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How do I delete this Microsoft Passport?

Question: How can I delete Microsoft Passport, because every time I sign in to check my e-mail it asks me for my passport and it is very annoying.

Well, I can tell you how to delete it, but you don’t really want to. Passport is how Hotmail identifies you. It may be annoying, but it’s required if you want to read your email.

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Passport is Microsoft’s user identification system. It was originally planned as a single-login that could be used by all sorts of web sites – login once, and you’d have access to all of the websites that use Passport. Unfortunately today it’s mostly only Microsoft sites that use it. As a result Passport is how you login to Hotmail, MSN Instant Messenger, MSN’s web site and other MSN sites.

So without a Passport account, you have no way to login to your Hotmail. In effect your Passport is your Hotmail account.

It is a little confusing, and perhaps that’s one reason why Passport never really took off.

The bottom line is that I don’t think you really want to delete your passport, because if you did, you’d be deleting your ability to login to your Hotmail or MSN Messenger account.

If you really, truly want to delete your passport, well, those are the the same instructions as deleting your Hotmail account – because that’s what you’ll be doing.

However, if I can infer from your frustration, perhaps you’re really experiencing one of the many problems that people are having logging in to Hotmail – it may look like Passport, but that’s the way you login to Hotmail. There are, sadly, a lot of things that can affect whether or not you can log in to Hotmail.

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26 comments on “How do I delete this Microsoft Passport?”

  1. Leo,
    SHOULD we delete Microsoft Passport? If we’ve never used, nor plan to use “Hotmail”? Any benefit to deleting it?

    2nd Question:
    I defragged my computer last night, and when done, it showed 70% unused space. In 6 years, (and 3 computers), I’ve never had less than 87% free space left. What should I do? Empty my Favorite Places, or at least clean it out? Or my mailbox (saved old send/received mail, which I’m sure I don’t do often enough? I don’t have any extra progams installed other than Roboform (I sweepstake)…no games, music, etc. I’m a senior citizen, with AOL 9.0 Dial Up, and a 2 y/o good Gateway Intel Inside Pentium 4, desktop. I admittedly don’t even know how to name files, what all the prefixes mean, so can’t set up files. But it’s OK, except that I can’t use my $500 HP Digital Camera I won. Just can’t understand the manual. Being a senior citizen, (just barely, but nonetheless 63 now), really does affect my “figuring out” ability. :-}.
    Thanks, Leo!
    Marty in Kalamazoo

    Reply
  2. I see no benefit in deleting it. Just don’t use it.

    70% free space seemes like a lot :-). I certainly wouldn’t worry about it until it gets a lot lower, or if it starts decreasing at a steady rate.

    Reply
  3. please can u help me u sed to go to help and click close account but there is no close account!!!! help i wanna get rid of my account now!!!! please x

    Reply
  4. Ever since I singed onto microsoft passport I have difficulty signing on. It will ask for my password at least four times, and then sometimes I can’t get online.

    Reply
  5. I’d like to know how to delete just the passport account. I set up passports associated with a work email address for people so they can use MSN Messenger here at work. There’s no Hotmail account associated with the accounts to close, and I’d prefer that the people not be able to go home and continue using this passport.

    Reply
  6. Sign in to the Microsoft Passport Network if you’re not signed in already.

    – Go to the MSN Account Services home page.
    – Click Customer Support.
    – Click Close your account.
    – Read the information provided on the page to verify that you want to close your account, and then click Continue.

    Reply
  7. I do not use hotmail or passport network, however the microsoft passport network sign up window pops up every few seconds. How do I stop that from happening? Should I delete something since I use aol for my email?

    Reply
  8. Um, excuse me, but you’re giving wrong information. (1) Deleting passport from your computer is NOT the same as deleting your hotmail account. In fact, it’s nothing like it. And (2)You CAN actually get rid of MSN Messenger from hotmail so that it doesn’t automatically load every time you open hotmail, I know because I’ve done it. Maybe you should do a little more checking on that….

