Count the number of emails in your Hotmail inbox (Read and Unread)

As you may have already noticed, Windows Live Hotmail indicates the current number of unread messages for each email folder you see on the left hand side (in the folder pane). But what if you want to know how many total number of messages you have inside your inbox? In this tutorial, we will show you how to get that total message count (or use the same technique to get the number of emails inside other folders).

Get the total number of email messages in your Hotmail inbox

First, start by signing into your Hotmail account; if you end up in the Windows Live Home screen, click on the "Go to inbox" link to see your emails.

As shown on the screenshot below, and mentioned earlier, Hotmail will show you the number of unread email messages currently inside your inbox:
Total number of unread emails in your Hotmail inbox

To get the total number of messages in your Hotmail inbox, move your mouse pointer (cursor) above the "Folders" link on the left, and you will see a "gear icon" appear. Click on it to reveal a dropdown menu, and choose "Manage folders":
Manage email folders and message count in Windows Live Hotmail

When Windows Live Hotmail loads the email folder summary screen, the first line will show the message count for your inbox - note that the total number of emails displayed is all inclusive - meaning that it represents both read and unread email messages. These numbers are always up-to-date:
Count the total number of email messages inside your Hotmail inbox

But notice from the screenshot above or your own "Manage folders" screen that Hotmail.com also gives you a total message count for other email folders, both standard folders like inbox, drafts, junk that appear automatically when you create a Hotmail account, but also any custom folder you have created for this email account.

Hotmail Tip: as soon as you get to this screen, Hotmail gives you the current number totals for each email folder. But if you stay a while with this screen visible, the numbers may no longer be accurate: if so, just hit F5 on your keyboard to refresh the total folder message count if you use Windows or Linux, or press Command+R instead if you are on Mac OS X.