Solved Microsoft outlook alias problem

JAK · Jan 18, 2026

Hope this isn't too confusing lol

I had 2 email accounts

[email protected]

[email protected]

Email 1 had email 2 as an alias.

I marked email 1 for deletion, but then I could not access email 2, unless I cancelled email 1 deletion.

So I cancelled email 1 deletion and retained access to email 2

After discussing with MS support I was told that the alias linked the accounts so needed to remove email 1 alias of email 2

So I removed the email 1 alias of email 2

I then found that email 2 had then been immediately deleted and could not be recovered, this is crazy and harsh, deleting an account gives 30 days to recover / cancel the process, but deleting an alias results in the alias email account immediately being deleted....

So I guess it's impossible to delete an alias, unless it's ok to lose that email account forever.

Am I correct iny findings

if so there should be an undo feature for alias removal, also dies that mean an alias once added can NEVER be safely removed

Thanks

antspants · Jan 18, 2026

You need to make email two [email protected] the Primary email account before you remove email 1 [email protected], which is currently the Primary account.

Think of email 2 (an alias to whatever address is Primary) as a subfolder, remove the main folder, all subfolders are removed also.

JAK · Jan 18, 2026

Sorry, had to read the reply several times, lol
think you're saying I need to create more than one alias, and only the primary alias is is deleted when the main account email is deleted, and the other email alias ( which is not the primary) is is not deleted

Wish I had not started this

I lost an important email account, just because it was a primary alias to another account and I removed it, at MS suggestion

seems ludicrous to me that there's not an undo option or 30 days to revert it back

Thank you

antspants · Jan 18, 2026

The images should explain it.

You should only need 1 extra alias (address) to be able to swap them around.

So Primary
Secondary

Make the secondary the primary (The email you want as main email address)
Then delete the other, or just leave it.

I can’t remember if having a second alias is mandatory. As long as you make the email address you want to use as the primary, everything else should be able to be deleted, as long as it isn’t an emergency contact/rescue email address.

antspants · Jan 18, 2026

JAK said:
I lost an important email account, just because it was a primary alias to another account and I removed it, at MS suggestion seems ludicrous to me that there's not an undo option or 30 days to revert it back

I do recall a time when I did the same thing, years ago.

antspants · Jan 18, 2026

If needed, you could just make up any alias and never use it: [email protected]

Evan Mael · Jan 18, 2026

You're correct: removing a Microsoft alias (@hotmail.com, @outlook.com) permanently deletes that email address immediately, unlike account deletion which has a 30-day grace period.

Alias removal is irreversible with no undo option. Account closure allows cancellation during the grace period.

No, you cannot safely remove a Microsoft alias without losing the address forever. Use non-Microsoft aliases (like Gmail) instead, as they survive removal.

JAK · Jan 18, 2026

Yes I can make an email easily, but the point is that when I simply removed the primary alias then THAT email was immediately DELETED

seems a bad setup to me .....

antspants · Jan 18, 2026

JAK said:
Yes I can make an email easily, but the point is that when I simply removed the primary alias then THAT email was immediately DELETED seems a bad setup to me .....

Yes. You can’t remove a primary address, ever, hence making the one you want to keep, the primary first
Then the original primary will become the secondary, which can be safely removed.
Not sure if I’d call it a bad setup, seems logical to me.

JAK · Jan 18, 2026

Logical that removing a primary alias email results in the immediate deletion of the primary alias account, can't see where logical comes into it, honestly......

antspants · Jan 18, 2026

If you have a folder and it has a subfolder, deleting the folder will remove the subfolder and all content.

Folder
- Sub Folder

Same as the MS Accounts, remove the primary, everything is gone.

Primary
- Secondary alias

So make the secondary the primary and then remove the one you replaced.
I'm not trying to come across as rude, but that in itself is logical.

[email protected](Primary)
- [email protected] (Secondary) < Make Primary

Result

[email protected](Primary)
- [email protected] (Secondary) < Remove if desired.

antspants · Jan 18, 2026

If you're not confident, create another Microsoft account that is disposable and has nothing to do with the account currently in question.

Log in, create aliases and play with the swap and remove.

antspants · Jan 18, 2026

Once I changed the primary, I had to log back into the Account using the new primary address and the original password.

Trying to remove the actual primary address is impossible.

I suspect your account is still there but you need to log into it with the new alias. Worth a try.

.

JAK · Jan 19, 2026

It says account does not exist, confirmed by MS

don't see the relationship between email accounts and windows folders
A hard lesson learnt.

Solved Microsoft outlook alias problem

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