Set up your email

← Back Mac (macOS) · Thunderbird (older) · IMAP

Set up a new account

Step by step I would rather use POP3

  1. 1

    Click the ≡ menu at the top right, then “New Account”, then “Email”.

    Thunderbird
    • New Account ›
      • Email
      • Calendar
    • Account Settings
    • Settings
    • Help ›
    • Exit
  2. 2

    Enter your name, your email address and your password. Then click “Configure manually” – not “Continue”: that finds the servers by itself but sets up sending wrongly.

    Thunderbird

    Set Up Your Existing Email Address

    Your full nameJohn Doe
    Email addressinfo@example.com
    Password••••••••

    Remember password

    Configure manually Cancel Continue
  3. 3

    For the incoming server choose the protocol IMAP. Hostname: imap.mailprotect.be, port: 993, connection security: SSL/TLS. As username, enter your full email address. Leave “Authentication method” on “Autodetect”.

    Thunderbird

    Manual configuration

    Incoming server
    Outgoing server
    Re-test Cancel Done
  4. 4

    For the outgoing server: hostname smtp-auth.mailprotect.be, port 587, connection security STARTTLS. The username is again your full email address.

    Thunderbird

    Manual configuration

    Incoming server
    Outgoing server
    Re-test Cancel Done
  5. 5

    Click “Re-test”. Thunderbird checks the settings and sets “Authentication method” to “Normal password” by itself.

    Thunderbird

    Manual configuration

    Incoming server
    Outgoing server
    Re-test Cancel Done
  6. 6

    Click “Done”.

    Thunderbird

    Manual configuration

    Incoming server
    Outgoing server
    Re-test Cancel Done
  7. 7

    Thunderbird confirms the account. Click “Finish”.

    Thunderbird

    Account successfully created

    Finish
  8. ✓

    Done

    Your settings at a glance

    Incoming server (IMAP)imap.mailprotect.be
    Port 993, SSL/TLS
    Outgoing server (SMTP)smtp-auth.mailprotect.be
    Port 587, STARTTLS
    UsernameYour full email address
    PasswordYour mailbox password

    If it does not work

    • The username must be the full email address, for incoming and for outgoing mail.
    • Password rejected? Check upper and lower case. It is your mailbox password – when switching servers, the same one as before.
    • Sending does not work? Try port 465 with SSL/TLS for the outgoing server.
    • A certificate warning almost always means a typing error in the server name.
    • Did you let Thunderbird set the account up through “Continue”, and you can receive but not send? Open the account settings, click the outgoing server at the very bottom on the left, then “Edit…”, and set the authentication method to “Normal password”. Then quit Thunderbird and start it again.

Modelled on Thunderbird 128 ESR. Your program may differ slightly.