Configuring an IMAP email account in Outlook 2016

This video assumes you already have an existing email account created with your host or email provider, or you’ve created your own in your hosting control panel.

Now let’s learn how to configure Outlook with your existing email account using the IMAP email protocol.

Click the File tab…

… then click Add Account.

Enter the email address you want to setup, then click Advanced Options.

Click to set the account up manually, then click Connect.

Click the IMAP option.

This is where you have to define your server settings for both your incoming and your outgoing mail.

For these settings, you should refer to the documentation where you have your email account setup.

Some common server settings are mail.yourdomain.com or simply yourdomain.com (where yourdomain.com is everything after the @ symbol in your email address).

Once you know what they should be, enter your incoming server name.

Choose your incoming mail encryption method.

Then make sure you have the correct incoming mail port number entered.

If you chose the SSL/TLS encryption method (which is recommended), then your incoming port number for the IMAP protocol should be 993. Otherwise, it should be 143.

Next, enter your outgoing server name… again, make sure you check your email documentation for exactly what this should be.

Choose your outgoing encryption method.

If you choose the recommended SSL/TLS encryption method, your port number should be 465 for outgoing mail… otherwise, port 587 is commonly used for unencrypted outgoing mail.

Click Next.

Enter the password for your email account, then click Connect.

That’s it! We’ve successfully configured Outlook to send and receive email using our email account.

This is the end of the tutorial. You now know how to configure Outlook with your existing email account using the IMAP protocol.