How to set up email in Apple Mail

This guide shows how to add an email account on your hosting to the Mail app on a Mac using IMAP.

The settings you need

• Username: your full email address
• Password: the password for that mailbox
• Incoming mail (IMAP): mail.yourdomain.co.uk, port 993, SSL/TLS
• Outgoing mail (SMTP): mail.yourdomain.co.uk, port 465, SSL/TLS, with authentication

Replace yourdomain.co.uk with your own domain. To see the exact settings for your account, log in to cPanel, open Email Accounts and click Connect Devices next to the address.

Add the account

Apple changes the Mail menus between macOS versions, so the wording on your screen may differ slightly.

1. Open Mail.
2. From the menu bar, click Mail, then Add Account. If this is the first account in Mail, the setup window may open on its own.
3. Choose Other Mail Account and click Continue.
4. Enter your name as you want people to see it, your full email address and the mailbox password. Click Sign In.
5. Mail will say it can’t verify the account name or password. This is expected. Extra boxes will appear.
6. Set Account Type to IMAP.
7. Set Incoming Mail Server to mail.yourdomain.co.uk.
8. Set Outgoing Mail Server to mail.yourdomain.co.uk.
9. Check the username is your full email address. Click Sign In.
10. Choose which apps to use with the account (leave Mail ticked) and click Done.

Check the ports

Mail usually finds the right ports itself. If sending or receiving fails, set them by hand.

1. Click Mail, then Settings (called Preferences on older versions).
2. Click Accounts and select your new account.
3. Open Server Settings.
4. Under Incoming Mail Server, untick Automatically manage connection settings, set the port to 993 and tick Use TLS/SSL.
5. Under Outgoing Mail Server, untick the same option, set the port to 465, tick Use TLS/SSL and set authentication to Password.
6. Click Save.

If it doesn’t work

• Mail keeps asking for the password. The username must be the full email address. If you’re not sure of the password, reset it in cPanel. See how to change an email password or mailbox size.
• Mail receives but won’t send. Check the outgoing server is on port 465 with TLS/SSL and uses the same username and password. See why is my email not sending.
• Certificate warning. Use mail.yourdomain.co.uk exactly. If the warning continues, your SSL certificate may not have been issued yet. See how to install a free SSL certificate.

Good to know

IMAP keeps your mail on the server, so it stays in step across your Mac, your phone and webmail. To add the same mailbox to an iPhone, see how to set up email on an iPhone or Android phone.

Still stuck? Open a support ticket and we’ll help.