Access webmail through Windows Live Mail

Matthew Hanson | Guides, Windows 7, Windows Vista | 15/07/2010 12:56pm
One Comment

Import your webmail account into Windows Live Mail and access all your emails straight from your PC – no more messing with multiple mail accounts. We show you how.Webmail accounts can be very useful. With them you’re able to read and send emails from anywhere in the world – all you need to do is log on to the webmail’s website to view your inbox. This is useful when you’re travelling, but when you are at home you can import your webmail account into Windows Live Mail, enabling you to use all of the great features of Windows Live Mail with your webmail account.

You can get visual indications when you receive new emails – something you can’t get with normal webmail accounts. Even better, if you have a number of webmail accounts, you can access them all straight away without having to log on to each website. Just enter your password once, and get all your emails in one place.

Step-by-step: Import your webmail accounts into Windows Live Mail

1 Download and install Windows Live Mail
Windows Live Mail is a free Microsoft email program. Download it from http://download.live.com/wlmail. Click Download and when the File Download – Security Warning box opens, click Run. Follow the instructions and click Install. For a faster install, make sure only Windows Live Mail is checked.

2 Run Windows Live Mail
Recently installed programs are highlighted in your Start menu. Click Start and type mail into the search box. When you run Windows Live Mail for the first time, you are asked to add an email account. If you’re not asked, click Add e-mail account under Quick Views.

3 Add your webmail account
After clicking Add e-mail account you are taken through a wizard that can help you add and configure your webmail account in Windows Live Mail. Enter in your email address and the password you use to log into your webmail account into the relevant text boxes.

4 View your emails
Once you have added all the information and clicked Next your emails are downloaded into Windows Live Mail. Depending on how many you have, this might take a while. Once completed you can view your emails, place them in folders, designate them as junk mail or add the sender to your contacts list.

5 Import your Windows Hotmail address book
You can also import your address book from your webmail, so you can quickly send emails to friends and families. If your webmail is Windows Live Hotmail, all you need to do is click Sign in to access your contacts. When you create a new email you can select your contacts from a list.

6 Import a different address book
To import an address book from a different webmail, view your contacts on your webmail’s site and click Tools ➜ Export. Save as a Comma-separated value (CSV) file, then in Windows Live Mail click Contacts and press Alt and M. Select Import ➜ Comma-separated values (.CSV). Select the file you downloaded.

7 Send emails from your accounts
You can start writing emails by clicking New. Click the address book icon to add your contacts, or type the recipient’s name into the To: field. You can add pictures and stationery to your emails and you can select which webmail account you send the email from if you have added more than one.

8 You’re all done!
There you have it. You’ve imported your webmail account into Windows Live Mail. You can send and receive emails as before – but with the added benefit of using Windows Live Mail’s advanced tools to sort and store your emails. And don’t worry – your emails are still online for you to access anywhere.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 15th, 2010 at 12:56 pm and is filed under Guides, Windows 7, Windows Vista. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.