Topic Last Modified: 2010-05-18
You can connect Mail for Mac OS X to your e-mail account using POP3 or IMAP4 connectivity. These steps apply to Mail 3.3 for Mac OS X.
If you're running Mac OS 10 Snow Leopard, see the "What if I want to know more?" section at the end of this topic.
How do I set up Mail for Mac OS X for POP3 or IMAP4 access to my e-mail account?
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Open Mail, and then do one of the following:
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If you've never set up any e-mail accounts using Mail, the Welcome to Mail page appears. Go to step 2.
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If you've already created e-mail accounts using Mail, on the Mail menu, click Preferences. On the Accounts tab, click the plus sign (+) at the bottom of the navigation pane to open the Add Account window.
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If you've never set up any e-mail accounts using Mail, the Welcome to Mail page appears. Go to step 2.
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On the Welcome to Mail or Add Account window:
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In the Full Name box, enter the name you want to display to people you send e-mail to.
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In the Email Address box, enter your primary e-mail address.
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In the Password box, enter the password for your Outlook Web App account, and then click Continue.
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In the Full Name box, enter the name you want to display to people you send e-mail to.
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In the Incoming Mail Server window, enter the following:
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Next to Account Type, select POP or IMAP. IMAP supports more features.
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In the Description box, enter a name that will remind you what this e-mail account is for.
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In the Incoming Mail Server box, enter the IMAP4 or POP3 server name. For information about how to find your incoming (POP3 or IMAP4) server name, see the "What else do I need to know?" section below.
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In the User Name box, enter your primary e-mail address.
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In the Password box, enter the password for e-mail account if it's not already shown in that field.
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Click Continue. Mail will test your connection to the incoming server using default settings.
Note: If the test isn't successful, click Continue again. You can verify your settings after you complete this procedure.
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Next to Account Type, select POP or IMAP. IMAP supports more features.
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In the Outgoing Mail Server window, do the following:
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In the Description box, enter the name for this mail server, for example, "Outlook sending server".
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In the Outgoing Mail Server box, enter the SMTP server name. For information about how to find your outgoing (SMTP) server name, see "What else do I need to know?" below.
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Make sure the Use only this server check box is selected.
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Select the Use Authentication check box. Your user name and the password you entered for the incoming server will appear in the User Name and Password text boxes. These values are the same for the outgoing server. Click Continue.
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Click Continue. Mail will test your connection to the outgoing mail server using default settings.
Note: If the test isn't successful, click Continue again. You can verify your settings at the end of this procedure.
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In the Description box, enter the name for this mail server, for example, "Outlook sending server".
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If you're using IMAP4, in the Account Summary box, click Create.
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If you're using POP3, we recommend that you set up your client to keep a copy of the messages that you retrieve to your local computer on the server. This lets you access your messages from a different mail programs. To keep a copy of these messages on the server, do the following:
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In the Account Summary box, clear the Take Account online check box, and then click Create.
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In Mail, on the Mail menu, click Preferences.
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On the Accounts tab, in the navigation pane, select the account you want.
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In the right pane, click Advanced.
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Clear the Remove copy from server after retrieving a message check box, and then close the Accounts window.
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In the Account Summary box, clear the Take Account online check box, and then click Create.
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If you don't want Mail to keep a copy of your messages on the server, select the Take account online check box, and then click Create.
What else do I need to know?
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Before you set up a POP3 or IMAP4 e-mail 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 e-mail program.To find your server settings, sign in to your e-mail account using Outlook Web App. After you sign in, click the drop-down arrow next to the Help question mark, and then click About. The POP3 or IMAP4 server name and other settings you may need to enter are listed on the About page under External POP setting or External IMAP setting. The SMTP server name and other settings are listed under External SMTP setting.

Important: The following settings are just examples. You must look up your own server settings. -
If you're using POP and the About page shows the following:
External POP setting:
Server name: pod51000.outlook.com
Port: 995
Encryption method: SSL
your POP3 server name should be set to pod51000.outlook.com. -
If you're using IMAP and the About page shows the following:
External IMAP setting:
Server name: pod51000.outlook.com
Port: 993
Encryption method: SSL
your server name should be set to pod51000.outlook.com. -
To find your SMTP server setting, if the About page shows the following:
External SMTP setting:
Server name: pod51000.outlook.com
Port: 587
Encryption method: TLS
your SMTP server name should be set to pod51000.outlook.com.
Note: Write down the server settings in case you need them for future reference.
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If you're using POP and the About page shows the following:
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If you don't know whether to use POP3 or IMAP4, consider using IMAP4 because it supports more features.
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If you access your e-mail account online using the outlook.com Web site, you'll need the Windows Live ID that your administrator gave you and your password. The Windows Live ID account is also your primary e-mail address and includes the name of the domain, for example, tony@contoso.com.
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If Mail doesn't connect, you might need to verify that Mail is set up to send and receive mail using the security setting known as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). You can verify that Mail is set up to use SSL as follows:
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In Mail, click Mail > Preferences >Accounts.
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On the Accounts tab, select the account you want, and then click Advanced.
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On the Advanced tab:
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Make sure Use SSL is selected.
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Make sure the Port is 993 if you're using IMAP4. The Port should be 995 if you're using POP3.
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Make sure the Authentication is Password.
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Make sure the Domain Name text box is empty.
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Make sure Use SSL is selected.
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On the Account Information tab:
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Under Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP), make sure Use only this server is selected.
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Under Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP), click the drop-down menu, and then click Edit Server List > Advanced.
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Under Server port, make sure Use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is selected.
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Make sure the Server port is 25.
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Under Authentication, verify that Password is selected, and then click OK.
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Under Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP), make sure Use only this server is selected.
What if I want to know more?