Connect Your Email — Complete Guide Series
Most "can't connect" errors come down to one of a handful of causes. Work through this checklist before trying to re-add the account from scratch.
"Authentication Failed" / Wrong Username or Password
- Make sure the username is your full email address (e.g.
info@yourdomain.com), not just the mailbox name. - Re-type the password directly - copy/paste can silently include a trailing space or newline.
- If you recently changed the password from the My Emails page, remember every app connected to that mailbox needs the new password too.
Wrong Server Name or "Cannot Connect to Server"
- Double-check the IMAP/SMTP hostnames against your My Emails page - a single typo (missing letter, wrong subdomain) will cause this.
- Confirm you're using the right port: 993 for IMAP, 465 or 587 for SMTP.
- Check your own internet connection / firewall isn't blocking outbound traffic on those ports (common on some corporate or public Wi-Fi networks).
SSL / Certificate Errors
- Make sure the security option matches the port: SSL/TLS for 993 (IMAP) and 465 (SMTP), or STARTTLS for 587 (SMTP).
- If your device's date and time are wrong, certificate validation can fail - check your clock is correct.
- Confirm the hostname you typed matches exactly what's shown on My Emails - typos here can cause certificate mismatch warnings.
Mail Not Syncing / Missing Messages
- Confirm you chose IMAP, not POP3, when the account was set up. POP3 can remove messages from the server after downloading them to one device.
- Check the account is actually enabled for Mail/sync in your app or device settings - it's easy to accidentally toggle this off.
- Give it a few minutes - the first sync after adding an account can take a while if the mailbox has a lot of history.
Receiving Mail Works, But Sending Fails
- This almost always points to the SMTP (outgoing) settings specifically - re-check the outgoing server, port, and that "requires authentication" is enabled with your full email address as the username.
- Try switching between port 465 (SSL/TLS) and 587 (STARTTLS) - some networks block one but not the other.
Still stuck? Remove the account from the app and re-add it from scratch, carefully re-typing every field from your My Emails page - a fresh setup resolves the vast majority of connection issues.
Frequently Asked Questions
Open My Emails in your account and use the password/key icon next to the mailbox to set a new one, then update it in every connected app.
See the series above for Outlook Desktop, Outlook Web, iPhone Mail, Android Gmail and Thunderbird. For anything else, follow the generic IMAP/SMTP guide.
Quick Fixes
Full email as username
Re-check ports 993/465/587
Match SSL/STARTTLS to port
Choose IMAP, not POP3
Open My Emails →