People hold onto email addresses for a really long time because it is a constantly static way for people to reach you. You probably also have a lot of accounts on websites that are connected to that email account, so you need access to that email in case you ever need to reset a password or access important information. But in today’s Internet-centric world, email addresses are often created at a young age, when our personal interests were more focused on impressing our friends or seeming cool than considering what an unusual email address like “[email protected]” might look like to a prospective employer. So if you’ve outgrown your old email address, or if that address is basically just a repository for spam, then it might be time to get a new email address. Fortunately a lot of the best options are free, and you can easily configure them on your phone or tablet. You also gain the benefit of being able to pick a more appropriate handle, such as “[email protected]”. You can run into some issues with address availability if you have a common name, but if you get creative you can typically find a solid option that will be easy to remember, while also looking good.
The Best Free Email Provider Options
All free email providers are not created equally and the best two options, in my opinion, are Gmail and Outlook.com. Being the flagship email products of Google and Microsoft, respectively, each of these email addresses are also going to allow you to create a Google or Microsoft Live account that comes with a lot of other nice goodies, like Google Drive and Microsoft SkyDrive. Best of all, since they’re free, you can try one or both out without having made any kind of actual commitment to the account. Sign up for Gmail here Sign up for Outlook.com here
Other Free Email Providers
Below are a few additional choices that you can also consider, though they aren’t as full-featured as Gmail or Outlook.com. They are widely used and very common, however, and you shouldn’t run into much trouble configuring them on third party devices and programs. Sign up for Yahoo.com here Sign up for AOL.com here Sign up for Mail.com
Options Not Available to Everyone
Finally are some additional email account options that you may have available to you, depending upon your personal situation. Many cable and Internet providers will give you free email accounts for as long as you have service with them. Some of these accounts will expire, however, if you discontinue service, so it’s always a good idea to have a back up plan in place before cancelling that Comcast or Verizon service. Do you or someone in your family have their own website? Then you can probably create any email address that you want at that domain. This option is great because you are going to have a huge selection of available email handles, but it might not be as easy to set up or maintain as one of the more popular free options. Some services or devices will allow you to create a free email address, such as iCloud with your Apple ID and Apple device.
If you decide to set up a Google Account, then you might wonder how to access your Google Drive account on your Mac computer. He specializes in writing content about iPhones, Android devices, Microsoft Office, and many other popular applications and devices. Read his full bio here.
