How to set up your email in Outlook (IMAP and SMTP)

Outlook can handle almost any mail account, provided you give it the right server details. Automatic setup works for well-known providers; for everything else, manual IMAP configuration takes about two minutes.

Adding your account

1. Open Outlook and go to File → Add Account (or Tools → Accounts on macOS).
2. Enter your full email address and choose Advanced options → Let me set up my account manually.
3. Select IMAP as the account type.
4. Enter the incoming server: your provider's IMAP host, port 993, encryption SSL/TLS.
5. Enter the outgoing server: the SMTP host, port 465 with SSL/TLS, or 587 with STARTTLS.
6. Set the username to your full email address, not just the part before the @.
7. Enter your password. If two-factor authentication is enabled on the account, generate an app password and use that instead.
8. Finish, then send a test message to yourself and confirm it arrives.

Getting the settings right

Three details cause most failures:

• Username. Many servers require the full address; entering only the local part fails authentication.
• Encryption. Ports 993 and 465 expect implicit TLS; port 587 expects STARTTLS. Mismatching them produces a connection error rather than a clear message.
• Outgoing authentication. SMTP must be told to use the same credentials as incoming. In Outlook this is "My outgoing server requires authentication".

Common errors and what they mean

"Cannot connect to the server." Usually the wrong host name or a firewall blocking the port. Check both, and try from another network to rule out local filtering.

Repeated password prompts. Almost always an app password issue on accounts with 2FA, or a username entered without the domain part.

Mail receives but will not send. SMTP authentication is off, or the port/encryption pair is mismatched. Try 587 with STARTTLS if 465 fails.

Folders missing. In Outlook, subscribe to them: right-click the account → IMAP Folders → Query, then select the folders you want visible.

Keeping things tidy

Set the account to leave messages on the server (the default for IMAP) so webmail and your phone stay in sync. If Outlook is slow with a large mailbox, reduce the offline cache period in account settings rather than deleting mail. And if you use several accounts, assign a separate signature to each one so replies go out with the right details.

Frequently asked questions

Should I choose IMAP or POP3? IMAP, unless you have a specific reason not to. See IMAP vs POP3 for the difference.

Can I use the same account on Outlook and my phone? Yes. With IMAP, every device shows the same mailbox state.

Does Outlook work with any provider? Any provider that supports IMAP and SMTP, which is nearly all of them.

What is an app password? A single-purpose password for one application, used when the account has two-factor authentication enabled. It is generated in your account security settings.

Outlook and imail.com.tr

imail.com.tr supports IMAP and SMTP over TLS, so Outlook on Windows and macOS works with it out of the box. The server names and ports are listed on the features page; for phones, see our iPhone and Android guide.