How to set up your email in Apple Mail

Apple Mail on macOS tries to detect account settings automatically for well-known providers, and will typically fail to do so for a domain mailbox. That is expected — it drops into a manual setup screen where the same information any mail app needs is entered directly, and the account works exactly as well once it is in.

Before you begin

Have the full email address, its password, and the incoming and outgoing server names from your control panel to hand. These are specific to your hosting account, so use the values shown there rather than a hostname copied from another guide.

Adding the account

1. Open Mail and start adding an account

   With the Mail app open, go to Mail > Add Account in the menu bar.

2. Choose Other Mail Account

   Select Other Mail Account… from the list rather than one of the named providers above it.

3. Enter your details

   Type the name you want recipients to see, the full email address, and the mailbox password, then click Sign In.

4. Let automatic detection fail

   Mail attempts to find the settings on its own and will not manage it for a domain mailbox. It then presents fields for the incoming and outgoing servers — this is expected, not an error.

5. Fill in the server details

   Set the account type to IMAP, and enter the incoming and outgoing mail server hostnames exactly as shown in your control panel.

6. Click Sign In to finish

   Mail verifies both connections and adds the account to the sidebar once successful.

Settings reference

If Mail cannot verify the account

• Recheck both server names character by character. A single typo produces the same generic failure as a genuinely wrong hostname.
• Re-type the password rather than pasting it, in case extra characters were copied along with it.
• Confirm the mailbox exists and is not over its storage limit — see what a mailbox quota is if you are not sure.
• Try again after a few minutes if the mailbox was created moments ago; a brand new mailbox occasionally needs a short pause before it accepts its first connection.

If Mail accepts the incoming server but rejects sending, the outgoing authentication setting is the most common cause — check it under the account's advanced settings, and see fixing email that will not send for the rest of the checks.

Adjusting how often Mail checks for new messages

Under Mail > Settings > General, the "Check for new messages" option controls how often Mail polls the account. IMAP accounts generally push new mail as it arrives rather than waiting for this interval, but it is worth confirming it is not set to "Manually" if messages seem to take longer than expected to appear.

Once the mailbox is working reliably in Mail, SPF, DKIM and DMARC is worth setting up on the domain so mail you send is less likely to be treated as suspicious by the people receiving it.

Adding the account on iPhone or iPad too

Apple Mail on macOS and the Mail app on iPhone and iPad are separate setups — adding an account on your Mac does not automatically add it to your other Apple devices, even when they are signed into the same Apple ID. Each device needs the account added individually, following the same server names, ports and password. See setting up email on an iPhone for the equivalent steps there.

Managing several accounts in one Mail window

Mail on macOS lists every added account in the sidebar, each with its own folders, and a "All Inboxes" view combining unread mail from all of them at once. Under Mail > Settings > Accounts, each account can be individually enabled or temporarily disabled — useful for a mailbox you want kept configured but not actively checked for a period, without removing and having to set it up again later.

If a message will not send with a large attachment

Apple Mail offers to use iCloud Mail Drop for very large attachments on some setups, which uploads the file separately and sends a download link rather than the file itself. If a message with a large attachment consistently fails to send through your domain mailbox, check whether the attachment exceeds the maximum message size for your hosting plan, and consider a file-sharing link instead of attaching it directly.