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Adding and managing accounts

You can add several accounts and see them side by side. Each one appears in the folder pane with its own folders.

Add an account

Open File > Info and click Add Account. (You can also use File > Options > Accounts > Add account….)
Type the Email address. Optionally type Your name (optional), the name others see on your mail.
Check the Account type: Outlook.com, Microsoft 365, Exchange, Obsidian, Gmail or Other (IMAP). The app picks it from the address (see How the account type is picked); click another one if it guessed wrong. A type you pick by hand stays picked.
Fill in what that kind of account needs (below), then click the button at the bottom.

The app signs in and lists your folders before it keeps the account. If something is wrong, it says what, and nothing is saved: a cancelled or failed sign-in leaves no password or sign-in behind.

Outlook.com

For Outlook.com, Hotmail, MSN and Live addresses. Choose Outlook.com and click Sign in with Microsoft. Your browser opens Microsoft's sign-in page; sign in there and allow the app access. Your password is never typed into the app.

A work or school address is not Outlook.com: choose Microsoft 365 for it.

Microsoft 365 (work or school)

For a mailbox your organization has on Microsoft 365 (Exchange Online). Choose Microsoft 365 and click Sign in with Microsoft. Your browser opens Microsoft's sign-in page with your address filled in; sign in with your work or school account. Your password is never typed into the app. Mail, calendar, contacts and tasks come from Microsoft 365.

If your sign-in name is different from your email address, the account keeps the address you typed and signs in with the name you used.

Some organizations keep apps out until an administrator approves them, or limit which apps may be used. Then the sign-in ends with one of these messages:

Message	What to do
Your organization needs an administrator to approve this app before it can read mail.	Ask your IT administrator to allow the app (Microsoft Entra admin center > Enterprise applications), then try again.
That account is a different kind: choose Outlook.com for a personal Microsoft account, Microsoft 365 for a work or school account.	Pick the other account type and sign in again.
Your organization does not let this account use this app (a sign-in policy).	Ask your IT administrator.
Microsoft 365 did not let this app read the mailbox: IMAP may be turned off for it.	Ask your IT administrator to turn IMAP on for your mailbox.

Sending also needs SMTP sign-in allowed for your mailbox; your IT administrator can turn it on.

Exchange

For your organization's own Exchange Server (2010 SP1 or later), or any server that offers Exchange ActiveSync 14.1. The app connects over Exchange ActiveSync.

Check the Server: the server's address, as your administrator gave it to you (for example mail.example.com). The app fills in mail. and your domain to start with, or the address Autodiscover found. A full address that ends in /Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync works too.
Type your Password.
User name (optional): leave it empty to sign in with your email address. Some servers want DOMAIN\user instead.
Click Add account.

If the app says The server did not accept the user name and password. Some Exchange servers want DOMAIN\user as the user name., type your user name as DOMAIN\user and try again.

A Microsoft 365 mailbox can't be added as Exchange: if the server is Microsoft 365 (Exchange Online), the app says so and asks you to choose Microsoft 365.

Obsidian (your organization's Obsidian Mail Server)

For a mailbox on your organization's Obsidian Mail Server. It works like Exchange: mail, calendar, contacts and tasks over Exchange ActiveSync, with the same Server, Password and User name (optional) boxes. Use the server address your administrator gave you.

An Obsidian Mail Server answers address lookups the way Exchange does, so the app may pick Exchange for your address. Both work; choose Obsidian so the account is named as what it is.

Gmail

Gmail needs an app password: a 16-letter password made for one app. Your normal Gmail password does not work here.

Turn on 2-Step Verification in your Google account, if it isn't on yet.
Click Make an app password at Google and create one.
Choose Gmail, paste the app password into App password and click Add account.

If Gmail refuses it, check the app password and that IMAP is turned on in Gmail's settings.

Any other mail service (IMAP)

Choose Other (IMAP) and fill in:

Password, and a User name (optional) if your provider's user name isn't your email address. It's used for both servers.
Incoming mail (IMAP) server and its port. IMAP always connects with SSL/TLS (port 993 by default).
Outgoing mail (SMTP) server, its Port and its Encryption: STARTTLS (usually port 587) or SSL/TLS (usually port 465).

The app suggests imap. and smtp. with your domain. Your provider's help pages list the right server names.

A server with its own certificate

If an Exchange or Obsidian server uses its own (self-signed) certificate, the app asks Trust this server's certificate? and shows the certificate's SHA-256 fingerprint. Click Trust it only if the fingerprint matches the one your administrator gave you.

How the account type is picked

Addresses at outlook.com, hotmail.com, live.com, msn.com and the other Microsoft consumer domains are Outlook.com; gmail.com and googlemail.com are Gmail.
For any other address, the app waits until you stop typing, then looks the address up the way Outlook does: it asks Microsoft's Autodiscover service (at outlook.office365.com) where the mailbox is. The status line shows Looking up and the domain, then This address is on Microsoft 365. or This address is on an Exchange server with the server it found, which is filled in for you.
When nothing answers, Other (IMAP) stays the guess.

The lookup sends only the address you typed, and nothing is signed in. Pick the type by hand at any time; the guess then leaves it alone.

What each kind of account can do

Mail works the same in every account. The rest depends on what the account's server offers:

	Outlook.com and Microsoft 365	Exchange and Obsidian	Gmail	Other (IMAP)
New mail the moment it arrives	Yes	Yes	Yes	When the server supports it
Calendar	Yes, after you connect it	Yes, automatically	No	No
Contacts and tasks on the server	Yes, after you connect them	Yes, automatically	No	No
Color categories shared with other apps	Yes, after you allow it	Yes	No (kept on this PC)	No (kept on this PC)
Automatic replies kept by the server	Yes, after you allow it	Yes	No (sent by this app)	No (sent by this app)
Drafts saved on the server	Yes	No (kept on this PC)	Yes	Yes
Import mail into it	Yes	No	Yes	Yes

For an Outlook.com or Microsoft 365 account, "connect" and "allow" mean one more Microsoft sign-in in your browser, the first time you open the Calendar, People or To Do, or turn on the feature. Contacts and tasks you make on this PC, without an account, always work.

Change account settings

File > Options > Accounts lists your accounts, each with what kind it is (for example Microsoft 365, or Exchange ActiveSync or Obsidian with its server). Select one to change its signature there; for several signatures per account, use the Signatures page (see Writing and sending mail).

File > Options > General sets how often mail is checked (Check for mail every, in minutes) and whether new mail arrives instantly (Instant new mail (push); a change takes effect after a restart).

Remove an account

Go to File > Options > Accounts.
Select the account and click Remove….
Confirm with Remove.

The account's mail, folders, calendar, contacts and tasks are removed from this computer, and its saved sign-in is forgotten. Nothing on the server is deleted: add the account again to get it all back.

If a provider ends the app's access (for example after you change your password), the app shows Sign-in needed and says which account. Remove the account and add it again, or for a Gmail account make a new app password.