Set Up Email in Microsoft Outlook

This guide is for mailboxes you create in cPanel on LochStudios shared hosting. You add the address to Microsoft Outlook on a Windows or Mac computer so you can send and receive from the desktop.

This is not the same product as LochStudios Mail (hosted business email). Those mailboxes use Log in to WebMail on the mail service in the portal. See Axigen email server settings.

Need the address first? Create an email account. Prefer the browser? Access Webmail (Roundcube).

Before you start

You need the mailbox address, its password, and the incoming and outgoing hostnames. Copy them from cPanel. Do not guess a server name.

1. Sign in at the portal.
2. Open the hosting service for the domain.
3. Click Log in to cPanel.
4. In the Email section, open Email Accounts.
5. Find the address and click Connect Devices.

That screen lists the hostname, ports, and username for that mailbox.

Use IMAP unless you have a reason to use POP. Hostname is usually mail.yourdomain.com when the domain uses cPanel Hosting DNS (it is paired with this hosting service). Username is the full email address. Password is the mailbox password from Email Accounts, not your portal password.

Full notes: General IMAP/POP/SMTP mail settings.

Do not choose Microsoft 365 or Exchange for this mailbox. Those are for Microsoft-hosted mail. This address is IMAP (or POP) on your hosting service.

Add the account on Windows

Outlook menus differ slightly between classic Outlook and the newer Outlook app. Use the path that matches what you see.

Classic Outlook (File menu)

1. Open Outlook.
2. Go to File → Add Account.
3. Enter the full email address and click Connect.
4. If Outlook offers Microsoft 365, Exchange, or only a Microsoft sign-in, choose IMAP instead. Look for Advanced options, Let me set up my account manually, or IMAP.
5. Enter the incoming settings:
- Incoming mail server: mail.yourdomain.com (your domain)
- Port: 993
- Encryption: SSL/TLS
- Username: the full email address
- Password: the mailbox password
6. Enter the outgoing settings:
- Outgoing (SMTP) server: mail.yourdomain.com
- Port: 587
- Encryption: STARTTLS
- Require a login, with the same username and password
7. Click Next (or Connect) and wait for Outlook to check the settings.
8. Click Done when the account is added.

If port 587 with STARTTLS does not connect, use port 465 with SSL/TLS. Do not mix those pairings.

Newer Outlook (Settings)

1. Open Outlook.
2. Open Settings (gear) → Accounts → Your accounts.
3. Click Add account.
4. Enter the full email address.
5. Choose IMAP (or Other / IMAP if you are offered Microsoft 365 first).
6. Fill in the same incoming and outgoing values from the table above.
7. Save and wait for the inbox to appear.

If the newer Outlook will not accept a custom IMAP account, use classic Outlook, Webmail, or open a support ticket.

Add the account on Mac

1. Open Outlook.
2. Go to Outlook → Settings (or Preferences) → Accounts. On some versions it is Tools → Accounts.
3. Click Add Email Account (or +).
4. Enter the full email address. If Outlook tries a Microsoft account first, choose IMAP or Other email account.
5. Enter the mailbox password when asked.
6. If Outlook does not finish on its own, open the new account and set:
- Incoming server: mail.yourdomain.com, port 993, SSL/TLS
- Username: the full email address
- Outgoing server: mail.yourdomain.com, port 587, STARTTLS
- Outgoing login on, same username and password
7. Save.

IMAP or POP

IMAP keeps mail on the server and shows the same folders, read state, and sent items on every device. Use IMAP if you also check mail on a phone, tablet, or Webmail.

POP downloads messages to this computer. Many setups then remove the server copy. Use POP only if you want mail stored on this one PC and you do not need it elsewhere.

We recommend IMAP.

Test the account

1. Send a message from Outlook to another address you can open.
2. Confirm it arrives.
3. Reply from the other address and confirm the reply appears in Outlook.
4. If send or receive fails, try the same mailbox in Webmail. If Webmail works, the mailbox is fine and Outlook's settings need another look.

If Outlook will not connect

• Confirm the username is the full address, not only the part before @.
• Reset the mailbox password in Email Accounts, then update Outlook. Portal and cPanel passwords are different unless you set them the same.
• Use the hostname from Connect Devices, usually mail.yourdomain.com. Do not invent a server name.
• Choose SSL/TLS on 993, 995, or 465, or STARTTLS on 587.
• Turn SMTP authentication on. Sending without a login is not allowed.
• A certificate warning usually means the hostname does not match the certificate. Switch to the hostname from Connect Devices. Do not keep using a guessed name.
• Check that this domain's MX records point at this hosting account. Client settings only work if mail is routed here. See MX records and how email routing works.
• Still stuck? Open a support ticket and we will help.

Related

• Create an email account
• Access Webmail
• General IMAP/POP/SMTP mail settings
• Set up email in Mozilla Thunderbird
• Set up email on Android
• Set up email on iPhone/iPad (Apple Mail)
• Email is not sending or receiving