Setting up your email in Outlook
Add your business mailbox to Outlook on Windows or Mac, including the manual setup that avoids Outlook's auto-detect guesswork.
Outlook tries to configure accounts automatically, and for hosted email it frequently guesses wrong — usually landing on the wrong server or defaulting to POP. Setting it up manually takes two minutes longer and avoids the most common problems.
Before you start
- Your full email address and its mailbox password (not your cPanel or portal password)
- Your server settings from cPanel → Email Accounts → Manage → Connect Devices
Manual setup
Get your settings first
Open cPanel → Email Accounts → Manage → Connect Devices and leave that page open. It shows the incoming and outgoing hostnames, ports and encryption for your mailbox. Everything below comes from that page.
Add the account
In Outlook, go to File → Add Account. Type your email address, then click Advanced options and tick Let me set up my account manually before clicking Connect.
Choose IMAP
Select IMAP. It keeps mail synced across all your devices — read something on your phone and it shows as read in Outlook. POP downloads mail to one computer and is almost never what a business wants.
Enter the server details
Copy the incoming and outgoing servers, ports and encryption exactly as shown on the Connect Devices page. Your username is always your full email address, never just the part before the @.
Enter your password and finish
Enter your mailbox password and click Connect. Outlook will test the connection and start downloading mail. Send yourself a test message and reply to it to confirm both directions work.
Common Outlook problems
Repeated password prompts
Outlook asking again and again usually means the username is wrong — it must be the full email address. Go to File → Account Settings, select the account, click Repair, and check the username field.
Receiving but not sending
The outgoing server needs authentication. In the account's advanced settings, ensure the SMTP server requires authentication and is set to use the same credentials as incoming.
Old emails missing after setup
Outlook downloads recent mail first and often defaults to a limited window. In Account Settings, drag the Mail to keep offline slider to All to pull everything down.
Duplicate emails everywhere
Usually the same mailbox added twice, or added as both POP and IMAP. Remove all copies of the account and add it once, as IMAP.
Outlook on Mac and mobile
The Mac version follows the same path: Outlook → Settings → Accounts → + → Add Email Account, then choose IMAP and enter the same settings. On the Outlook mobile app, add the account and select IMAP when prompted for the account type.
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