Change Incoming and Outgoing servers in Outlook on Windows

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Follow these steps to point Microsoft Outlook for Windows at your new mail server, for an IMAP or POP3 mailbox. First, an important check: there are two different versions of Outlook on Windows, and only one of them can edit server settings.

Read this first — which Outlook do you have?

Look at the top-right of the Outlook window for a "New Outlook" toggle. The new Outlook cannot edit server settings on an existing account — it hides the port and hostname fields. If the toggle is on, either switch it off to use Classic Outlook (recommended, steps below), or follow the "New Outlook" remove-and-re-add steps further down.

Settings you'll need

Use these with the mailbox address and password you were given. Wherever you see mail.example.com, use the exact server name we provided.

Purpose Protocol Port Encryption
Receiving (recommended) IMAP 993 SSL/TLS
Receiving (POP3) POP3 995 SSL/TLS
Sending (recommended) SMTP 465 SSL/TLS
Sending (alternate) SMTP 587 STARTTLS

 

Your username is your full email address. Sending (SMTP) must have authentication enabled, using the same username and password as receiving.

Classic Outlook — edit in place (2016, 2019, 2021, 365)

  1. Go to File › Info › Account Settings › Account Settings.
  2. On the Email tab, click your account, then click Change.
  3. Set both the Incoming mail server and Outgoing mail server (SMTP) to mail.example.com, and confirm User Name is your full email address.
    • Replace mail.example.com with your own domain — the exact server name we provided.
  4. Click More Settings › Advanced.
  5. Set the Incoming server port to 993 for IMAP (or 995 for POP3).
  6. Set the incoming encryption to SSL/TLS.
  7. Set the Outgoing server (SMTP) port to 465. (If sending is blocked, use 587.)
  8. Set the outgoing encryption to SSL/TLS (or STARTTLS if you use 587).
  9. Click the Outgoing Server tab and tick My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication, set to Use same settings as my incoming mail server. Click OK.
  10. Click Next — Outlook tests the connection — then Close and Finish.

New Outlook — remove and re-add (if you can't switch to Classic)

Because the new Outlook won't let you edit an existing account's servers, you remove the account and add it back with the new details. Your mail stays safe on the server (with IMAP) — you're only changing the connection.

 

IMPORTANT NOTE: removing an account that uses POP3 may cause data loss.  POP3 by default downloads the mail and deletes the mail from the mail server.  IMAP stores mail on the server and the mail client simply syncs the messages.  

  1. Go to Settings › Accounts › Email accounts.
  2. Find the account and click Manage › Remove.
  3. Click Add account, type your email address, and choose the manual / advanced setup option when prompted.
  4. Choose IMAP (port 993) or POP (port 995) to match your mailbox, enter mail.example.com for both the incoming and outgoing servers, and finish.
    • Replace mail.example.com with your own domain — the exact server name we provided.

If it isn't working

  • Mail arrives but won't send: confirm the outgoing port is 465 / SSL/TLS (or 587 / STARTTLS) and that "My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication" is ticked.
  • Password keeps prompting: confirm the username is your full email address and re-enter the mailbox password (the one you use for webmail).
  • No server fields to edit: you're in the new Outlook — use the remove-and-re-add steps, or switch the "New Outlook" toggle off.

Open a ticket with a screenshot of the error and we'll sort it out.

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