the padlock icon in the address bar), and Internet Explorer is trying to prevent you from emailing a link you did not mean to email, or should ideally not send by email.

In that case, you can either avoid emailing the content Internet Explorer is telling you should not be emailed, or use your actual Windows default email program to send the link: File > Send > Link by E-mail, or Page > Send Link by E-mail.

Hotmail Tip: Load your inbox with a click!

Create new emails in Hotmail A side effect of this command is that you can quickly load your Hotmail inbox with a right-click! Just follow the same procedure described above, and a new tab will open to Hotmail's email editor: instead of sending the email, just click on the Inbox link on the left - with two clicks, you are inside Hotmail, coming from any web page you were visiting! Another (somewhat indirect) way to make Hotmail act as your default email program…

Conclusion: Hotmail as your default email program, temporarily

By using Internet Explorer 8, you have the option of using Hotmail as default email program, or an installed desktop email application. When you are in a hotel, or using a public computer, the option of using Hotmail as default program using this indirect method is very handy, since you would not be able to install an email program of your own.

FreeEmailTutorials.com is a comprehensive, ever-growing list of email tutorials and learning resources related to e-mail. You, the viewer, determine the direction this website will take with your questions, comments and suggestions. Site CreditsCopyright © 2010 Email Tutorial | Free Email Tutorials, All Rights Reserved — Terms of Use | Privacy | Accessibility Statement | Sitemap | Top of Page