Note: if you use Microsoft Outlook, see this article for general instructions, using the settings from our tutorial. The article applies to Microsoft Office 2010; for older versions of Outlook, you can try this search.



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1. Get Thunderbird
   1. Go to http://​www.​mozillamessaging.​com/​en-US/​thunderbird/ and click the large download button on the left, near the top of the page. If your computer asks you whether to save or run the file, select run
   2. When the installer dialogue opens, follow the on-screen instructions. Choose the default settings for every step & allow the program to launch when the installer finishes
2. If you are new to Thunderbird, the mail setup wizard launches. Skip to step IV. Otherwise, open the Account settings: Tools > Account Settings (Fig. 1)
3. In the lower left corner of the account dialogue, select Add Mail Acount from the Account Actions menu: Account Actions > Add Mail Account (Fig. 2)
4. Enter your name, your e-mail address and your password, then click Continue (Fig. 3)
5. The mail setup wizard will attempt to find the correct settings, based on the information you supplied in step IV. When it finishes, it should look something like Fig. 4. If it doesn’t, don’t panic. You can change the settings manually in the next few steps
6. If the wizard successfully created the account, click “Create Account” (Fig. 4). The dialogue will close. Send yourself a test message (in the upper-left corner of the main window, below the main toolbar, click the Write button to send; select the Get Messages button to receive)
   1. If the wizard couldn’t create the account, click Manual Setup (Fig. 4) and proceed to step VII
   2. If the the test message failed on either Send or Receive, proceed to step VII
   3. If the test message succeeded on both Send & Receive, stop here or optionally proceed to step VII, if you wish to customize your settings
7. In the Account Settings dialogue, select account name in the left pane (Fig. 5). In our example, that’s mail.foo.org.^[1] Enter information in the following fields:
   1. Account Name (enter your full e-mail address, e.g., jsmith@foo.org)
   2. Your Name
   3. Email Address (must match Account Name)
   4. Reply-to Address (usually matches Email Address)
   5. Organization (optional)
8. Ensure the correct server is selected in the Outgoing Server (SMTP) select menu (Fig. 5)
9. In the Account Settings dialogue left pane, if the account name has a plus sign [+] next to it, click it to show additional settings. Select Server Settings (Fig. 6). Enter information in the following fields:
   1. Server Name^[1]
   2. Port (enter 143)^[2]
   3. User Name (must match Email Address)
   4. Connection Security (select STARTTLS)
   5. Optional: Adjust the settings in the Server Settings section of the dialogue as you prefer, e.g., change Check for new messages every 10 minutes to Check for new messages every 60 minutes
10. For some users, Thunderbird may “hang” when sending the test message. Users may see a dialogue saying “Copying to sent folder” & have to cancel. If this happens, in the Account Settings dialogue, select Copies & Folders in the left pane (Fig. 7)
    1. Check the When sending messages, automatically: setting. Ensure that the Place a copy in: box is checked and that the Sent Folder on: radio button is selected. In the select menu next to the Sent Folder on: radio button, choose Local Folders (Fig. 7)
    2. You may adjust the CC, BCC & ‘Place replies in the folder of … ’ settings to you personal preferences
11. In the Account Settings dialogue, select Outgoing Server (SMTP) in the left pane (Fig. 8). Select the server for your domain from the list in the right pane (there might be only one server in the list). Click Edit. The SMTP Server dialogue opens
12. In the SMTP Server dialogue (Fig. 9), enter as follows in the fields & then click OK:^[3]
    1. Description (a useful description of your choosing to help you distinguish this server from any others)
    2. Server Name^[1]
    3. Port (enter 465)
    4. Connection Security (choose SSL/TLS)
    5. Authentication Method (choose Normal Password)
    6. User Name (must match Email Address)
13. Click OK in the Account Settings dialogue & send yourself a test message (step VI)

^[1]Both the outgoing and incoming mailservers for your domain will be of the form mail.​yourdomainname.​com, replacing the last part of the name with the actual name of your domain, e.g., if your domain is www.​greatstuff.​net (with or without the “www”), your mailserver is mail.​greatstuff.​net.

^[2]If the Server Type is POP instead of IMAP, you will have to delete the account and start over.

^[3]Some ISPs block messages that do not use their SMTP (outgoing) servers. Consult your ISP for instructions on setting up outgoing mail if you are unable to configure it per these instructions.