I cannot send or receive emails in Outlook or another email client Print

If you are having trouble setting up or connecting to your email account in Outlook, Apple Mail, Thunderbird or a similar email client, this article provides the correct server settings and covers the most common connection problems.

Correct email server settings

Use the settings below when configuring your email account. Replace yourdomain.com with your actual domain name. Your username is always your full email address.

Incoming mail (IMAP – recommended)

Incoming mail (POP3 – alternative)

Outgoing mail (SMTP)

Common problems and how to fix them

Outlook is asking for my password repeatedly

If Outlook keeps prompting for your password even after entering it correctly:

1. Open Account Settings in Outlook and remove the email account completely
2. Re-add it from scratch using the settings above, entering the full email address as the username (not just the part before the @ symbol)
3. When Outlook asks for authentication method, choose IMAP and enter settings manually rather than using auto-detect

Port 465 or 587 is timing out

A timeout on SMTP port 465 or 587 usually means one of the following:

• Your IP address has been temporarily blocked by the server after several failed login attempts. See our article My IP address has been blocked for how to request an unblock.
• Your internet provider or router is blocking outbound SMTP connections. This is common on some residential broadband connections. Try switching between port 465 and 587. If neither works, testing from a different network (such as mobile data) will confirm whether this is the cause.
• A VPN or security application is intercepting the connection. Try disabling any VPN or firewall temporarily to test.

I can receive emails but cannot send them

This is almost always an SMTP authentication or port issue. Check that:

• SMTP authentication is enabled in your email client settings
• Your SMTP username is your full email address, not just the local part
• You are using port 587 with STARTTLS or port 465 with SSL, not port 25 (which is blocked on shared hosting)

Emails arrive in webmail but not in my email client

If you can see emails in webmail but they are not appearing in your desktop or mobile client, the account is likely connected via POP3 with the delete-from-server option enabled on another device. Switching to IMAP resolves this and keeps messages accessible from all devices.

SSL certificate warning on connection

If your email client shows a certificate warning when connecting, check that you are using the correct server hostname for your hosting type as shown in the tables above. If the warning persists, raise a support ticket and we can advise.