A new employee just got their phone and needs company email on it before a meeting in an hour. Automatic setup fails, so they type the settings in by hand, and now mail comes in but won't go out. Or a manager reads messages on the phone in the morning and can't find them on the office computer later. These situations repeat in a handful of forms, and the fixes are well known.
This guide covers company email hosted on a server with a panel like cPanel. If your email is on Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, signing in directly from the Outlook or Gmail app is usually all you need, with no manual settings.
What are the IMAP and SMTP settings for company email?
You need an incoming server and an outgoing server. Usually both are mail.example.com or a server name your provider gives you. The username is the full email address, including everything after the @.
| Protocol | Use | Port | Encryption |
|---|---|---|---|
| IMAP | Incoming, synced across devices | 993 | SSL/TLS |
| POP3 | Incoming, to a single device | 995 | SSL/TLS |
| SMTP | Outgoing | 465 | SSL/TLS |
| SMTP | Outgoing (alternative) | 587 | STARTTLS |
In cPanel you will find the exact settings for each account under Email Accounts, then Connect Devices. That page shows the correct server name and ports, and sometimes a ready-made configuration profile for iPhone.
Automatic setup in Outlook and some mobile apps looks for special records on your domain, such as autodiscover and autoconfig, to find the server and ports by itself. cPanel hosts usually create these records, but they sometimes get lost when DNS is moved to another provider. If automatic setup fails on every device, check those records first. Until they are fixed, manual settings work fine.
What is the difference between IMAP and POP3, and which should you use?
Choose IMAP in almost every case. With IMAP the messages stay on the server, so whatever you read, move or delete on your phone shows the same way on your computer.
POP3 downloads messages to the device, and many programs then delete them from the server. You end up with messages on one device only, and they are gone if it breaks or gets stolen. The one drawback of IMAP is that it fills up the mailbox on the server over time. Keep an eye on the quota and archive old mail instead of switching to POP3.
How do you add company email on iPhone and Android?
On iPhone, go to Settings, then Mail, then Accounts, then Add Account. Choose Other, then Add Mail Account. Enter your name, email and password, then pick IMAP and fill in both servers.
On Android, in the Gmail or Outlook app, add an account and choose Other or IMAP, then enter the same details. Menu names differ a little between versions and phone makers, but the fields are always the same: incoming server, outgoing server, port, encryption type and username.
How do you add company email to Outlook?
Add the account with your email address. If automatic setup fails, choose advanced or manual setup, then IMAP. Enter the incoming and outgoing servers and ports from the table, and make sure sending uses the same authentication, with your email address and its password.
Older Outlook versions have a separate checkbox saying the outgoing server requires authentication. If it is unchecked, mail comes in and sending is refused. This is the most common cause of the problem we see.
Why does email receive but not send, and what other problems are common?
- Receives but won't send: authentication for the outgoing server is off, or port 25 is in use and your internet connection blocks it. Use 465 or 587.
- Certificate warning during setup: the server name you typed doesn't match the certificate. Use the server name shown in Connect Devices, or make sure your SSL certificate covers mail.example.com.
- Keeps asking for the password: the password changed on the server but not on every device, or your IP address was blocked after repeated failed attempts.
- Sent mail doesn't show on other devices: the program stores sent items locally. Map its Sent Items folder to the Sent folder on the server.
- Bounces saying the mailbox is full: the quota is used up. Delete old attachments or ask for a larger quota.
- Messages land in clients' spam: the problem is in your domain settings, which we explain in why your company's emails go to spam.
Don't send email passwords to staff over WhatsApp or leave them on a note on the desk. A compromised mailbox sends thousands of spam messages from your server, the server ends up on blacklists, and all of the company's mail stops getting through.
What changes in device settings after moving to a new host?
If the server name stays mail.example.com, you may not need to change anything, because that name now points to the new server. If the old server name belonged to the provider, you have to update it on every device. That is why we prefer to set up devices with a server name under the company's own domain. We cover the move itself in moving your website and email to a new host.
We set up company email, configure the domain settings and help staff get it working on their devices as part of our hosting and email service. If you have a sending or sync problem right now, send us the error message and the device type and we will tell you where to start.
Questions our partners ask
What are the correct IMAP and SMTP ports?
Incoming mail over IMAP uses port 993 with SSL/TLS. Outgoing mail over SMTP uses port 465 with SSL/TLS, or 587 with STARTTLS. The username is the full email address.
Why does my email receive but not send?
Usually because authentication for the outgoing server is turned off, because port 25 is in use and your internet connection blocks it, or because the sending password is out of date. Turn on authentication and use 465 or 587.
Should I use IMAP or POP3?
Use IMAP if you read email on more than one device, because it keeps messages and folders on the server and in sync. POP3 downloads messages to a single device and may delete them from the server.
Written by the Visual Innovate team, the people who build, host and follow up systems, websites and apps for our clients in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Egypt.
