Your e‑mail service provider should provide you with the information you need to sign in to your e‑mail account. If you don’t have this information available, contact your e‑mail provider. Your e‑mail provider is typically your Internet service provider (ISP), but might also be your employer, school, or an independent provider that offers POP3 or IMAP e‑mail accounts.
To set up your e‑mail account, you will need to provide the following information:
| • | Display name. This is the name you want to appear at the top of your e‑mail messages. This is not provided by your e‑mail provider, and can be any name you choose, such as John Smith. You can choose to leave this entry blank. |
| • | E‑mail address. This is the e‑mail address you chose or were given when you signed up for your e‑mail account, such as someone@example.com. |
| • | E‑mail server names. Mail is stored on your e‑mail provider's server until you download it. You'll need to know whether your e‑mail provider stores mail on a POP3 or IMAP server. For more information on e‑mail server types, see POP3, SMTP, and other e‑mail server types. You'll need the names of both your incoming e‑mail server (such as pop.example.com) and outgoing e‑mail server (such as smtp.example.com). It's also helpful to know if your server requires a user name and password when sending mail in addition to when receiving it. If so, select the Outgoing server requires authentication check box when setting up your account. |
| • | E‑mail username. This is the name you use to sign in to the e‑mail server. For many e‑mail services, this will be your entire e‑mail address (such as someone@example.com), but some e‑mail services might use only the portion before the at sign (@), while others might assign a different ID for sign-in purposes. |
| • | Password. This is the password you chose or were given when you created your e‑mail account. |
E-mail account
The server name, user name, password, and e‑mail address used by Windows Mail to connect to an e‑mail service. You create the e‑mail account in Windows by using information provided by your Internet service provider (ISP) or administrator.
Post Office Protocol (POP3)
A standard method that computers use to send and receive e‑mail messages. POP3 messages are typically held on an e‑mail server until you download them to your computer, and then they are deleted from the server. With other e‑mail protocols, such as IMAP, e‑mail messages are held on the server until you delete them.
Internet service provider (ISP)
A company that provides Internet access to individuals or companies. An ISP provides a telephone number, a user name, a password, and other connection information so that users can access the Internet through the ISP's computers. An ISP typically charges a monthly or hourly connection fee.
Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP)
A method computers use to send and receive e‑mail messages. It allows you to access e‑mail without downloading it to your computer.
Help and How-to
