Set Up Your Android Phone for E-Mail

Needs updating for newer Android

Follow these steps to configure the 'Email' app on an Android device to access your standard POP or IMAP e-mail account.

I generally prefer to use IMAP instead of POP for mobile devices. See here for why.

I assume here that you have an account on a standard mail server and that it is accessible from the Internet. Some mail servers are firewalled off without client access from the Internet, so if you have trouble, check on this. I further assume that you wish to use encrypted communications to prevent snooping. Again, many mail servers are firewalled off and only allow encrypted communications.

• You will use POP or IMAP, not both
• Do not mix POP settings with IMAP settings
• I prefer to use IMAP instead of POP, but either will work

These settings were tested on a Motorola Droid with Android 2.1, which we have found to offer convenient, stable and problem-free access to standard mail accounts.

1. On your phone, navigate to the Home screen, then open the 'Email' application.
2. On the Accounts page, determine if there are any unneeded or non-functional accounts. If there are, delete them, one at a time, by pressing and holding the account name, then choosing Remove account.
3. Still on the Accounts page, hit the Menu button, then Add account.
4. Enter your full e-mail address (i.e username@yourdomain.com) and password. If you want this account to be your default identity for sending mail, select the checkbox, then select Next.
5. Choose IMAP (or POP, if you don't have IMAP access to your account).
6. On the Incoming Server screen, edit the IMAP server field to be your actual server name.
7. For Security type, select the encryption settings that your server supports. Many newer mail servers support TLS, while more traditional mail servers only support SSL. Try these combinations, more or less in this order if you don't actually know what settings your server supports:

• If you see a certificate warning:
  • Verify that you are connecting to the right server.
  • Select Accept all certificates as your server probably uses a self-signed certificate.

Most mail servers that I manage use these secure inbound settings:

• SSL on port 993
• Accept all certificates

1. On the Outgoing server screen, edit the SMTP server setting to your actual SMTP server name. Sometimes it's the same as the incoming server.
2. For Security type, select the encryption settings that your server supports. Try these settings if you don't actually know what your server supports:

• Select Accept all certificates if your server uses a self-signed certificate

Most mail servers that I manage use these secure outbound settings:

• SSL on port 465
• Accept all certificates

1. On the Account options screen, you can change the check frequency, notification and whether this account is the default for sending new mail. The defaults are probably OK.
2. On the final screen, you can give the account a nickname and choose the name to display on your outgoing messages (usually your full name like John Doe).

And you're done. You can verify your settings from the Inbox view by tapping:

Menu → Account settings

• Delete any unnecessary accounts.
• Delete the new account you're trying to add and get working. Start over completely when you run into problems getting an account to function.
• Send yourself a test message. This will test both sending (SMTP) and receiving (POP or IMAP) paths.
• If you have a problem sending a message, troubleshoot the SMTP (outgoing) settings.
• If you have problems checking for new mail, troubleshoot the POP or IMAP settings.