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How do I change my “From” user name in MSN Hotmail?

Question: Can you please tell me how to change my Hotmail user name? Every time I email someone my full name and email address comes up and I don’t want that to happen, I just want my email address to show on their email. How can i fix this?

Hotmail automatically fills in the “From:” address in the mail you send with your email address, and your name.

Changing your name is actually fairly simple, but getting exactly what you want? Not so much.

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To change your user name, sign in to Hotmail, and then click the Options link in the upper right:

Then click on Personal on the list that shows up on the far left, and then click on My Profile.

On the resulting page you’ll find places to put your First name and Last name. Those are combined to become the name that is displayed with your email address on the “From:” line in your sent email.

So change those, click save, and you’re done. Right?

Not quite. There are two potential issues.

First, you might need to sign out and sign back in again for the changes to “take”. The change took immediately for me when I tried it out for this article, but I’ve also read of people experiencing delays.

Another problem I did experience is that I was unable to erase my name. The erase “took” – my name showed up as “Leo” with no last name, but the test emails I sent still said “Leo Notenboom”.

My assumption, then, is that the first and last name cannot be blank – they need to be set to something. Setting the last name to a period, for example, worked. So if your email address is “example@hotmail.com” you might consider setting your “First name” to “example”, and your last name to “@hotmail.com”, which would simply duplicate the email address information your recipient already sees.

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123 comments on “How do I change my “From” user name in MSN Hotmail?”

  1. How do I Verify my MSN Account when i forgot to do it when i first got MSN, I want to verify so That I can change my screen name on MSN instead of it just being my email address?

    Reply
  2. My nic changed in the group I am in to a name I used along time ago, with no help from me.How did this happen?It marked all my posts in the same nic (old one).I go to Msn and change name back to the current, and it works.But when I go to group, the old one is still there.How can I fix this? Thanks!! Desilita

    Reply
  3. It depends on who you’re verifying it WITH. Most places verify your email address by sending you a message on that address, to which you must reply. Once you’ve replied, that verifies that you own the email address.

    Reply
  4. Well you could try having your second name blank by using an alt code, such as Alt + 1060 (on the numpad). I think hotmail will think it is a word. I will try it and post back!
    PS add me on MSN if you want any hlep with these things on MSN:
    Changing the font of your SCREENAME!
    Stealing other peoples display pics!
    Changing the COLOUR of your SCREENAME!
    And lots, lots more!
    Happy Hackin’ – Fizziwig 2006

    Reply
  5. Hi Leo,

    I’m tearing my hair out at the moment, trying to stop my Hotmail name appearing in capitals in the recipient’s inbox. It is in lower case in My Profile on Hotmail, so why does it come through in capitals on every machine I send to? Any help much appreciated,

    Jim

    Reply
  6. i am also tryin to get my email adress verified ive got msn messenger but up da top of da screen it says email address not verified so plz help me

    Reply
  7. hi..i am also trying to verify my email address. everytime i click it, it takes me to microsoft passport sign in. once i sign in, there is no place to click to send a verification email. please help!!

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  8. my friend jamie has a problem with his msn its not verified so, i was wondering if you can contact him because his nick on msn drives me crazy!

    Reply
  9. do you have to pay for an custom email adress such as hitman.ca
    Or it will only work if you change your adress to hotmail.com
    or msn.. i was wondering if it was possible to keep
    your adress and always type your nick.top bottom

    Reply
  10. hi..i am also trying to verify my email address. everytime i click it, it takes me to microsoft passport sign in. now tell my how can i verifiy my id.

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  11. i cant change my msn nickname. in the place of it, it reads my address and then in brackets (email address not verified). why does it say this? how do i change it?

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  12. I chat on msn and it keeps on coming up with my entire email address and email not verified, i have tryed the help option to give me a clue on how to change it but im still stumped, can you help?

    Reply
  13. Thank you for your service. Being somewhat computer illiterate, I am very grateful for your help. Respectfully, Nikki

    Reply
  14. I followed your instructions and changed my from name in hotmail, which worked when I email from hotmail, but I use my msn all the time and I can’t figure out how to change it in msn

    Reply
  15. I recentally became divorced and I changed my name
    back to my name back to my maiden name. How do I change may e-mail to reflect the change ?

    Reply
  16. i made my gmail adress as a passport to log on to msn messenger with, the problem is when i go to change my display name on msn it wont let me. How do i change my display name on a gmail passport?

    Reply
  17. i made my gmail adress as a passport to log on to msn messenger with, the problem is when i go to change my display name on msn it wont let me. How do i change my display name on a gmail passport?

    Reply
  18. HEY,
    Okay I have a question why can’t I change my last name on my hotmail thinggy?
    I don’t want people knowing what my name is, and I have tried many times to change it but it doesn’t work. I went to personal and did what your article tells me to..it just doesn’t work..Can you help?

    Reply
  19. I made my sign in name an iinet address and it contains my last name. Now the sign in name appears as my identity and the options box won’t let me change it.

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  20. i like to know if there is any way to change the address,for example instead of @hotmail.com i like to have @anything.com but i still use hotmail.

