Windows Live Mail

This page is showing a generic answer.
To see a more detailed answer customized for you, type your e-mail address here:

We no longer recommend Windows Live Mail.

Windows Live Mail is long obsolete. It has numerous bugs and problems, and does not work well if you also read mail on other devices like a phone.

if you're looking for a different free email program, Mozilla Thunderbird is much more reliable (and is what we use ourselves).

Since we no longer recommend using Windows Live Mail, the information below is provided only for historical reasons, and should not be used to setup new addresses.

This page explains how to set up the free Windows Live Mail email program to send and receive email for a mailbox that you've created. These instructions are based on Version 2008 (Build 12.0.1606), although other versions are similar.

Before you continue, you should enter your email address (the address you want to set up in Windows Live Mail) in the box above. Entering your email address makes sure that the instructions below are correct.

Make sure that the program you are using is Windows Live Mail, and not Windows Mail ("Windows Mail" is the default mail program that comes with Windows Vista). These two similarly-named programs have different set up instructions. Be sure you see the text "Windows Live Mail" in the title bar of the program window. (If you're using Windows Mail, use this page instead.)

1. Start Windows Live Mail.

Before you continue, you should enter your email address (the address you want to set up in Mail) in the yellow box at the top of this page. Entering your email address makes sure that the instructions below are correct.

Start the Windows Live Mail program from your Start menu or Quick Launch toolbar.

On the left-hand side of the window, click Add an email account. (You may need to scroll down or click on Mail in order to see this option.)

2. The Add an E-mail Account wizard window appears.

The wizard first asks for your E-mail address, Password, and Display Name.

Enter your E-mail address. The address must be the email address of the mailbox you created in your account management control panel.

The Password is the password which was assigned to your mailbox when it was created in our control panel. Enter it into the Password field in this window, and also check the Remember password checkbox.

The Display Name is the name that other people will see when you send them email. It should usually be your real name, such as John Smith or Joan of Arc. Enter the name you want other people to see when you send them email, then click Next.

screen shot

3. The wizard asks for your server information.

Set the following values for the Incoming Server Information:

  • Set the server type as POP3 (or IMAP if you prefer).
  • Set the Incoming server to mail.tigertech.net.
  • Make sure that Port is set to 110. (If you set the server type to IMAP, then set the port to 143.)
  • Optional: check the This server requires a secure connection (SSL) checkbox if you would like to download your email messages securely. If you do so, the Port should automatically change to 995 (or 993 if the server type is IMAP).
  • Make sure that Log on using is set to Clear text authentication.
  • Enter your full email address as the Login ID.

Set the following values for the Outgoing Server Information:

  • Set the Outgoing server to mail.tigertech.net.
  • Set the Port to 587.
  • Optional: you can check the This server requires a secure connection (SSL) checkbox if you would like to send your email messages securely. If you do so, then you must also manually change the Port to 465.
  • Check the My outgoing server requires authentication checkbox.
screen shot

When you have set all of these values, click Next.

4. The wizard has been completed.

You will see a message indicating that you have successfully entered the information required for your account. Click Finish to close the wizard.

If you are using an IMAP server, you will probably see a window titled "Show/Hide IMAP Folders". You can just click OK to close this window.

Setup is complete

You're finished! Try sending yourself a test email message to make sure it works.

Optional additional step: secure SSL connections and leaving copies of mail on the server

Some customers may also wish to turn on secure SSL connections in Windows Live Mail. This makes email connections more secure, but may not work on some computers. If you want to do this, see the topic Windows Live Mail SSL Connections for more information.

Finally, if you read email in more than one program, you may want to leave a copy of each read message on the server.

Copyright © 2000-2024 Tiger Technologies LLC