How to set up email in Thunderbird

This guide shows how to add an email address on your domain to Mozilla Thunderbird on Windows, Mac or Linux, and how to fix the errors people run into most.

What you need

• The email address, such as you@yourdomain.co.uk. It must already exist in cPanel. See how to create an email account.
• The password for that email address. This is not your cPanel password.
• The server settings, which you can find in cPanel (see below).

Find your settings in cPanel

1. Log in to cPanel.
2. In the Email section, open Email Accounts.
3. Find the address and click Connect Devices.
4. Look under Secure SSL/TLS Settings. Note the username, the incoming server name with its IMAP and POP3 ports, and the outgoing (SMTP) server name and port.

Keep this page open. You may need it if Thunderbird can’t work out the settings by itself.

Add the account

1. Open Thunderbird.
2. If it’s your first account, the setup screen opens by itself. Otherwise click the menu button (three lines), then New Account, then Existing Email. In some versions it’s under Account Settings, then Account Actions, then Add Mail Account.
3. Type Your full name. This is the name people see when you send mail.
4. Type your Email address and Password.
5. Tick Remember password if this is your own computer.
6. Click Continue.

Thunderbird tries to detect the settings. If it finds them, it shows the incoming and outgoing servers. Check that it has chosen IMAP (not POP3, unless you want it) and that both servers use SSL/TLS. Then click Done.

Not sure about IMAP or POP3? See IMAP or POP3: which should you use?

Enter the settings by hand

If Thunderbird can’t find the settings, or picks the wrong ones, set them yourself.

1. On the setup screen, click Configure manually (older versions say Manual config).
2. Under Incoming server:
   • Protocol: IMAP
   • Hostname: the incoming server from Connect Devices
   • Port: the IMAP SSL port from Connect Devices (normally 993)
   • Connection security: SSL/TLS
   • Authentication method: Normal password
   • Username: your full email address
3. Under Outgoing server:
   • Hostname: the outgoing server from Connect Devices
   • Port: the SMTP SSL port from Connect Devices (normally 465)
   • Connection security: SSL/TLS
   • Authentication method: Normal password
   • Username: your full email address
4. Click Re-test. When Thunderbird says the settings were found, click Done.

Your folders and messages start syncing. A large mailbox can take a while the first time.

Send a test

Send a short message to another address you own, such as a personal Gmail, and reply to it. If both directions work, you’re set up.

If it doesn’t work

• “Login to server failed” or Thunderbird keeps asking for the password. Check the username is the full email address and the password is the one for the mailbox. If you’re not sure, set a new one in cPanel. See how to change an email password or mailbox size. Then in Thunderbird open Settings, Privacy & Security, Saved Passwords, and remove the old entry.
• A security warning about the certificate. The hostname doesn’t match the certificate on the server. Use the exact server names shown in Connect Devices rather than mail.yourdomain.co.uk, unless that’s what Connect Devices shows. Don’t click to accept a certificate warning you don’t understand.
• You can receive but not send. Open Account Settings, then Outgoing Server (SMTP), select the server and click Edit. Check the port, that SSL/TLS is set, and that a username is filled in. Some home and office networks block outgoing mail ports. Try from another connection to rule that out.
• Mail is downloaded and disappears from your phone. The account was set up as POP3. Remove it and add it again as IMAP.
• “Connection timed out”. The server name or port is wrong, or a firewall or antivirus program is blocking Thunderbird. Check the settings, then try with the antivirus email scanning turned off briefly.
• Too many failed attempts. Repeated wrong passwords can get your IP address blocked for a while. Wait, fix the password, and try again. If it carries on, ask us to check.

For more on sending problems, see why is my email not sending. If mail isn’t reaching you at all, see why is my email not arriving.

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