How do I verify the settings for an IMAP account in Apple Mail?
This page is for the macOS “Sierra”, “High Sierra”, “Mojave”, “Catalina”, “Big Sur”, “Monterey” and “Ventura” (2016 and later) versions of Apple Mail.
If you’re using an older version of Apple Mail, such as the version included with Mac OS X “El Capitan” or “Yosemite”, see Verifying Apple Mail IMAP Settings in “El Capitan” and Earlier instead.
If you’ve already set up an IMAP email account in the macOS Mail program and you want to make sure the settings are correct, this page explains how to do so.
If you have set up a POP email account, then please see “Verifying Apple Mail POP Settings” instead.
1. Start the Mail program.
If the Mail program isn’t already running, start it now.
2. Open the “Preferences” window.
Using the menu bar at the top of the screen, click Mail, then either Preferences or Settings depending on the version:
The preferences window will appear.
3. Choose the “Server Settings” screen.
Navigate to the “Server Settings” screen. To do this:
- Click Accounts (the blue “@” sign) along the top of the window if necessary.
- Click the address@example.com account in the left “Accounts” column if necessary.
- Click Server Settings.
4. Verify the server settings.
These are generic instructions
You should enter your email address in the yellow box at the top of this page to get instructions customized for you.
The window should look like this:
In particular, these must be correct for the Incoming Mail Server (IMAP) section:
| User Name: | your email address (all lowercase) |
| Password: | Your email password |
| Host Name: | mail.tigertech.net |
| Automatically manage connection settings: | unchecked |
| Port: | 143 |
| Use TLS/SSL: | checked |
| Authentication: | Password |
And these must be correct for the Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP) section:
| User Name: | your email address (all lowercase) |
| Password: | Your email password |
| Host Name: | mail.tigertech.net |
| Automatically manage connection settings: | unchecked |
| Port: | 587 |
| Use TLS/SSL: | checked |
| Authentication: | Password |
The “Account” name shown in the outgoing settings menu may be different and does not matter.
Note that the incoming and outgoing settings are identical except for the differing port number (143 for incoming and 587 for outgoing).
The picture above also shows the “Automatically manage connection settings” box unchecked, which allows you to see the port number and authentication settings. We’ve found that it’s best to uncheck this box to prevent Mail from changing the settings.
5. Close the settings window.
If everything looks okay, click the red close button in the upper-left corner of the Accounts window. Save the changes if it asks whether you want to do so.
Verifying the “Sent” and “Trash” folders
There’s an additional step needed if you want to keep Mail folders in sync with other programs or devices that might connect to the mailbox. Our Apple Mail Folders page has more information.
Troubleshooting
If Apple Mail does not try to send or receive email for your account after verifying these settings, it may be because the account is still “offline”. We have simple instructions on how to take your accounts online.
If you still have trouble, try restarting your computer. If that doesn’t work, the Mail Connection Doctor can provide useful information that will help you (or us) troubleshoot the problem.
In particular, if you can click Show Detail in the Connection Doctor window, then copy-and-paste the entire technical detail to us, we can usually use that to figure out exactly what’s wrong.
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