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Outlook / Hotmail forwarding, step by step

How to connect an Outlook.com or Hotmail mailbox to All Your Inboxes. Good news: unlike Gmail, Outlook needs no confirmation link. Bad news: Microsoft sometimes blocks forwarding without telling you — the fix for that is below too.

1 · Add the inbox in the panel

  1. Panel → Inboxes → Connect inbox.
  2. Enter a project name and the Outlook/Hotmail address → Continue.
  3. Copy the forwarding address shown (f.xxxx@allyourinboxes.com) with Copy address.

2 · Turn on forwarding in Outlook

  1. Outlook.com → ⚙️ Settings → Mail → Forwarding.
  2. Switch on Enable forwarding and paste the copied address.
  3. Optionally tick “Keep a copy of forwarded messages” — so your mail stays in Outlook too.
  4. Press Save. No confirmation email to wait for; Outlook doesn't ask for one.

3 · Test it

  1. Send a test email to this Outlook address from another account.
  2. It lands at your notification address tagged [Project]. The very first forward on Outlook's side can take a few minutes.
  3. Forwarding only covers mail arriving AFTER it was enabled — old mail won't be sent.

Want to reply too? Connect Microsoft (OAuth)

  1. Important: password-based IMAP sign-in is DEAD for personal Outlook/Hotmail accounts — Microsoft switched it off, so don't waste time trying.
  2. The only way to enable replying: press Connect Microsoft on the inbox page → grant access with one click on Microsoft's own sign-in screen.
  3. This is an OAuth connection: you never give us your password, and you can revoke the access from your Microsoft account at any time.
  4. Once connected, just hit Reply on any notification — your reply goes out from the Outlook address (details: /docs/replying).

Something wrong? Real situations and their fixes

Saved, sent a test, nothing arrives — and no error anywhere

Classic Microsoft behavior: if it considers the account “risky”, it silently blocks forwarding for security — the UI shows everything enabled, but nothing goes out. Fix: sign in at account.live.com; Microsoft usually asks you to verify your identity by phone or email. Complete the verification, toggle forwarding off and on again, and send a FRESH test email.

I can't find the Forwarding tab

In the new Outlook UI the path is ⚙️ Settings → Mail → Forwarding and IMAP (just “Forwarding” on some accounts). On a work/school account (Microsoft 365) your admin may have disabled external forwarding — in that case you'll need to talk to your IT admin.

Mail was flowing, then stopped one day

Microsoft periodically asks for re-verification and may pause forwarding meanwhile. Sign in to Outlook, look for a warning banner, and complete the verification. So you don't find out late, the Deliverability page already checks your inbox daily and emails you when something breaks (see /docs/deliverability-guide).

I tried connecting IMAP with my password and get “sign-in failed”

That's expected — Microsoft removed password-based IMAP sign-in for personal Outlook/Hotmail accounts entirely. It fails even with the correct password. Use the Connect Microsoft (OAuth) path above.

If your domain is on Cloudflare, skip forwarding entirely — we create the address in 10 seconds: /docs/cloudflare-setup. For Gmail mailboxes see /docs/gmail-forwarding, and all guides are at /docs.

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