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Set Up Windows Live Mail for Your Email Account

 

Applies to: Office 365 for professionals and small businesses, Office 365 for enterprises, Microsoft Exchange, Live@edu

Topic last modified: 2013-01-22

You can connect the 2009 version of Windows Live Mail to your email account using POP3 or IMAP4 connectivity.

If you're using Windows Live Mail 2011, see Set Up Windows Live Mail 2011 for Your Email Account.

How do I set up the 2009 version of Windows Live Mail for access to my email account?
  1. Start Windows Live Mail. A wizard may run the first time it's opened. If the wizard doesn't run when you first open the program, do the following:
    1. On the Tools menu, click Accounts. If you don't see a Tools menu in your version of Windows Live Mail, you may be using Windows Live Mail 2011. For more information, see Set Up Windows Live Mail 2011 for Your Email Account.
    2. In the Accounts page, click Add.
    3. On the Add an account page, click Email Account, and then click Next.
  2. On the Add an Email Account page, do the following:
    1. In the Email address box, enter your email address.
    2. In the Password box, enter your password. If you want Windows Live Mail to remember your password, select the check box next to Remember password.
    3. In the Display Name box, enter your full name.
    4. Select Manually configure server settings for email account, and then click Next.
  3. On the next page of the wizard, under Incoming Server Information, do the following:
    1. In the drop-down menu under Incoming mail server is a <type> server, select IMAP or POP3. IMAP supports more features.
    2. Under Incoming server, enter the POP3 or IMAP4 server name. For information about how to find your incoming (POP3 or IMAP4) server name, see How do I find the server settings? later in this topic.
    3. Select This server requires a secure connection (SSL).
    4. Under Log on using, make sure that Clear text authentication is selected.
    5. Under Login ID (if different from email address), type your full email address.
  4. Under Outgoing Server Information, do the following:
    1. Under Outgoing server, enter the SMTP server name. For information about how to find your outgoing (SMTP) server name, see How do I find the server settings? later in this topic.
    2. Select the check box next to This server requires a secure connection (SSL).
    3. Select the tick box next to My Outgoing server requires authentication, and then click Next.
  5. On the Your new account settings are complete page, click Finish.
  6. On the Accounts page, click Close.
  7. If you're using IMAP4 and the Show/Hide IMAP Folders dialogue box appears, use the Windows Live Mail user interface to select which folders you want to synchronise between the server and your local computer, and then click OK.
How do I find the server settings?

Before you set up a POP3 or IMAP4 email program, you need to look up your own POP3, IMAP4 and SMTP server settings.

Watch this video to learn how to find your server settings for your POP or IMAP email program.

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To find your server settings, sign in to your email account using Outlook Web App. After you sign in, click Options > See All Options > Account > My Account > Settings for POP, IMAP and SMTP access. The POP3, IMAP4, and SMTP server name and other settings you may need to enter are listed on the Protocol Settings page under POP setting or IMAP setting and SMTP setting.

noteNote:
If you see Not available next to POP setting, IMAP setting and SMTP setting, your account may not be set up to use POP or IMAP email programs. For more information, contact the person who manages your email account.

What else do I need to know?

  • If you don't know whether to use POP3 or IMAP4, consider using IMAP4 because it supports more features.
  • If your email account is the type that requires registration, you must register it the first time you sign in to Outlook Web App. Connecting to your email account through POP3 or IMAP4 will fail if you haven't registered your account through Outlook Web App. After you sign in to your account, sign out. Then try to connect using your POP3 or IMAP4 program. For more information about how to sign in to your account using Outlook Web App, see How to Sign In to Your Email Using a Web Browser. If you have trouble signing in, see FAQs: Sign-in and Password Issues or contact the person who manages your email account.
  • If Windows Live Mail doesn't connect after you follow this procedure, you might need to verify that you're using the correct authentication setting. You can check this by doing the following:
    1. On the Tools menu, click Accounts.
    2. On the Accounts page, select your account, and then click Properties.
    3. On the Properties page for your account, on the Servers tab, make sure Log on using clear text authentication is selected.
  • If you're using IMAP4, Windows Live Mail will always keep a copy of a message on the server after you retrieve a copy to your local computer. If you're using POP3, Windows Live Mail will keep a copy of messages on the server by default. If you're using POP3, you can set up Windows Live Mail to remove the copy of a message from the server when you download it to your local computer. It's a good idea to keep a copy of your messages on the server because it lets you access your messages from a different mail program. You can set up Windows Live Mail to remove a copy from the server as follows:
    1. On the Tools menu, click Accounts.
    2. On the Accounts page, select your account, and then click Properties.
    3. On the Properties page for your account, on the Advanced tab, under Delivery, make sure Leave a copy of messages on server isn't selected.

What if I want to know more?

 
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