POP3 you say? Well, what is that exactly? It might sound like jargon to a lot of us, but the idea is really simple. POP3 is a feature that allows you to retrieve all the e-mail from your various e-mail accounts into your Hotmail inbox.
Once you set up POP3, you won't have to worry about remembering all those other user names and passwords, because you'll only have to remember one thing — your Windows Live ID.
Do you have a stray Yahoo! Mail or Gmail account you don't check as often as you'd like? Want to be able to check your work e-mails at home or on your mobile? That's what POP3 is for.
How do I set it up?
Once you've logged into Hotmail, just click on the "Add an e-mail account" link below your folder list. For most accounts, all you'll need is your e-mail address and password.
Next, you'll be prompted to add the account details, meaning that it's time to enter the address and password of the account you wish to retrieve mail via Hotmail.
Finally, you get to choose the options you want to set for the mail you're retrieving from other accounts. Depending on what you'd prefer, you can set up a separate folder to store e-mails from your other accounts, or just view your outside mail straight in your Hotmail inbox.
What else do I need to know?
The main thing you need to know is you're going to have to enable POP3 access for the accounts that you want to retrieve within Hotmail. The way to do this varies between each e-mail service, so check with your provider or webmail host for instructions on how to enable POP3 access.
How it works