How to Set Up Your Email in the Windows Mail App on Windows 10 and 11

The Windows Mail app that comes built into Windows 10 and Windows 11 can send and receive your business email directly, without installing Outlook or another separate program. You just need your email address, password, and your mail server settings.

What You Need Before You Start

• Your full email address (for example [email protected])
• Your email account password
• Your incoming (IMAP) mail server: mail.yourdomain.com (replace with your own domain), port 993, with SSL enabled
• Your outgoing (SMTP) mail server: the same mail.yourdomain.com address, port 465, with SSL enabled

Use IMAP rather than POP3 when you're given the choice. IMAP keeps your messages on the mail server and in sync across your phone, webmail, and the Windows Mail app, so reading or deleting a message in one place updates everywhere else.

Adding Your Email Account

1. Open the Mail app from the Start menu.
2. Click Accounts in the left-hand menu, then click Add account.
3. In the window that appears, select Other account, since the Outlook.com, Google, and iCloud options are for those specific providers only.
4. Enter your full email address and password, then click Sign in.

Windows Mail will try to detect your settings automatically. If it connects without asking for anything else, your account is ready and your messages should start appearing within a few minutes.

Using Advanced Setup If Automatic Setup Fails

If Windows Mail can't detect your settings on its own, it will offer an Advanced setup option, or you can choose it directly from the account type screen.

1. Select Advanced setup, then choose Internet email.
2. Enter an Account name you'll recognize, such as "Business Email," and your name as you want it to appear to recipients.
3. For Incoming mail server, enter mail.yourdomain.com, set the Account type to IMAP4, and use port 993.
4. For Outgoing (SMTP) mail server, enter the same mail.yourdomain.com address and use port 465.
5. Enter your full email address as the username and your email password.
6. Make sure Require SSL for incoming mail and Require SSL for outgoing mail are both checked, then click Sign in.

If You Get an Authentication Error

A wrong password, an incorrect username format, or a security setting blocking the connection are the most common causes if Windows Mail rejects your login. See How to Fix an "Authentication Failed" Error When Setting Up Email in a Mail App for a full troubleshooting checklist.

Removing or Re-Adding an Account

If you need to start over, click Accounts, select the account, click Delete account from this device, and add it again using the steps above. This only removes the account from Windows Mail: your messages stay safe on the mail server.