I cannot select my hotmail account to be my primary email account

This only happens when iOS grabs the send‑route and sends via iCloud instead of your Hotmail account… I think quickest fix is Settings → Mail → Default Account → your Hotmail account… and just confirm that mail was actually sent from the Outlook app, since iOS routes per‑app.

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Hi Ali Davis

I understand that after reinstalling Outlook on your iPhone, your contacts are missing, and when you email/message people they’re seeing your iCloud address instead of your Hotmail address—and you can’t set Hotmail as the primary. When recipients see your iCloud address, are you sending from Outlook for iOS, Outlook.com on the web, Apple Mail, or the Messages (iMessage/SMS) app?

I would love to hear from you soon. Have a lovely day!

Use separate steps for Outlook on iPhone and for the Microsoft account itself.

1. On the iPhone, remove and re-add the Hotmail account in Outlook

• In Outlook for iOS, go to Settings.
• Select the affected Hotmail account.
• Select Delete Account.
• Close Outlook, then reopen it.
• Add the Hotmail account again:
  • Go to Settings > Add Account (or Accounts > Add Account, depending on the app view).
  • Sign in with the Hotmail address and password.
  • This forces Outlook to import the correct settings and can restore proper sending from Hotmail instead of iCloud.

2. Make sure the Hotmail address is still an alias on the Microsoft account If the Hotmail address was removed as an alias from the Microsoft account, it cannot be used as the primary sign-in email again and cannot be reattached to another Microsoft account.

The Outlook.com alias documentation states that if an alias from a Microsoft domain such as @hotmail.com is removed, that alias is permanently deleted and cannot be associated with any Microsoft account again. In that case:

• The Hotmail address cannot be set as the primary email.
• Mail to that address will no longer be delivered.

3. If the Hotmail alias still exists but is not primary

• Sign in to the Microsoft account website.
• Go to Your info > Manage how you sign in to Microsoft.
• If the Hotmail address is listed there, it can be set as the primary alias.
• If it is not listed, it has been removed and cannot be restored.

4. If the Hotmail alias was removed

• Add another alias (for example, a new Outlook.com address) and make it the primary alias:
  • In Manage how you sign in to Microsoft, select Add email.
  • Create a new Outlook.com email address and add it as an alias.
  • Verify it and set it as the primary alias.
• Use this new address for sending mail and for signing in.

5. Contacts on iPhone

• Re-adding the Hotmail account in Outlook for iOS will only restore contacts that are actually stored in the Hotmail/Outlook.com account.
• If contacts were stored only locally on the iPhone and not synced to Outlook.com, they cannot be recovered from Outlook.

References:

• After I changed my primary alias on my outlook.com account, I can't log back in
• "Something went wrong" with error ADDriverStoreAccessNonLocalException
• Deleted hotmail email address from account - can I get it back? - Microsoft Q&A
• MSN email issues - Microsoft Q&A