Guide · Setting up
Set up business email in Outlook with IMAP, step by step
Outlook reads a mailbox on your own domain like any other once it has the server, the port and the security setting. This guide gives the steps in the new Outlook, classic Outlook, Outlook for Mac and the Outlook app on a phone.
What Outlook needs
The same facts in every version of Outlook: the full address as the user name, the mailbox's own password, and one server for reading and for sending, which the service's home page lists with its ports.
- Incoming mail (IMAP): the server from the home page, port 993, SSL/TLS.
- Outgoing mail (SMTP): the same server, port 465 with SSL/TLS, or port 587 with STARTTLS.
- User name: the full address, such as ana@yourcompany.com, on both servers.
- The outgoing server requires sign-in: yes, with the same user name and password.
The new Outlook for Windows
- Open Settings, then Accounts, and choose Add account.
- Enter the address. If Outlook does not find the settings by itself, choose IMAP as the kind of account.
- Fill in the incoming and outgoing servers with their ports and security from the list above, then the password, and continue.
Classic Outlook for Windows
- Select File, then Add Account.
- Enter the address, open Advanced options, tick Let me set up my account manually and select Connect.
- Choose IMAP, fill in the incoming and outgoing servers with their ports and security, select Next, enter the password and select Connect.
Outlook for Mac and the Outlook app on a phone
On a Mac, open Outlook's settings, then Accounts, and add an account with the address; when Outlook asks for the provider, choose IMAP and enter the servers. In the Outlook app for iPhone or Android, add an email account, choose to set it up manually with IMAP, and turn on the advanced settings to enter the servers and their ports.
If Outlook will not connect
- Check that the user name is the full address on both servers.
- Check each port with its security: 993 with SSL/TLS, 465 with SSL/TLS, 587 with STARTTLS. A mismatch fails.
- Sign in to the webmail with the same password. If it works there, the password is right and Outlook's settings are the problem.
- Check that the domain is active in the client area; a domain waiting for its proof token does not yet accept mail.
Questions
Which settings does Outlook need for a business mailbox?
IMAP on port 993 with SSL/TLS for incoming mail, SMTP on port 465 with SSL/TLS or 587 with STARTTLS for outgoing mail, the server listed on the service's home page, and the full address as the user name.
Should Outlook use IMAP or POP?
IMAP. It keeps the mail on the server, so Outlook, the phone and the webmail show the same mailbox. POP3 is only for a program that cannot use IMAP.
Can the same mailbox be in Outlook and on a phone?
Yes. With IMAP every device reads the same mailbox, and a message read or moved on one shows the same way on the others.
Sources
The documents this guide’s statements rest on. Each link opens in a new page.