    Reply
  9. Microsoft Passport Network is really starting to irritate me. I am not running msn or hotmail, but when I enter certain folders using Explorer a window will pop-up asking me to sign in. This is just as bad as any other popup but it comes from the company who should be helping us out with popups. I don’t know quite how to fix it but it only seems to do this if I am in certain folders(i.e. C:\Documents and Settings\”user”). I have also noticed that the Passport sign in screen will only pop up if I am using thumbnails view. So a work around I guess is to not use thumnail view in those folders. But if anyone else finds out how to perminently stop this please post…grrrrrrrr

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  10. When I try to run hotmail, it state: Your browser is currently set to block cookies. Your browser must allow cookies before you can use the Passport network. I have tried so many thing on the Internet Options, however, it does not work. I installed IE 7Beta 3 and still giving me problems. Please advise to stop this, I am going in sane.

    Very Respectfully,

    Alfred

    Reply
  11. i want to delete my msn messenger because someone has hacked into my account and its already cause me aloud of grief why cant there be a simple walkthrough on how to delete the account plez can you email me leo at james.arsenal@hotmail.co.uk and is there a site that deletes your account for you
    thankyou
    i hope you reply

    Reply
  12. I do not use the msn messenger anymore and i still get people contacting me throw it and i don’t want theat anymore please help me and it will also take me a while to read your reply as i have to use a computer at a library now and only use it now and again thanks.

    Reply
  13. Here is a freebie. I have a pay for services at my site http://www.tctu.com to help computer users by remote assistance or desktop videos.

    Let me start off with this easy fix by taking the passport address out of your registry.

    Type in regedit in the RUN command in the start menu. Then click on “My Computer” in the registry editor. Type in the address you want removed from Messenger. It will find that address in a folder called “cert”. Simply delete it from your registry. That’s the end of that email address wanting to sign in anymore.

    There three things to consider when you start your computer. First off, in Outlook Express under options, you will find “launch Messenger when OE starts”. Uncheck that. Secondly, in Messenger itself under tools “options”, uncheck “launch “Messenger when Windows Starts” and thirdly, when you have a Hotmail account, Messenger is going to load each time you visit the site, but will not prompt you to login…no biggie there as the Icon will go away after you close the Hotmail page.

    I use the original Windows Messenger in XP, MSN Messenger 7.5 and Windows Live Messenger to connect to anyone to tweak their computers for them. Why Messenger? Because it is the best utility in Windows XP for me to have a voice chat with a client as I connect to their computer. There are other ways to connect to their computers, but because this program already exists and is free, it’s better for me to utilize it and teach people how to best utilize it for voice, voice/video and Remote Assistance.

    Best regards,

    Orbezpc

    Reply
  14. I do NOT use, nor have ever used hotmail. messenger is and has always been disabled.
    I use Outlook, not outlook express.
    But the last few days- I have gotten that stupid pop-up.

    Any idea what gives?
    Tried the registry fix mentioned above, but does no good.

    Reply
  15. I HAVE READ ALL OF THE ARTICLES….I DO NOT USE MSN ANYTHINGS AND HAVE NO HOTMAIL ACCOUNT, YET WHEN I TRY TO ACCESS DIFFERENT LOCATIONS, PASSPORT KEEPS TELLING ME TO LOG-IN……I REALLY WOULD LIKE TO DELETE PASSPORT, IT REALLY MESSES UP E-MAILS TO COMPANIES THAT I WOULD LIKE TO COMMUNICATE WITH. THERE IS NO REASON WHY I SHOULD HAVE TO SIT ON THE TELEPHONE-LONG DISTANCE, WHEN I PAY FOR MY INTERNET SERVICE,,PASSPORT ROBS ME OF WHAT I AM PAYING FOR. I NEED INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE PASSPORT GO AWAY. THANK YOU

    Reply
  16. I had windows messenger on my ex-boyfriends computer and it automatically logs onto it when his computer starts. I am no longer talking to him, and his girlfriend has been going into my account and messing around with things. What would be te best way of sorting this out without having to delete my hotmail account (contacting them is not an option).

    Reply
  17. When I sign in to Windows Live to check my e-mail in Hotmail, all is good. BUT, when I sign out I get this msg. that cannot sign out of passport, WHY? And how do I sign out of Passport? If passport IS Hotmail, and I sign out of Hotmail, why do I have to sign out AGAIN from passport? And HOW DO I SIGN OUT?

    Reply
  18. I have the same proplem as posted by sheri at September 10,2008 Ihave tried everthing to get out of this annoying incident.

    Reply

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