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.

Note: When it comes to e-mail, sending uses one mechanism; receiving uses another. They are completely separate, but many users find this confusing…it's not. The protocols and ports are different.

  Sending mail: SMTP
  Receiving/collecting mail: POP or IMAP
      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 and Android 2.1, which we have found to offer convenient, stable and problem-free access to standard mail account.s Setup a New Account

On your phone, navigate to the Home screen, then open the Email application.

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.

Still on the Accounts page, hit the Menu button, then Add account.

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.

Choose IMAP (or POP, if you don't have IMAP access to your account).

On the Incoming Server screen, edit the IMAP server field to be your actual server name.

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:

  TLS on port 143
      or port 110 if you had to use POP
  SSL on port 993
      or port 995 for POP over SSL
  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:
      SSL on port 993
      Accept all certificates

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.

For Security type, select the encryption settings that your server supports. Try these settings if you don't actually know what your server supports:

  TLS on port 25
  TLS on port 587
  SSL on port 465
  Select Accept all certificates if your server uses a self-signed certificate
  Most mail servers that I manage use:
      SSL on port 465
      Accept all certificates

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.

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. Troubleshooting

  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.