What is .hotmail?
Brand TLDs operate under Specification 13 of ICANN's registry agreement. It lets a trademark owner keep every second-level name for itself, so you won't find .hotmail names for sale at any registrar.
ICANN's records put the delegation of .hotmail on June 10, 2015. Like most of the newer endings, it was applied for in the 2012 New gTLD Program round and its registry agreement was signed on December 18, 2014.
Microsoft Corporation also runs 7 other TLDs, including .azure, .bing, .microsoft, .office and .skype.
Under the hood, the root zone points to 8 name servers for .hotmail, every one of them reachable over IPv6. The delegation is DNSSEC-signed, so resolvers can verify that answers for .hotmail haven't been tampered with on the way. Registration data is published over RDAP.
Same registry, other endings
7 other TLDs share this operator.
.hotmail FAQ
What country is .hotmail?
None. .hotmail is a generic top-level domain, so it isn't tied to any country.
Who owns the .hotmail domain extension?
Microsoft Corporation operates .hotmail as its registry, under a registry agreement with ICANN.
When was .hotmail created?
.hotmail was delegated to the DNS root zone on June 10, 2015.
Is .hotmail a valid domain?
Yes. .hotmail is an active top-level domain in the DNS root zone, delegated in 2015, so .hotmail addresses work in every browser.
Can I buy a .hotmail domain?
No. .hotmail is a brand TLD under ICANN Specification 13, so names are reserved for Microsoft Corporation.
Is .hotmail DNSSEC-signed?
Yes, the root zone holds a DS record for .hotmail.
Sources
Data from IANA root zone version 2026102000. Last changed February 2, 2026. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
