How to connect email account via SMTP/IMAP to MailOptimal

To connect your email account via SMTP-IMAP, you need to have your email provider’s SMTP and IMAP settings (host, port, username, and password).

A quick Google search for “[your email provider] SMTP IMAP settings” should help you find these details.

The SMTP provides the ability to send messages thus you need to enter the SMTP details of the email address you want to send emails from.

1. Sender Name: This is the name that will be visible to recipients of your warm-up emails.

2. Email Address: The email address/mailbox that you want to warm up.

   • Note: The SMTP server username, which is used for authentication, can vary depending on the server. It might be your email address or a different login. Make sure to review your SMTP server settings.
   • Note: It’s common for your SMTP/IMAP username and password to be the same as your regular email account username and password.If the username is different from the email address, click on "use different username" and enter the "username" and your "email address".

3. Password: Enter the password for the SMTP email address/username. Verify this with your SMTP server settings.

4. SMTP Host: You can get the SMTP host details from your SMTP server settings.

5. SMTP Port: The most common SMTP ports are 587 and 465 for secure connections, 25 (standard port), and 2525 (alternate port).

6. Encryption: The encryption settings for the ports are:

• 587 - TLS

• 465 - SSL

• 25 - None

• 2525 - TLS/None

• Note: These combinations may vary depending on your server settings. If the connection does not work, try with and without TLS/SSL, or check your SMTP server settings.

Test the SMTP connection by clicking on "Test SMTP". If it connects successfully, your SMTP setup is complete. If it fails, check the following:

• Ensure SMTP is enabled for your email account.
• Disable 2FA (multi-factor authentication). If your provider allows, use an app-password instead of your regular mailbox password.
• Verify that you are using the correct SMTP details, such as host and port. Check your SMTP server settings.

The IMAP provides the ability to receive messages thus you need to enter the IMAP details of the email address you want to receive emails to. 

1. Use the same username and password from SMTP: If you are using the IMAP settings of the same email address connected to SMTP, select this option. This will copy the email address/username and password details to IMAP.
2. IMAP Host: You can get the IMAP host details from your IMAP server settings.
3. IMAP Port: The default IMAP ports are 993 for secure connections and 143 for standard connections.

Test the IMAP connection by clicking on "Test IMAP". If it connects successfully, your IMAP setup is complete. If it fails, check the following:

• Ensure IMAP is enabled for your email account.
• Disable 2FA (multi-factor authentication). If your provider allows, use an app-password instead of your regular mailbox password.
• Verify that you are using the correct IMAP details, such as host and port. Check your IMAP server settings.

Once both SMTP and IMAP are connected successfully, click on "Connect and Save".

Voila, your email account is successfully connected via SMTP/IMAP!

Some email service providers do not support IMAP as they are SMTP-only (i.e., they can only send email and do not have inboxes to receive email). These providers include Mailgun, Sendgrid, and Amazon SES. For such providers, you can create a Gmail account or use another email account’s IMAP settings to receive replies there.

Happy email warming!