Hack hotmail and increase the size of your hotmail account!

When Hotmail announced that they will increase the account size for all users, I was very happy. I didn't want to lose my hotmail id just because it was always full! So, I waited eagerly but nothing happened. Then an idea struck me and I went and changed my profile to indicate that I was living in the US. Still nothing! Then after about a month, all of a sudden, my account size jumped to 250MB! I was very thrilled to say the least.

This happened a couple of months ago, but yesterday I came across this site which suggests something similar, but with immediate results!

1. First, log in to hotmail, and then go to Manage Folders. Here, create a folder titled Tempinbox.


2. Then, go to your Inbox and move all your mails to Tempinbox. You can do this in the Mail view, and selecting all mails - click on the checkbox next to From right on top of all your mails. Once all the mails are selected click on Put in Folder and select Tempinbox to move all your mails. Note: If your inbox spans across multiple pages, you'll have to repeat this until everything is moved over.


3. Next, go to Options, which appears on the top right side of your page. From here go to Personal (the first item on the left) and in My Profile, update the Country to USA, State to New York, Zip Code to 10028 and Language to English. Click on the Update button at the bottom.


4. This is IMPORTANT - Before you sign out, copy the following line into your address bar and press 'Enter' -
   
   http://by17fd.bay17.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/Accountclose



5. This will deactivate your account. To prevent your email id from getting reassigned to somebody else, log back in immediately into hotmail and login with your usual id and password. You will be given a message showing 'Activate Your Account'. So go ahead and do it and don't select any of the Newsletter options which you are given.


6. Now, go to your mailbox, and enjoy the bigger size of your account!!

Note: I tried this with my wife's account, and although the size didn't go up to 250 MB, it did increase to 25 MB. Well, that's better than 2 MB at least! Maybe, the account size will increase in a month's size like it happened to me!

Update: Paul V, a friend of mine I had posted this hack to, got his account increased as well, but being a much more diligent guy than I am, also read the 'Welcome Message' which hotmail sends when you reactivate your account. And this is what it says, regarding the 250 MB account size -

"You may notice that your storage meter for your e-mail inbox only says 25 MB instead of 250 MB. Please allow us at least 30 days for us to bump up your storage to the complete 250 MB. It is important to check your inbox regularly during this time."