ARCHIVED: Read Exchange mail using IMAP in Mozilla Thunderbird for macOS

This content has been archived, and is no longer maintained by Indiana University. Information here may no longer be accurate, and links may no longer be available or reliable.

If this is the first time you are configuring an account in Thunderbird, a "Mail Account Setup" window might appear. If it does, skip to step 3 and continue with the instructions. Also, if it asks to create a new email account, click Skip this and use my existing email.

Important:
The IU Exchange Online environment does not support IMAP. See Configure your mail client for Exchange Online.
  1. In Thunderbird, from the Tools menu, select Account Settings.
  2. In the sheet that appears, click Account Actions, and then select Add Mail Account....
  3. In the next sheet, next to "Your name:", enter your name as you want it to appear in the "From:" field of your outgoing messages.
  4. Next to "Email address:", type your IU email address.

    If you are unsure of your exact IU email address, see Your IU email address.

  5. Next to "Password:", enter your IU passphrase. Click Continue.
  6. In the next sheet, Thunderbird will attempt to guess your mail settings, but will fail. It will then allow you to manually enter your settings.
  7. In the pop-up menu next to the "Incoming:" field, make sure that IMAP is selected. In the "Server hostname" field, type imap.exchange.iu.edu. In the next field under "Port", select 993. For "SSL", choose SSL/TLS; under "Authentication", select Normal password.
  8. Next to "Outgoing:", under "Server hostname", type mail-relay.iu.edu. In the field under "Port", select 587. For "SSL", choose STARTTLS; under "Authentication", select Normal password.
  9. Next to "Username:", type your IU username if it isn't already entered.
  10. Click Done or Create Account.

To customize your settings, click the Tools menu and select Account Settings.

Note:

If you have difficulties sending mail from Thunderbird, try reducing the maximum number of server connections to cache to 1:

  1. From the Tools menu, select Account Settings.
  2. In the section for your IMAP account, click Server Settings and then Advanced... .
  3. Under "Maximum number of server connections to cache", enter 1.

To resolve other IMAP mail client errors, see ARCHIVED: If you have problems sending mail from your IMAP mail client.

This is document aqhx in the Knowledge Base.
Last modified on 2021-04-13 08:33:04.