Set Up Business Email in Outlook for Mac (IMAP, Step by Step)

Outlook for Mac adds a mailbox on your own domain through its IMAP option, which appears once the app fails to recognise the address as a Microsoft or Google account. The fields are the usual six, with one Mac-specific wrinkle: the outgoing server uses an SSL switch rather than a STARTTLS choice, and the right setting is the switch on with port 587. Outlook for Mac, like the new Outlook on Windows, syncs third-party accounts through Microsoft's cloud; this guide notes where that matters.

Quick answer

Outlook, Settings (Preferences), Accounts, the plus button, New Account. Enter your address and Continue; when asked, choose IMAP (Not Exchange, Not Google). Username your full address, password your webmail password, Incoming server mail.oqumail.com port 993 with Use SSL to connect on, Outgoing server mail.oqumail.com port 587 with Use SSL to connect on. Add Account.

The settings you will enter

• Incoming (IMAP) server: mail.oqumail.com, port 993, SSL/TLS on
• Outgoing (SMTP) server: mail.oqumail.com, port 587, STARTTLS (apps that offer only an SSL switch: on, with port 587)
• Username: your full email address, for both incoming and outgoing
• Password: the same password you use for OquMail webmail

Step by step

1. Open Outlook. From the menu bar choose Outlook, then Settings (Preferences on older versions), then Accounts.
2. Click the plus button at the bottom left and choose New Account.
3. Enter your full email address and click Continue. Outlook looks for a Microsoft or Google account; when it cannot find one it shows an IMAP/POP screen, or asks you to choose a provider. Pick IMAP.
4. Fill in the form: Email address and IMAP Username both your full address, IMAP Password your webmail password.
5. Incoming server mail.oqumail.com, port 993, tick Use SSL to connect (recommended).
6. Outgoing server mail.oqumail.com, port 587, tick Use SSL to connect (recommended). Outlook negotiates STARTTLS on 587 when this is on. If an SMTP username and password are requested, enter the same ones.
7. Click Add Account. Outlook verifies both servers and starts syncing. Click Done.
8. Send a test message to another address you own and reply from there to confirm both directions.

Sent, Drafts and Trash on the server

Outlook for Mac usually maps the special folders automatically. If sent messages do not show up in webmail, open Settings, Accounts, select the account, click Advanced, then the Folders tab, and set Sent, Drafts, Junk and Trash to the folders on the server rather than On My Computer.

The cloud-sync note

Microsoft documents that Outlook for Mac syncs IMAP accounts through its cloud service, as the new Outlook for Windows does, which is how it provides push notifications and server-side search. Your password and a copy of the mail are stored with Microsoft for that purpose. If your business policy forbids it, Apple Mail connects directly; the Apple Mail guide covers it.

If something goes wrong

• "Unable to verify account" or the spinner never stops: check the server names are exactly mail.oqumail.com and mail.oqumail.com and that SSL is on for both.
• Receives but does not send: the SMTP username and password are blank. Settings, Accounts, the account, Outgoing server, More Options, authentication (proof that email really comes from your company): Use Incoming Server Info.
• Certificate warning: the host name is wrong. Do not continue; fix it. See certificate errors.
• Password rejected: the username must be the full address and the password the webmail one.

Common questions

Legacy or new Outlook for Mac?

Both offer IMAP accounts with the same fields. The new one is the default; the legacy layout is behind a switch under Help and is no longer updated.

Does the account sync to my iPhone?

Not automatically. Add it on the phone with the Outlook app or iPhone Mail.

Can I use Outlook for Mac with two mailboxes on my domain?

Yes. Add each as a separate IMAP account; Outlook shows them individually and in a unified inbox.