How do I delete my iCloud email account?

Apple is not forcing you to use your iCloud email address. Setting it up was entirely optional.

To delete it, go into your email program, into the Accounts section, and tap the Delete / Remove button.

Clearly you did not explain yourself sufficiently at all and your definition of 'detailed example' is somewhat at odds with what you actually posted. At no point did you mention you were referring to webmail at iCloud.com anywhere. You specifically mention Windows Live Mail, which is a desktop program that can manage multiple email accounts. Due to the vagueness of your post, it appeared you were implying iCloud Mail was opening in Windows Live Mail as your primary account instead of your previous one. Hence my advice to remove it from the accounts section.

You cannot remove iCloud Mail from iCloud.com once you have set it up. Apple is not forcing its use on icloud.com or on your PC though - this is a simple setting on your PC that you can change very easily.

iCloud email does not set itself up automatically. You would have had to turn on Mail (or Notes in your case), a prompt would've come up asking if you wanted to create an iCloud email account, you would've had to agree to this, and then choose yourself an email address. None of this happens without your knowledge and input.

When setting up a new email account in Windows it is often normal practise for the most recently setup email account to establish itself as the default / primary account (the assumption being you wouldn't set up a new email account if you didn't want to start using it).

As mentioned, it is very easy to set Windows Live Mail back to being your default email - just follow the instructions here: http://www.sliqtools.co.uk/blog/windows-help/windows-8-how-to-set-live-mail-as-t he-default-email-client/ (found by typing "set default email windows 8" into Google).

You have already been told that you cannot delete the account from Apple's server. Just sign out from it from any login on your computer(s) and forget about it. This includes System Preferences>iCloud on a Mac and the iCloud Control Panel on a PC, and in any email application where you should remove the account in Preferences>Accounts or the equivalent in Windows.

Arrogance? I responded to you in the manner you responded to me. You get what you give.

Again, you have NOT understood nor answered my question.

Yes, I have. You asked how you can restore your Windows Contacts previous behaviour of opening your previous primary email account in Windows Live Mail instead of opening iCloud Mail when you click on a contact. The last paragraph of my post directly answers this. Please try reading it.

How do I delete this iCloud mail account.

I have already answered this question. Here, I'll quote my post again for you, verbatim:

"You cannot remove iCloud Mail from iCloud.com once you have set it up."

I cannot find any means to do this in iCloud.com.

That's because there isn't one, because you cannot do it.

All other email ISP's provide some means for deleting unwanted accounts.

So what? That's irrelevant to your problem. You're asking about an iCloud account.

How can this be done in iCloud?

Again, and hopefully for the last time... it cannot be removed.

I don't know which of us you think you were responding to, but for the record my mother was born in 1912. I agree that it would be preferable if were possible to deactivate unwanted iCloud accounts competely (though it would also be necessary that the same address couldn't later be used by someone else, which would present security issues).

However given that the people who answer these forums so on their own time out of a willingness to attempt to be helpful (and by remote control, as it were, depending entirely on what they've been told) there might be a case for patience on occasions when the desired answer doesn't appear on the first go.

Finally, you have answered my question!

I told you that you cannot delete an iCloud email account in my second reply, immediately after you clarified that you were referring to iCloud.com, not the Windows Live Mail application you actually mentioned in your first post. I also provided a link to instructions showing you how to restore the connection between Windows Contacts and Windows Live Mail.

I cannot help but note that it is absolutely absurd to not allow the deletion of an email account in an ISP or Cloud environment.

Tell Apple at: http://www.apple.com/feedback/icloud.html then. Nobody here can do anything about that.

You don't listen we'll, or read carefully for understanding before jumping to conclusions.

You are unable to describe a problem accurately or coherently, or read and comprehend the simple answers you receive.

I seriously wonder if you knew an iCloud email account could not be deleted.

I seriously wonder if you can read - since I told you exactly that in my second reply.

Rest assured that these exchanges will be brought to Apple Support management attention.

This is a user-to-user support forum. You are not conversing with Apple Support staff here, so their management will not care. However, feel free to show them so they can see how quickly I answered your questions after you clarified exactly what you were asking.

I wish I could offer you personal counseling in an effort to help you overcome these limitations that will likely stifle your career.

Don't worry, I wouldn't accept it anyway, as you have no idea what my career is. However, I do have something that would definitely help you... Go here and treat yourself: http://www.readingglasses.com/

I am a retired IT executive, visionary and architect with extensive, large-scale global, technical and systems application experience

Wow, that's unbelievable! You'd literally never guess... Anyway, another "achievement" you can blow your own trumpet for is choosing the most apt username for yourself I think I have ever seen on these forums. Well done!

The forum isn't constructed to allow direct communication between participants - when you post a question you have to take your chances on who answers. If I see a question from you (or anyone else) which I think I can answer I will certainly do so when I'm online; there are lots of other people who can answer.