    Reply
  21. Thanks for your help. I made sure to have a name showing in both first and last name under profile and then signed out of hotmail and closed the browser. Reopened and signed back into hotmail and did a test message and it worked perfectly. I really appreciate the detail you put into your answer. Maybe others still having problems didn’t read ALL of your reply. Happy Holidays!

    Reply
  22. my email address is keesey 61@hotmail. com in my title it say i am a male i am a Female in Cheektowaga NY could you please change this for me thanks

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  23. It worked great for me. After spending hours trying to find an answer via MSN, I finally did an MSN search and your answer appeared. Filling in both first and last names plus signing out and back in, are the key tricks…thanks again

    Reply
  24. I would like to change my home adress please.The new adress is [NEVER POST YOUR ADDRESS IN A PUBLIC FORUM – Leo].THANK YOU.

    Reply
  25. I had change the last name long time ago … and made the text box blank but still apearing the last name as before so i need my email to be apeared this way feghzawi only when i send any emails

    Reply
  26. I’d like to change my return address – to completely hide the fact that email is sent via Hotmail – and just looks like my normal work email. Is that possible? Yahoo MailPlus allows different email identities for a small premium (which I’d pay if Hotmail offered the same). Appreciate your help.

    Reply
  27. —–BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE—–
    Hash: SHA1

    I don’t believe you can do that in Hotmail.

    Leo
    —–BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE—–
    Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (MingW32)

    iD8DBQFF6bTACMEe9B/8oqERApQPAJwLnb6LWZ1U9j4C9q2EYHWAJU5j6gCfSc+J
    IeuGixdNnN/Q8oPBlrSS1Z8=
    =Z5rc
    —–END PGP SIGNATURE—–

    Reply
  28. aye thanx 4 the help it realy did help alot im guna try and send an e-mail and see if its worked but thanks its better coz i actualy undertud sumthin !! x

    Reply
  29. I would like to say THANK YOU SO MUCH! I tried for about 3 weeks to change my ‘from’ name and got advice from everyone that didn’t work. This advice finally worked! THANKS!

    Reply
  30. hi. i don’t know if you can help but i would like to have my msn name as ” ” ie nothing there. have been on net looking and everyone says hold down alt and type in 0160. this does not seem to be wrking for me.i have windows live messenger and dnt know if maybe this method is for older versions.have u got any ideas on how to do it or if im doing anything wrong?please.cheers.

    Reply
  31. Thank you very much, i just started my Hotmail address after moving to Yahoo years ago. The GUI is almost unrecognizable compared what i remember about Hotmail, so this is very helpful to guide me through all menus.

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  32. ok i do NOT want to change my email address i want to change my name like from Bob to Gorge can you please help me

    Reply
  33. —–BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE—–
    Hash: SHA1

    Please read the article you just commented on. That’s exactly what it’s about.

    Thanks,

    Leo

    —–BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE—–
    Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (MingW32)

    iD8DBQFGZY3SCMEe9B/8oqERAmSgAJ4phUYQII2kObiP7TE082ehdKe7agCfSJMn
    BjqC7TwL1YKPBi/WZsDQobI=
    =kGDJ
    —–END PGP SIGNATURE—–

    Reply
  34. WOOW THANX MAN I’VE CHANGED MY USER NAME FAINLLY I BEEN SEARCHING FOR THE RIGHT INFORMATIONS FROM A VERY LONG TIME THANK GOD I FOUND THIS SITE, ITS THE BEST..;)

    Reply
  35. Got married, trying to change my name on outgoing e-mail. My page does not show the personal/options you refer to. Any help would be appreciated!

    Reply
  36. I think there is the issue of the version of the messenger you are using as to the “options” or “preferrences”. All versions have 1 of these options. Check them both to find these fields.

    Reply
  37. I have a Mac and the Profile does NOT have a place to change your name under the Account summary (reached after hitting Options, and then Personal Information under Manage Your Account)…only a place to change passwords and such. I really need to change the name. Please help me.

    Reply
  38. I cant change or update any of my personal information of my windows life hotmail. they keep downloading but never being able to reach them.what to do??

    Reply
  39. Mac users, use Firefox to do this. Safari doesn’t let it work the way Leo describes. You just can’t do it in Safari. In Firefox, it is slightly different too, but you will figure it out. I was going nuts in Safari.

    Reply
  40. For some reason my computer doesn’t want to down load the pages you are refering to to be able to change my display name. I keep having to ctrl + Alt + Delete to get out of the computer freezing! help!!!

    Reply
  41. Hi Leo!! So I’ve been goin’ crazy trying to change my display name, and tried all the things on this site from you and other’s comments, but I don’t have a “Personal” option anywhere- not on Safari OR Firefox!! I use an iBookG4 . . . what am I doing wrong? Please help!!! Thank you!!!!!

    Reply
  42. As usual Microsoft is being a bunch of putz in not allowing Safari users to use their site. I despise Microsoft and their crappy products.

    Reply
  43. Hmmm I’m using Firefox. Simply wish to change the name displayed next to my email address when I send out an email. Following all the steps mentioned here nothing changes. Is there some refresh period required to see the change? Is there a customer service email address where you can write for assistance? Thank you for any help on this one Leo. Its really important my full name NOT display on my outgoing emails (as it is doing right now). Thanks!

