iFastHostingHow to use webmail
How to open and use the browser-based inbox that comes with every mailbox, without installing a mail app.
Webmail is a browser-based way to read and send email from a mailbox, with nothing to install and no settings to configure beyond an address and a password. It shows the same inbox as any mail app connected to the same mailbox over IMAP, since both are simply different windows onto mail stored on the server.
Logging in
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Find the webmail address
Your control panel or hosting welcome email lists the webmail login page for your account.
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Enter the full email address and password
Use the same credentials you would enter in any mail app for the same account.
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Sign in
You are taken directly to the inbox, with folders, sending, and settings available from within the browser interface.
What you can do from webmail
- Read, send, reply to and organise mail into folders, exactly as in a desktop or mobile mail app.
- Search across the mailbox's full contents.
- Manage settings such as an autoresponder, forwarders, and filters, depending on which webmail interface your hosting provides.
- View full message headers, useful for checking authentication results on a specific message.
Because it needs nothing installed, webmail is the fastest way to check a mailbox from a device you do not normally use it on — a shared or borrowed computer, for instance — without adding and later having to remove an account from a mail app you do not otherwise use there.
Webmail versus a dedicated mail app
Both show the same mail, since both connect to the same server storage. The practical difference is convenience: a dedicated app on your own phone or computer gives you notifications and offline access to already-synced mail, while webmail needs only a browser and an internet connection, with nothing stored locally once you sign out.
Always sign out of webmail explicitly when using a computer you do not control exclusively, rather than simply closing the browser tab, which can sometimes leave a session active depending on the browser's settings.
If you cannot log in
- Double-check the address and password, typing rather than pasting them in case of a stray character.
- Confirm the mailbox exists and has not been removed from your control panel.
- If the password was recently changed, make sure you are using the new one — see changing an email account password.
- Try a different browser, in case a saved but outdated password is being autofilled by mistake.
If webmail works but a separate mail app on your phone or computer does not, the issue is specific to that app's configuration rather than the mailbox itself — see setting up email on your domain for the correct settings to enter there.
Related reading
The difference between the two ways an email app can fetch your mail, and why IMAP is the right default for almost everyone now.
How to change an email account passwordHow to reset the password on an email account, and why every connected device needs the new one entered afterwards.
How to set up an out-of-office autoresponderHow to turn on an automatic reply for a mailbox, and the settings that stop it firing more than once per sender.
How to set up email on your domainCreate a mailbox on your domain in your control panel, then connect it to a mail app using the settings your control panel provides.