Set Up Windows Live Mail 2011 for Your E-Mail Account

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You can connect Windows Live Mail 2011 to your e-mail account using POP3 or IMAP4 connectivity. Windows Live Mail 2011 is the e-mail program included with Windows Live Essentials 2011.

If you're using the 2009 version of Windows Live Mail, see Set Up the 2009 Version of Windows Live Mail for Your E-Mail Account.

How do I set up Windows Live Mail 2011 for access to my e-mail account?

  1. Start Windows Live Mail 2011. If the Add your email accounts page is displayed when you start Windows Live Mail, go to step 2. If the Add your email accounts page isn't displayed when you first open the program, click Email above New Account on the Accounts tab.

  2. On the Add your email accounts page, do the following:

    1. In the Email address box, enter the e-mail address that was provided to you by the person who manages your e-mail account. For example, enter tony@contoso.com.

    2. In the Password box, enter the password that was provided to you by the person who manages your e-mail account. If you want Windows Live Mail to remember your password, select the check box next to Remember this password.

    3. In the Display name for your sent messages box, enter the name you want users to see when you send e-mail.

    4. Click Next.

  3. On the Configure server settings page, under Incoming server information, do the following:

    1. Under Server type on the drop-down menu, select IMAP or POP. IMAP supports more features.

    2. Under Server address, enter the POP3 or IMAP4 server name that was provided to you by the person who manages your e-mail account. You may be able to look up your own server settings. For information about how to find your incoming (POP3 or IMAP4) server, see How do I find the server settings? later in this topic.

    3. Select Requires a secure connection (SSL).

    4. Under Log on user name, enter your full e-mail address (for example, tonysmith@contoso.com).

  4. Under Outgoing server information, do the following:

    1. Under Outgoing server, enter the SMTP server name that was provided to you by the person who manages your e-mail account. You may be able to look up your own server settings. For information about how to find your outgoing (SMTP) server name, see How do I find the server settings? later in this topic.

    2. Select the check box next to Requires a secure connection (SSL).

    3. Select the check box next to Requires authentication, and then click Next.

  5. On the Your email account was added page, click Finish.

  6. On the Accounts page, click Close.

How do I find the server settings?

Before you set up a POP3 or IMAP4 e-mail program, you need to look up your own POP3, IMAP4, and SMTP server settings.

Watch this video to learn how to find your server settings for your POP or IMAP e-mail program.

To find your server settings, sign in to your e-mail account using Outlook Web App. After you sign in, click Options > See All Options > Account > My Account > Settings for POP, IMAP, and SMTP access. The POP3, IMAP4, and SMTP server name and other settings you may need to enter are listed on the Protocol Settings page under POP setting or IMAP setting, and SMTP setting.

Note

If you see Not available next to POP setting, IMAP setting, and SMTP setting, your account may not be set up to use POP or IMAP e-mail programs. For more information, contact the person who manages your e-mail account.

What else do I need to know?

  • If you don't know whether to use POP3 or IMAP4, consider using IMAP4 because it supports more features.

  • If your e-mail account is the type that requires registration, you must register it the first time you sign in to Outlook Web App. Connecting to your e-mail account through POP3 or IMAP4 will fail if you haven't registered your account through Outlook Web App. After you sign in to your account, sign out. Then try to connect using your POP3 or IMAP4 program. For more information about how to sign in to your account using Outlook Web App, see How to Sign In to Outlook Web App. If you have trouble signing in, see FAQs: Sign-in and Password Issues or contact the person who manages your e-mail account.

  • If Windows Live Mail doesn't connect after you follow this procedure, you might need to verify that you're using the correct authentication setting. You can check this by doing the following:

    1. In Windows Live Mail, select your e-mail account.

    2. On the Accounts tab, click Properties.

    3. On the Properties page for your account, on the Servers tab, make sure that the Log on using clear text authentication check box is selected.

  • If you're using IMAP4, Windows Live Mail always keeps a copy of a message on the server after you download a copy to your local computer. If you're using POP3, Windows Live Mail keeps a copy of messages on the server by default. If you're using POP3, you can set up Windows Live Mail to remove the copy of a message from the server when you download it to your local computer. It's a good idea to keep a copy of your messages on the server so that you can access your messages from a different mail program. If you're using POP3, you can set up Windows Live Mail to remove a copy from the server. To do this, follow these steps:

    1. In Windows Live Mail, select your e-mail account.

    2. On the Accounts tab, click Properties.

    3. On the Properties page for your account, on the Advanced tab, under Delivery, make sure Leave a copy of messages on server isn't selected.

What if I want to know more?