How to Add an Email Account in Outlook for Windows

Your settings

Keep these open while you follow the steps. The server name is in the account details we sent when we created your mailbox. Copy it exactly rather than guessing: a server name that is close but not exact is the most common cause of a security certificate warning.

Account type	IMAP
Username	Your full email address, for example [email protected]
Password	Your mailbox password
Incoming server	The mail server name in the account details we sent you
Incoming port	993, security SSL/TLS
Outgoing server (SMTP)	The same mail server name
Outgoing port	465, security SSL/TLS
Outgoing authentication	Required. Use the same username and password

Choose IMAP whenever you are offered a choice. IMAP keeps your mail on the server, so your phone, laptop and webmail all show the same inbox. POP (port 995, SSL/TLS) downloads mail to one device and removes it from the server, so only use it if we have asked you to.

There are two versions of Outlook on Windows. If the Outlook window has a File tab in the top-left corner, you are using classic Outlook. If it does not, you are on the new Outlook, which also replaced the old Windows Mail app.

New Outlook for Windows

1. Open Outlook and select Settings (the gear icon), then Accounts and Email accounts.
2. Select Add account, type your full email address and select Continue.
3. When Outlook asks which kind of account it is, choose IMAP.
4. Enter your password, then select Show more to open the server fields.
5. Fill in the incoming (IMAP) section: your full email address as the username, your password, the incoming server name, port 993 and security SSL/TLS.
6. Fill in the outgoing (SMTP) section: the same username and password, the outgoing server name, port 465 and security SSL/TLS.
7. Select Continue. When Outlook says the account was added, select Done.

Classic Outlook

1. Open Outlook, select File, then Add Account.
2. Type your full email address, then select Advanced options and tick Let me set up my account manually. Select Connect.
3. Choose IMAP.
4. Under Incoming mail, enter the incoming server name, port 993 and encryption method SSL/TLS.
5. Under Outgoing mail, enter the outgoing server name, port 465 and encryption method SSL/TLS.
6. Leave Require logon using Secure Password Authentication (SPA) unticked in both sections, then select Next.
7. Enter your password and select Connect, then Done.

Send yourself a short test message. If it arrives, the account is working in both directions.

If something goes wrong

• "Username or password is incorrect." The username is your whole email address, not just the part before the @. Retype the password rather than pasting it, since a pasted space at the end is enough to fail.
• A warning that the server's identity cannot be verified. Check the server name against the one we sent you, letter for letter. Do not accept the warning permanently; it is there to protect your password.
• Mail arrives but will not send. Open the outgoing (SMTP) settings and make sure authentication is turned on with the same username and password, on port 465 with SSL/TLS.
• Mail shows on one device but not the others. The account was probably added as POP. Talk to us before you remove it, because mail that only exists on that device can be lost.
• Forgot your password or never received the account details? We can reset it or resend them.

Still stuck? Get in touch and tell us which app and device you are using. We can walk you through it.