Mac Mail Setup
Apple Mac Mail is a free, built-in third-party email client for Mac users that offers easy setup and customization with a user-friendly interface. This article will explain the general setup of Apple Mac Mail.
General Email Settings
Mac Mail supports auto-discover for detecting server settings. If your email client is able to detect your email configuration from the email provider and if your username and password are correct, then you may use the recommended settings.
If autodiscovery fails, you may wish to use the troubleshooting steps provided in the following article:
Otherwise, you will need to provide email For general settings that can be used in conjunction with the setup instructions listed below, please refer to the following article:
Before setting up Mac Mail to use with your domain, it is recommended that you first:
- Wait until your domain name has been propagated
- Create the email account in your hosting control panel
Mac Mail Configuration
The following video will walk you through Mac Mail Configuration:
These steps are available for reference, and may be used to follow along with the video:
- Open the Mac Mail application.
- From the Mail menu, choose Add Account. First-time users will be automatically prompted to create an account.
- Select Add Other Mail Account and click Continue.
- In the appropriate fields, provide your full name, complete email address to be used, and the password.
- If this option is enabled, deselect Automatically Setup Account in order to manually configure the email account, and then click Continue.
- If you wish to have the account automatically configured, simply leave the option selected and follow the prompts provided by the Mail Setup Assistant.
- Click Sign In.
- Enter the settings for the Incoming Mail Server. You can choose to use either the IMAP or POP3 settings.
Incoming Mail Server:
mail.example.com or full.servername.comPlease replace "example.com" with your email's domain name. You can also use the server hostname that you can find in your cPanel's homepage, Welcome email, or Customer Portal.Secure SSL/TLS Settings:
Non/SSL Settings:
IMAP Port: 993
POP3 Port: 995
or
IMAP Port: 143
POP3 Port: 110 - Provide the Outgoing Mail Server information - your SMTP settings.
Outgoing Mail Server:
mail.example.com or full.servername.comPlease replace "example.com" with your email's domain name. You can also use the server hostname that you can find in your cPanel's homepage, Welcome email, or Customer Portal.Secure SSL/TLS Settings:
Non/SSL Settings:
SMTP Port: 465
or
SMTP Port: 25 or 26- If prompted, select Use Authentication and provide the email user name and password.
- If prompted, provide the settings for Outgoing Mail Security, and then click Continue.
- Once done, click Sign in/Create.
You can also refer to these articles to know more about your email settings: Email Connection Settings and Client Settings - Outlook, Eudora, Thunderbird, Mac, iPad, Phone.
After completing these steps, users should be able to send and receive emails via the newly created account.
For further assistance with the Mail Setup Assistant, please refer to the following external guide:
Removing an Email Account
Exchange, IMAP, and MobileMe accounts store their mailboxes and messages on the server; deleting these account types in Mail will not permanently delete messages from the server. However, if you are not completely certain that your account is one of those types, be sure to copy the mailboxes and messages you want to keep into an On My Mailbox, or save individual messages manually by selecting them and choosing Save As from the File menu.
- Apple's Basic Troubleshooting Guide
- Apple's Email Configuration Guide (see Removing an email account)
Troubleshooting
If you receive an error regarding "too many connections" or "error 500," there are a few options that is available to troubleshoot these errors.
Try a Different Mail Client
You can install and use Thunderbird without affecting your current Mac Mail settings. We recommend Mozilla Thunderbird because it's stable, easy to use, and freely licensed.
Delete Any Additional Folders
Mac Mail tends to open up a connection per mailbox folder. By removing folders that are not being used, the number of outbound connection attempts by the mail application decreases.
Disable the IDLE Function in Mac Mail
With the IDLE function enabled, Mac Mail will make a continuous connection to the HG server, and this will contribute to the problem. Instead, you can configure Mac Mail to periodically check for new mail. A reliable frequency for the idle feature is every 10 minutes to ensure that Mac Mail is cleaning out any lingering processes.
To disable the IDLE feature:
- Select Mail | Preferences from the menu.
- Choose Accounts.
- Select the desired IMAP account.
- Go to the Advanced tab.
- Uncheck Use IDLE command if the server supports it.
- Additionally, you can uncheck Include when automatically checking for new mail.