Setting up SMTP in Outlook

In Outlook you set the outgoing server (SMTP) of a POP or IMAP account to the server name from your 2mail account, with port 587, STARTTLS and a separate SMTP login. Where that screen lives depends on your Outlook: classic Outlook for Windows, the new Outlook and Outlook for Mac each handle it differently. If your mailbox is with Microsoft 365, that field does not exist and the route runs through a connector. In every case your incoming mail stays exactly where it is.

First: which Outlook and what kind of account?

• Classic Outlook for Windows — recognisable by the File menu at the top left. This is where you find the full server settings of a POP or IMAP account.
• The new Outlook for Windows — no File menu, but a gear icon at the top right. You enter the SMTP details when adding the account.
• Outlook for Mac — the accounts are under the Outlook menu, in the settings.
• A Microsoft 365 or Exchange mailbox — no version of Outlook has a field for an outgoing server here, because your mail leaves through Exchange Online. The right route is described further down.

Not sure what kind of account you have? In classic Outlook, the list under File, Account Settings shows the type for each account: IMAP or POP, or else Microsoft Exchange.

What to have ready

• the server name shown in your 2mail account
• an SMTP login with password that you create in the dashboard for Outlook. Use a separate login per application, so you can revoke it later without stopping your web shop or CRM
• the sender address you want to use; its domain must be added as a sending domain in your account

Classic Outlook for Windows

1. Go to File, Account Settings, pick the account and open Server Settings. In older versions, choose Account Settings, select the account, click Change and then More Settings; the fields are then on the Outgoing Server and Advanced tabs.
2. Under outgoing mail, enter the server name from your 2mail account as the server and set the port to 587.
3. Choose STARTTLS as the encryption method. Older versions call the same method TLS. Do not choose SSL/TLS: that method does not belong with port 587, and the connection then hangs.
4. Tick that your outgoing (SMTP) server requires authentication, and choose to log on using a user name and password of its own. Fill in the SMTP login and password from your 2mail account there. Do not leave the option to use the same settings as your incoming mail server selected: Outlook then signs in to our relay with your mailbox password, and that is refused.
5. Leave the option for Secure Password Authentication (SPA) off.
6. Save and send a test message.

The new Outlook for Windows

1. Open the settings through the gear icon and go to the accounts.
2. If you are adding the account from scratch, type the email address, choose the advanced or manual setup and choose IMAP. Expand the extra options: you fill in the outgoing SMTP server, the port, the secure connection type, and a separate SMTP username and SMTP password. Use the server name from your 2mail account, port 587, STARTTLS and your SMTP login.
3. If the account already exists, choose Manage for that account. If you cannot change the SMTP details there, remove the account from Outlook and add it again as in step 2. With IMAP your mail stays on the server, so you lose nothing.

Outlook for Mac

1. Open the Outlook menu, choose Settings and then Accounts. Select the account.
2. Under the outgoing server, enter the server name from your 2mail account. Tick Override default port and type 587. Also tick Use SSL to connect; on port 587 Outlook for Mac then uses STARTTLS.
3. Click More Options, choose User Name and Password as the authentication, and fill in the SMTP login from your 2mail account.

A Microsoft 365 mailbox: no SMTP field, but a connector

With a Microsoft 365 or Exchange account it is not Outlook but Exchange Online that decides how your mail leaves. So you cannot set an external SMTP server in Outlook, in any version. If you want the outgoing mail of your tenant, or only that of certain senders, to go through 2Mail, an administrator does that with an outbound connector: see setting up a Microsoft 365 connector to the relay. Often that is not even necessary. Ordinary office mail then stays with Microsoft, and only the applications that mail automatically, such as your web shop, CRM, scanner or invoicing package, get the relay as their SMTP server.

Testing

Send a test message to an address outside your own domain, for instance a private address. Then look in the 2Mail dashboard: the message shows up within a few minutes in the delivery log, with the status returned by the receiving server. If it is there, the connection works. If it is not, the message never reached us and the fault lies in Outlook or on your network.

Error messages and what they mean

• 0x800CCC0E — Outlook cannot connect to the server. Cause: a typo in the server name, a port other than 587, or a firewall, antivirus program or network that blocks port 587. Solution: check the name and port, and test on another network, for instance through your phone's hotspot. If it works there, have port 587 opened on your network.
• 0x80042109 — Outlook cannot connect to your outgoing (SMTP) email server. The same causes, but now you know for certain that it concerns the outgoing side. Often the port is still set to 25, which many internet providers block. Set it to 587.
• 0x800CCC0F — the connection to the server was interrupted. Cause: an antivirus program that scans outgoing mail, a firewall that cuts the connection, or the wrong encryption method. Solution: set the encryption to STARTTLS and temporarily switch off the mail scanning of your antivirus program to test.
• 0x800CCC1A — the server does not support the connection encryption type you specified. SSL/TLS is set on port 587. Choose STARTTLS (TLS in older versions).
• 0x800CCC79 — the server rejects the recipient or reports that relaying is not allowed. Outlook did not sign in: authentication for the outgoing server is not ticked.
• 0x800CCC78 — the sender is rejected. The domain of your sender address has not yet been added as a sending domain in your 2mail account. Add it, then get the records right; see SPF, DKIM and DMARC.
• Outlook keeps asking for a user name and password — authentication is refused. You are using your mailbox details instead of the SMTP login, there is a typo in them, or the login has been revoked. Create a new login in the dashboard and enter that one.
• The message stays in the Outbox without any error — Outlook is set to Work Offline, or a very large attachment is holding up the queue.

How the relay works behind the scenes is explained on how an SMTP relay works.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to change my incoming server as well?

No. 2Mail only handles outgoing mail. Your mailbox, your folders and the settings for incoming mail stay unchanged with your current provider.

Can I use port 465 or port 25?

No. 2Mail sends over port 587 with STARTTLS only. If your Outlook does not offer that combination, update the program.

I have a Microsoft 365 account and cannot find an SMTP server anywhere. Is that right?

Yes. With an Exchange account that field does not exist. The route runs through a connector in the Exchange admin centre, or you leave office mail with Microsoft and connect only your applications to the relay.

Why a separate SMTP login for Outlook?

Because you can then revoke it on its own. If a laptop goes missing or an employee leaves, you revoke that one login and your web shop and your other devices simply keep sending.

Still stuck?

Send us a screenshot of the error and the time of your test via contact. We look in the log with you and tell you exactly what is missing.