Back in the day Hotmail was its own thing, and a pretty big thing it was, too. It didn’t originally belong to Microsoft (which it does now), but was instead a pioneering creation of anonymous web-based email that was free to all. Since Microsoft acquired it, it has fallen under the rubric of Windows Live, so the method of cancellation follows those rules.

Keep in mind before you cancel that you’ll want to save important information, because you won’t be able to access it once you do. You can either forward everything on to a new account (though beware this is not the same as setting the email to forward, because that will not work once you cancel), or you can download all important information and keep it.

Once you’re ready to cancel your account, follow the instructions below. Since Windows Live has recently changed its instructions for canceling an account, these steps may not be intuitive, but follow along carefully and you’ll have no trouble.

What You’ll Need:

• Your Hotmail account information (typically just email and password)
• Access to a computer from which to log in

Steps to Cancel Hotmail:

1. Log in to your account using your username and password at login.live.com, which will take you to your “Account” page.
2. Navigate to “Security and Password” on the left.
3. Scroll down to the bottom and click “Close My Account”.
4. Follow the prompts to acknowledge the cancellation.
5. Click the button that says “Mark the Account for Closure”.
6. Don’t touch the account for 60 days, otherwise it will reactivate.

If you followed this tutorial, chances are your account is now closed and you can be on your way. If you’ve run into trouble, however, or just don’t feel like taking care of the process yourself, why not let CancelWizard help you out? All you have to do is click the button that says “Use Our Cancellation Service,” and we’ll get started deleting your Hotmail account along with any others with which you might need our assistance.

But maybe you want to know more about CancelWizard first, which is totally cool. Head over to our Frequently Asked Questions page, where we provide additional information about who we are and what we do, or get in touch with us via email or phone. Our team is always delighted to help.

If you already have experience canceling a Hotmail account and would like to share, please leave your thoughts in the comment field below!