Mail. Connecting a mailbox to Outlook
A mailbox created with BeAdmin can be connected to Outlook over IMAP and SMTP — to both the new and the classic version, on Windows and on Mac. The steps depend on the version of Outlook, so first find out which one you have. This article is a continuation of Mail. Connecting a mailbox to a mail client: it does not repeat the common server settings or the answers to typical problems, only the steps in Outlook. The table of server settings is in the Server settings section.
Which Outlook you have
- On Windows: if there is a "Settings" button with a gear icon in the top right corner of the window, you have the new Outlook for Windows. If there is a "File" tab at the top instead, you have classic Outlook.
- On Mac: choose "Outlook" > "Settings" from the menu bar. If there is a side panel with an "Accounts" section on the left, you have the current Outlook for Mac. If accounts are under "Personal Settings", you have the legacy version.
What you need
You will need the mailbox address and password and the mail server address, for example mail.example.com. The password is shown only once, in the "Mailbox created" dialog, so you need to save it when you create the mailbox; if you did not, change the password. You can open the server address and the login at any time in the expanded mailbox — see Where to find the settings.
New Outlook for Windows
- On the "View" tab, choose "View settings". The settings window opens. The "Settings" button in the top right corner opens the same window.
- Choose "Accounts", then "Your accounts".
- Under "Email accounts", click "Add Account".
- Enter the mailbox address, for example
info@example.com, and click "Continue". - If Outlook asks for it, enter the mailbox password and click "Done".
If Outlook cannot detect the server settings itself and offers to enter them manually, use the values from Values for manual setup.
Outlook for Mac
- Choose "Outlook" > "Settings" from the menu bar.
- In the side panel, choose "Accounts", then "+" > "Add Account". In the legacy version, open the "Personal Settings" section, choose "Accounts" in it, and add the account there.
- Enter the mailbox address, for example
info@example.com, click "Continue", and follow the prompts. - Click "Done".
If Outlook cannot detect the server settings itself and offers to enter them manually, use the values from Values for manual setup.
Classic Outlook for Windows
- Choose "File" > "Add Account".
- Enter the mailbox address, for example
info@example.com, and click "Advanced options". - Select the "Let me set up my account manually" checkbox and click "Connect".
- Choose IMAP as the account type.
- On the "Account settings" screen, check the values and correct them if needed using Values for manual setup. Click "Next".
- Enter the mailbox password and click "Connect". When Outlook finishes the setup, click "Done".
⚠️ Turn off secure password authentication
If the IMAP details page has the "Require logon using Secure Password Authentication (SPA)" checkbox, clear it. The server accepts only a normal password, so with the checkbox selected Outlook cannot sign in — sometimes it does not even ask for a password.
Values for manual setup
The account type is IMAP. Enter:
- Incoming mail — server: the mail server address, for example
mail.example.com, port993, SSL/TLS encryption. - Outgoing mail — the same server, port
465, SSL/TLS encryption. - Username — the full mailbox address, for example
info@example.com. For outgoing mail, the same. - Password — the mailbox password.
If Outlook asks you to choose an authentication method, choose a normal password.
Checking that it works
Send a message to the same mailbox: this checks both directions at once. It should go out without errors and appear in the "Inbox" folder — that means both outgoing (SMTP) and incoming (IMAP) mail work.
If Outlook warns about the certificate
If Outlook says the server's certificate cannot be trusted and offers to continue, do not continue: otherwise your password and messages would go to a server whose identity Outlook has not verified. First check that the server settings contain the mail server address, not the primary domain or an IP address. For other causes and how to fix them, see If the mail client warns about the certificate.
What's next
- Mail. Connecting a mailbox to a mail client — server settings and what to do if the mail client does not connect.
- Mail. Mailboxes, aliases, and domains — creating a mailbox and changing its password.