Hotmail and Gmail confusion

[FireandBrimstone]

Hi folks, I'm not completely a tech dunce but this situation is flummoxing me and I'd be grateful for any advice.

My BF's principal email address is a hotmail.co.uk but it seems to have been merged with at least one gmail account.

As an example this means that if he receives a calendar invitation to the Hotmail, and accepts it - he then logs into Google calendar with the Hotmail email, it seems to automatically open a gmail account instead (as if the two accounts have been merged) but the accepted calendar invite is not visible in the calendar.

Not only that but he also seems to have another gmail address which again seems to randomly link with the Hotmail from time to time (I've not been able to determine the circumstances that this happens).

Can these various emails be UNlinked, separating completely the Hotmail and the one or more linked gmails?

Can the gmail mailboxes be merged so that he just has one gmail email and one Hotmail?

He is a technophobe and tends to take his phone or new phone to a shop to get them to sort it. I am not sure this has been mistakenly done at such a time if in an attempt to help, or if the 'merge' is something that happened at Hotmail/gmail/ Microsoft HQ to all Hotmail accounts. But he is about to set up a new business where it would be handy to sort out email forwarding and really needs to organise an online calendar, but I'm reluctant to set anything more up for him until I can unravel the current mess.

Hope I'm describing this clearly enough! TIA...

Do you mean by using outlook? That merges email accounts and you can also toggle so you just look at Hotmail or just Gmail......

The easiest thing would be for him, not you, to start afresh with a new Gmail. And for him to manage it himself, especially as he'll need to do so for his new business.

I am not 100% sure here. I think it is possible to sign-up to google accounts with any random email 'username'. However, just because you have a google account with 'random email address username', it doesn't mean the google account has any access to the other account.

When you say "he receives a calendar invitation to the Hotmail, and accepts it - he then logs into Google calendar with the Hotmail email"

I assume these are two completely different accounts. He has a hotmail account, and a google account

This isn’t you trying to get access to your partner’s email is it OP?

You have teenagers? Ask them
unless you don’t want them to know

Are the email invites he accepts for Outlook Calendar or Google Calendar? If they're for Outlook, they won't show up on the Google calendar unless he has it set up to merge.

When he logs in to Google, he's logging into his Google account. This account will include Gmail (Google mail), Google Maps, Google Drive, Google Calendar etc. It's all Google. Why is he logging into Gmail with a Hotmail address? He can go into his Gmail settings and remove that.

Thanks for all the replies.
I can 100% say upfront and categorically that this absolutely isn't me trying to hack his email or snoop. He is almost pathologically a technophobe and asks me for help with the most basic of technological things, even website browsing can sometimes overwhelm him (there are neurodiversity issues too). I'm fairly competent technically - at least as much as my or his teenagers! - but this feels too gnarly and historical to get my head around.
The new business plays utterly to his strengths - practical and hands-on skills - he just needs the admin basics to work for him, not against him as they do at the moment.

I've watched him do this. When he enters his Hotmail address in the username section it opens a Google profile with an associated gmail address.

Is it an android phone issue? I think my Android phone had to have a Gmail account attached to it to work.

I think there is something in what you've said here, thank you.
I'm not a Hotmail user and also not an android user - would the usual way of accessing a Hotmail account be through the Outlook app? (Which I'm inferring from your post). I can get him to check what things look like for him when he's in the outlook app, I have a feeling that's not how he's usually checking email.

I suspect you are onto something here too, thank you. I don't stand over him when he receives the calendar invitation by email so I've not seen what he does with it (though I receive notification that he has accepted, if it's one I've sent). Maybe I need to watch step by step and see how he is accepting and in what app. Thank you.

He logs into a Google profile with a Hotmail address. But the info you're describing here is helpful thank you. I think I am starting to see where things might be going wrong on his devices.

Yes it's an android phone and I think that is contributing to the issues he's having. Thanks for this info

Yes because he is logging into a Google account. That is why he has a Gmail account. That is why I'm asking what calendar he is saving the invites to? Google and Outlook are different calendars. If they are for Outlook, they won't show up in the Google calendar unless he sets it up to.

The Google profile includes Gmail and the other things I mentioned previously. He has set it up so he can use a different email address (the Hotmail one) as his username for logging in. It's still a Google account though. He's not signing in to Hotmail when he does that.

I think you've very possibly cracked it @PandaTime - thank you. I'll check this out with him tomorrow.

Microsoft bought Hotmail, and now routes it through Outlook, so that's the link there.

But seriously, Hotmail is so so old that it would give a dreadful professional impression. It would be much easier for him to start clean and afresh.

Gotcha. It's all making sense. Thank you.

As for the new business email etc, that's all sorted and I am primed with the purchased domain, hosting, mailbox etc for his new business site. I just wasn't going to set it up and link it all onto his devices until the existing email chaos could be resolved.

Jumping back to say thanks. The comments here helped me to unravel at least one confusion regarding Hotmail and his calendar, and the calendar is now fully in action. The gmail multiple addresses are a bit more complex to sort out but the pathway is a bit clearer now!