Making Hotmail my default email

My wife has always used Hotmail as her default email so to open it she would click on the Windows Live Messenger icon, Inbox and then her mail.live.com page would open with her emails.

She was having trouble sending pictures from Picasa because it wasn't associated with an email account so since I had already set up Windows Live Mail for her (she doesn't use) I told Picasa to use it but have since set up a gmail account for her to use with Picasa.

Anyway by having Picasa use Windows Live Mail (briefly) it is now her default email client so whenever she clicks on the Windows Live Messenger icon and Inbox it opens WLM.

If I go to " Set your Default Programs" Hotmail is not listed and if I go to "Associate a file type or Protocol with a specific program" and "Mail Service" (.mapimail) it says "unknown Application" and Hotmail isn't listed among any of the programs.

How do I make Hotmail as the default email client again? Thanks!

mccoady said:

...and Hotmail isn't listed among any of the programs....How do I make Hotmail as the default email client again?...

That's because Hotmail is a website you access via a browser, not a program. There is a real program (email client) that can access Hotmail...Windows Live Mail. You would download and install "Windows Live Essentials" from Microsoft, selecting the components you want, one of which is called "Mail". It can be used to get email from http accounts (like Hotmail) and also pop3 and imap accounts used by many other email service providers. It can also access newsgroups which use nntp.

IIRC, there was a special tool that allowed a browser to behave as a Hotmail "default program" in Vista but it may not work in Win 7. Do a google search for "hotmail as default email" to see what is available.

Thanks but I figured it out apparently if within Live Windows Mail if you are signed in using your Windows Live ID, clicking on the Windows Live Messenger icon (to get to your Hotmail Inbox) opens Windows Live Mail as your email client. If you are not signed in then it opens your web based Hotmail account.

Reading this to try and get some help myself. I'm confused by your answer.
I need to set up a client email.

I have and use Windows Live Hotmail. Which is how it shows up when searched for. It doesnt show up Explorer(9beta)>Internet Options>Programs>Set Your Default Programs.

Am I tryng to set it up wrong or is your answer wrong?

pwrhamr said:

Reading this to try and get some help myself. I'm confused by your answer.
I need to set up a client email.

I have and use Windows Live Hotmail. Which is how it shows up when searched for. It doesnt show up Explorer(9beta)>Internet Options>Programs>Set Your Default Programs.

Am I tryng to set it up wrong or is your answer wrong?

Ok, to clarify. There are two things going on in this thread and both of those things are being merged into one thing incorrectly.

The first of these things is Hotmail. This is a website and can be accessed via a web browser. Because hotmail is a website it will not be listed as a program on your computer (just like SevenForums isn't listed as a program, right?). Ok, Hotmail cannot be set as default anything. You simply naviagte to it from within IE (or whatever browser you have).

The next thing is Windows Live Mail. This IS a program and it will show up as a program. To set it as your default email client all you have to do is the following:

1. Open Windows live Mail by finding it within the start menu
2. Click on the menu button (which is the dark blue on in the upper left hand side of the program)
3. Hover over options and then choose mail
4. The first thing that will pop up should be the tab named general (if it's not, simply click on general)
5. At the bottom under "default messaging programs" it will probably say "this application is not the default mail handler" simply click make default and now Windows Live Mail is your default mail handler


If you have any questions at all please let me know. There is no such thing as a stupid question and we're all here to help!

ie9 said:

pwrhamr said:

Reading this to try and get some help myself. I'm confused by your answer.
I need to set up a client email.

I have and use Windows Live Hotmail. Which is how it shows up when searched for. It doesnt show up Explorer(9beta)>Internet Options>Programs>Set Your Default Programs.

Am I tryng to set it up wrong or is your answer wrong?

Ok, to clarify. There are two things going on in this thread and both of those things are being merged into one thing incorrectly.

The first of these things is Hotmail. This is a website and can be accessed via a web browser. Because hotmail is a website it will not be listed as a program on your computer (just like SevenForums isn't listed as a program, right?). Ok, Hotmail cannot be set as default anything. You simply naviagte to it from within IE (or whatever browser you have).

The next thing is Windows Live Mail. This IS a program and it will show up as a program. To set it as your default email client all you have to do is the following:

1. Open Windows live Mail by finding it within the start menu
2. Click on the menu button (which is the dark blue on in the upper left hand side of the program)
3. Hover over options and then choose mail
4. The first thing that will pop up should be the tab named general (if it's not, simply click on general)
5. At the bottom under "default messaging programs" it will probably say "this application is not the default mail handler" simply click make default and now Windows Live Mail is your default mail handler


If you have any questions at all please let me know. There is no such thing as a stupid question and we're all here to help!

Thanks, I should have started a new thread.

I understood the hotmail point. But when in my ie browser I opened up my email its titled "Windows Live". Turns out thats just a title.....
I downloaded Windows Live Mail and now its in my start menu. Problem solved.

Just curious, why is this even an issue? Why isnt automatically set up with ie or when the OS was started?

pwrhamr said:

Thanks, I should have started a new thread.

I understood the hotmail point. But when in my ie browser I opened up my email its titled "Windows Live". Turns out thats just a title.....
I downloaded Windows Live Mail and now its in my start menu. Problem solved.

Just curious, why is this even an issue? Why isnt automatically set up with ie or when the OS was started?

You're absolutely correct that the 'Windows Live' that you're seeing in IE is just a title. You'll notice that if you navigate to other parts of the website the 'Windows Live' is still there, just a title.

Back in the Vista days there used to be an email client that was automatically the default and that's what most people used. For one reason or another (see antitrust issues) this was removed in Windows 7. So it is now an issue because there are so many different email programs that you could download that each one of them needs to know if they are the default email client (so when you click to email someone your computer will know which client to open).

Hope that answers some questions. If not, then feel free to ask anything. We're all here to help :)

I have read all the posts and still can't find an answer to my issue. Please help if you can. for years I have clicked on the little mail icon in my Windows Live Messenger and gone straight to my Hotmail inbox. Yesterday my daughter sent me some pictures. I tried to forward them and when I clicked on "forward" a new message in Windows Live Mail opened, I didn't know what it was, but I did forward the pictures to my home email account (not hotmail). Somehow this changed the default mail on my Windows Live Messenger to Windows Live Mail, which I DO NOT want. I can't find how to change it back and it's very frustrating because now when I click on my mail icon on Messenger, it goes straight to Windows Live Mail and then Windows Live Mail tries to check my home email as well. Please can someone tell me how to switch it back? I have literally clicked on anything I can find to try to return to my normal and it won't work! How does something just switch itself? Thank you for helping!
Beth