Can You Keep Using Hotmail After Canceling Microsoft 365?
Question details
The user wants to know if their personal Hotmail address will remain active after they cancel their Microsoft 365 subscription.
- Product
- Microsoft 365 / Hotmail
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Canceling a paid Microsoft 365 subscription and reverting to a free email tier.
- Observed behavior
- The user needs assurance that their email address will not be deleted, along with information about any potential changes to storage capacity or features.
Before canceling your subscription, check your current Hotmail mailbox storage usage to ensure you will be under the free storage limit (typically 15 GB for email and 5 GB for OneDrive cloud storage).
Managing Hotmail Storage When Returning to Free Service
Your Hotmail address remains yours even after canceling Microsoft 365. The primary change is a reduction in your available storage space.
Canceling a Microsoft 365 subscription does not delete your personal Hotmail or Outlook.com email address. It simply removes the premium features associated with the subscription, such as ad-free email and expanded storage.
When your subscription expires, your account will revert to the free tier. If your current mailbox size exceeds the free limit, you will not be able to send or receive new emails until you clear up enough space.
Log in to your Hotmail or Outlook.com account via a web browser. Click the gear icon in the top right to open Settings, then navigate to General > Storage to view how much space you are currently using.
In your Inbox, use the filter option to sort emails by size. Delete older, unnecessarily large emails and empty your Deleted Items folder to reduce your overall storage footprint.
Since Microsoft shares cloud storage across email attachments and OneDrive, navigate to your OneDrive account and remove large files to get under the free 5 GB cloud storage limit.
Go to the Microsoft Account Dashboard, sign in with your Hotmail address, click on 'Services & subscriptions', find your Microsoft 365 subscription, and click 'Manage' to cancel it.
Need Office Apps After Canceling Microsoft 365? Try WPS Office
Once you cancel your Microsoft 365 subscription, premium desktop apps like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint will switch to read-only mode. WPS Office is a completely free, lightweight alternative that allows you to continue creating, editing, and saving your documents without paying a monthly fee.
- 1. Download the software: Visit the official WPS Office website and click the free download button for your operating system.
- 2. Install WPS Office: Run the downloaded setup file and follow the straightforward on-screen instructions to install.
- 3. Open existing Office files: Launch WPS Office and directly open your existing Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files to continue working seamlessly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will I lose my existing emails when I cancel Microsoft 365?
No, you will not lose any of your existing emails. However, if your stored emails exceed the new free storage limit, you will be unable to send or receive new emails until you delete enough data.
What is the free storage limit for Hotmail without Microsoft 365?
Free Outlook.com (which includes Hotmail) accounts typically come with 15 GB of email storage and 5 GB of Microsoft cloud (OneDrive) storage.
Do I need to change my Hotmail email address after canceling?
No, your @hotmail.com or @outlook.com email address will remain exactly the same after your Microsoft 365 subscription expires.
Will I start seeing ads in my Hotmail inbox?
Yes. One of the premium features of Microsoft 365 is an ad-free inbox. Once your account reverts to the free tier, you will begin seeing advertisements in the web interface.
