Whether you need to preserve personal memories or secure critical business data, learning how to is a vital skill for anyone using Microsoft’s web-based email service (now part of Outlook.com). Backing up your data locally protects you from accidental deletion, account hacking, or service outages.
: Add your Hotmail account to the app. Once synced, go to File > Open & Export > Import/Export . Choose Export to a file and select Outlook Data File (.pst) . This creates a single file containing your entire history that you can store on an external drive.
For users who want more control or a searchable offline archive, connecting your account to a desktop application is a popular choice.
: Log in to your Hotmail account, click the Gear icon (Settings) in the top-right, and go to General > Privacy and data . The Action : Click Export mailbox .
: These tools often bypass the multi-day wait time of the official export and allow you to convert messages into various formats like MBOX , HTML , or CSV .
: Once ready, you will receive an email with a download link to a ZIP file containing your data. 2. Downloading Individual Messages as .EML or .PDF
: Open the message, click the three dots (...) , and select Download . This saves the email in a standard format that most mail clients can open.