Apple Mail – Configuring Mail for your email account

You will need to have your email account login information and you can use the “cheat sheet” below for all of the various settings.

Configuring Mail for your email account(s)

Before you configure Mail

  • Print this page for easier reference.
  • Make sure you are connected to the Internet (check your connection with a web browser, for example).
  • Use Software Update to install the latest available updates.

Configuring Mail

Note: You should make note of your email settings–see the cheat sheet below. If you do not have your account specifc username and password, please contact us and note all of the details needed to fill in your settings. During the setup process, you will need these details to complete the setup process. You can either print this page and write on it, or paste it into a text document and fill it in on your Mac. Keep the sheet for later reference in case you need it.

  1. Open Mail (click it on the Dock or open it from the Applications folder).
  2. If the “Welcome to Mail” assistant does not appear, choose Add Account from the File menu.
  3. Fill in the Full Name, Email address, and Password fields.Note: Your email account password will be stored in Keychain to allow you to automatically log in to your email account when you open Mail.
  4. Deselect “Automatically set up account” if it is enabled. Click Continue to proceed.
  5. Choose the proper Account Type.(
  6. Give your account a useful description, such as “Anne’s Email”. It can be called whatever you want.
  7. Enter your Incoming Mail Server, User Name and Password. Click Continue to proceed.
  8. If prompted, enter your Incoming Mail Security settings. Click Continue to proceed.
  9. For Outgoing Mail Server, a useful description such as “Outgoing Mail Server”.
  10. Enter the Outgoing Mail Server details.
  11. Select “Use Authentication” and enter your User Name and Password. Click Continue to proceed.
  12. If prompted, enter your Outgoing Mail Security settings. Click Continue to proceed.
  13. Verify your settings in the Account Summary. Check “Take account online”. Click “Create” to complete the process.

After completing these steps you should be able to send and receive email via this account. If you can’t send or receive email, contact your ISP for assistance (even if you don’t use your ISP’s email service), or visit any online help or support websites they offer. Have your email settings on hand to inform the ISP support of the needs of your email service provider.
Email account settings “cheat sheet”

Once all the questions are answered, you will have the email account settings information you need.  Choose Add Account from the File menu (if this is the first time you’ve opened Mail, you will be prompted to add an account). Enter your Full Name, email address, and password.

After Mail checks for your email service provider, it will present email account settings fields for you to enter the email account settings you noted.

Questions Answers Notes
Full name: Your name as you would like it to appear on messages you send, such as Tom Clark.
My email address:   Such as tomclark@example.com.
Questions Answers Notes
Account type:
Choose one.
IMAP or POP3 IMAP will store your email on the server, and is best to use if you check email across multiple devices (desktop and iphone or ipad)POP3 will download your email to your computer and is best to save space on your hosting account
Description: Used to title your inbox in Mail. Such as “Tom’s email”
Incoming mail server hostname: ex. mail.yourdomain.com (replace “yourdomain.com” with your actual website domain name)
Username (use your complete email address): ex. jimmy@yourdomain.com (replace “yourdomain.com” with your actual website domain name)
Password: always use complex passwords, between 8-10 characters. include upper and lowercase letters as well as numbers and punctuation for the best security.
Incoming server port number: IMAP: Port 143 or POP3: Port 110
Incoming server authentication method:
Choose one.
password authentication This authentication type is required
Incoming mail server supports Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)? No
Questions Answers Notes
Outgoing Mail Server: ex. mail.yourdomain.com (replace “yourdomain.com” with your actual website domain name)
Outgoing server port:  Port: 26
The outgoing mail server supports Secure Sockets Layer (SSL): No Your provider may call this Transport Layer Security (TLS)
Outgoing server authentication type: password authentication This authentication type is required