How to Connect Your Email to Outlook Desktop (Windows)

Email Setup Guides|
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Connect Your Email to Outlook Desktop
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Connect Your Email — Complete Guide Series
1Outlook Desktop (Windows)2Outlook.com Web App3iPhone Mail App (iOS)4Android Gmail App5Mozilla Thunderbird6Manual IMAP / SMTP Setup (Any App)7Troubleshooting Common Issues

Outlook Desktop is the classic Microsoft mail client bundled with Microsoft 365 / Office. Once your mailbox is added, Outlook connects using the IMAP protocol (so your mail stays on the server and syncs across every device) and SMTP for sending. This guide walks you through adding your mailbox in a few minutes.

The exact server addresses, ports and encryption for your mailbox are shown on the My Emails page in your account, next to each mailbox. Use those exact values together with the general steps below.

Before You Start

  • Your full email address (e.g. info@yourdomain.com).
  • Your mailbox password, set when you created the mailbox on the My Emails page.
  • The IMAP and SMTP server hostnames shown on that same page.

Step-by-Step: Adding the Account

1

Open Account Settings

In Outlook, go to File → Add Account. If this is your first time opening Outlook, the "Welcome" screen will ask for an email address directly.

2

Enter Your Email Address

Type your full mailbox address and click Connect. Outlook will try to auto-detect the server; if it succeeds, skip to step 5. If it asks for manual setup, continue below.

3

Choose IMAP

When prompted for the account type, choose IMAP (not POP) so your mail, folders and read/unread status stay in sync across your phone, webmail and desktop.

4

Fill in the Server Settings

Enter the incoming (IMAP) and outgoing (SMTP) server addresses from your My Emails page:

Incoming mail server (IMAP)as shown on My Emails, port 993, SSL/TLS
Outgoing mail server (SMTP)as shown on My Emails, port 465 (SSL) or 587 (STARTTLS)
Usernameyour full email address
Passwordyour mailbox password
5

Finish and Sync

Click Next / Done. Outlook will test the connection and start downloading your existing folders and messages. The first sync can take a few minutes depending on how much mail you have.

Tip: if Outlook rejects the password, double-check you copied it exactly (no extra spaces), and that you're using the full email address as the username, not just the mailbox name.

Frequently Asked Questions

Always choose IMAP. It keeps your mail on the server and in sync across every device. POP3 downloads mail to a single device and can cause messages to go missing elsewhere.

Open the My Emails page in your account - the exact hostnames and ports for your mailbox are listed there.

See our troubleshooting guide for the most common causes (wrong password, blocked ports, SSL mismatch).
Quick Checklist

Full email address

Mailbox password

IMAP server + port 993

SMTP server + port 465/587

Open My Emails →