    Reply
  44. I’m also unable to change any information. I am using MSN (Qwest) Live Hotmail and there is no place under “options” that is titled “personal” and then “my profile”. I have searched all entries under “options” and there is no option that I see to change my displayed name. I KNOW that before this was “Windows Live”, I was able to very easily change my name.
    Do you have any suggestions?
    I have tried this from Explorer and MSN browsers.
    Thanks.

    Reply
  45. I figured it out! After reading the article and posting earlier, I went back and messed with it again. This is what I did: from the http://www.hotmail.com page (NOT my MSN hotmail page), click “options”, then “more options”, then “view and edit personal information”. After retyping password, click “registered information” in center column. You MUST enter SOMETHING in BOTH the first AND last name areas. I typed an exclamation point for my last name and it accepted it. So now I show up as “Robyn!”. My mistake was that I had NOT entered anything for my last name, and it automatically entered my last name for me in the “from” column in emails, even though my last name did NOT show up in my registered information section.
    Thanks Leo, and good luck everyone else!

    Reply
  46. Yeah, I have a problem. No matter what I change my nickname to when I sign into msn, as soon as I sign out and then back in again it goes back to “Rebecca”. What’s that all about and how do I fix it :S

    Reply
  47. hi, leo. it’s unbelievably bugging me. no matter how i change my user name, the change doesn’t seem to ‘take’ at all. oh my godness

    Reply
  48. I’m also unable to change any information. I am using Windows Live Hotmail and there is no place under “options” that is titled “personal” and then “my profile”. I was def able to do this before!!!
    Do you have any suggestions? all help appreciated x thanx

    Reply
  49. Thanks Robyn! She is right… however make sure you are signed into the “Full” version of Hotmail, not “classic.” You can switch once you’re inside at any time. Otherwise you won’t be able to change your registered information for some reason.

    Reply
  50. If you are using Windows Live Hotmail here’s what to do:
    1. On the top right corner click ‘Options”
    2.Then click ‘More options’
    (you will be directed to another page)
    3. Under ‘Manage your account’ click ‘View and edit your personal information’
    (you will then be directed to another page and might need to type in your password)
    4.In your account summary page, under all your personal information, you’ll see a link that says ‘Registered information’ – click on it
    5. In the name and lastname fiels type in the name you wish to appear as a sender. *This cant be left blank.
    6. click on ‘Save’ at the bottom of the page
    7. click on ‘sign out’ at top of page

    Reply
  51. hi,

    i just cant change my display name…when i log in to option and than to more option my account summary keeps on downloading and result in nothing

    please tell me how to change my display name thanx
    and regards

    bilal

    Reply
  52. hi,

    i just cant change my display name…when i log in to option and than to more option my account summary keeps on downloading and result in nothing

    please tell me how to change my display name thanx
    and regards
    hamza

    Reply
  53. when i change my msn nickname it doesnt come up on my conversations in comes up the name used on windows live how do i change this?

    Reply
  54. i cant seem to change my display name to cool writing cuz it won’t let me copy &+ paste…i hav done it before but i have forgot wat to do…all i can remember was tht yu have to open up a convosation on msn and then type ”something” nick but it wont work

    Reply
  55. I tried Mel’s description and it led me to the correct place.

    I changed my name years ago but it was only recently mentioned to me that it still shows an alias/different name than my actual name. When I look at the name, my name is my correct actual name. When I email myself it shows up as the correct name. I’m not sure why it still shows a name from years ago when others recieve my email.

    Reply
  56. I keep recieving group emails from my work and i used to have my display name for emails as “King Cobra.” Now I want it to say my name. It is a bit embarrasing seeing that my work contacts can see “King Cobra.” I have looked all over msn and changed it. But it still comes up as my email name. How can I help this?

    Reply
  57. this is nuts, my sister has an hotmail account, in her personal info her name displays correctly, but when she sends an email, the name is someone elses…someone she commented to on facebook. How did the name swich? we have gone through everything in her hotmail and it is all correct. how can we get her name back?

    Reply
  58. ***July 1st 2011 using Windows Live

    1. Look at your top RIGHT corner. Your existing name should be there.

    2. Click on it and select “options” in the drop down menu.

    3. On the left hand side, there should be three options “general”, “mail”, and “privacy”…….click on “mail”.

    4. Under the subheading “managing your account”, click on “Account details (password, aliases, time zone)”

    5. Now you’ll have a page that shows all your information. To the LEFT of your existing name should be a “change” option. Click it.

    6. Change your name/alias and then click “save”.

    7. You’re Done! Email yourself to double check.

    Reply
  59. I was going to send something to myself , my name is “Nestor Vanessa Jasmin Indeed” but i never put that there nor have i ever used “nestor” or “indeed” in my username for hotmail.. im confused as to how to change it and how it got there in the first place.. help.

    Reply
  60. I recently changed my username for MSN but it keeps saying that my email does not exist and it something about like i have to wait 3 days but its been more then 3 days.

    Reply

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