Find the correct secure IMAP and SMTP settings for your mailbox Print

Quick answer

If you cannot send email, compare outgoing SMTP authentication separately from incoming mail. Use the secure settings shown by Email Accounts > Manage > Connect Devices for the exact mailbox. Use the full email address as the username and verify incoming and outgoing authentication separately.

Applies to

Interactive Online customers with an email-enabled cPanel service and permission to manage the selected domain. Mail hosted at Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or another provider is managed there. Tools vary by service; the presence of a website does not by itself establish hosted-email entitlement.

Steps

1. Open Email > Email Accounts, choose Manage for the required address and select Connect Devices. Some interfaces also expose Connect Devices directly in the account list.
2. Find the Mail Client Manual Settings section. Record the recommended secure incoming hostname, outgoing hostname, ports and connection security.
3. In your mail app, enter the full mailbox address, its password, and the displayed secure settings. IMAP synchronizes server folders; POP handles downloaded mail differently.
4. Enable outgoing SMTP authentication using the mailbox credentials when the displayed instructions require it. Use the server hostname shown if the domain hostname does not have a matching certificate.

Verify the result

Receive a message from an address you control, send a reply, and check Sent/folder synchronization. A successful incoming login does not prove outgoing SMTP is configured correctly.

Troubleshooting and support

Secure IMAP commonly uses port 993 and implicit-TLS SMTP commonly uses 465; use the values and security mode shown for your account. Use STARTTLS/587 only when the provider's instructions specify it. Do not ignore certificate warnings or disable encryption to force a connection. Contact support from the account that owns the service. Include the domain, the exact tool, the time and time zone, the last successful step, and a redacted error or screenshot. Leave passwords, private keys, cookies, and complete configuration files out of the ticket.

If the app signs in but you are not receiving email, compare the mailbox in webmail. Mail missing from webmail needs the missing-message delivery checks; changing IMAP or SMTP settings alone will not correct a full mailbox or the domain's mail routing.

Cannot send email: choose the check from the SMTP error

Confirm the provider that actually hosts the address. For cPanel-managed email, compare the exact outgoing hostname, port, encryption mode and authentication in the mail app with Connect Devices. A webmail single sign-on or a successful incoming login does not test the app's separately saved SMTP credentials.

• SMTP authentication failed: use the full email address, its current mailbox password and the provider's required authentication. Check whether the app retained an older outgoing password after a credential change. External providers can require their own modern-authentication or application-password process.
• Email rejected, relay denied or relaying not permitted: confirm the app is using the intended provider's outgoing service and authenticating as an authorized sender. Copying another provider's SMTP host or changing incoming IMAP settings does not authorize relay.
• Connection timed out or refused: compare the assigned host/port and current network path. Confirm the connection-security mode; do not turn encryption off to get around a certificate warning.
• Message accepted but the recipient did not receive it: keep the bounce/queue identifier and delivery time. Use delivery evidence and available Track Delivery information. A Sent-folder copy alone does not prove recipient delivery.

For support, provide the exact redacted SMTP response, mail-app version, provider, configured hostname/port/security mode and time/time zone. Leave the password, authentication payload and complete message body out. If the hosting account is full, follow the account storage checks as a separate branch.

Use the recent delivery report

In cPanel, open Email > Track Delivery, enter the actual recipient and select Run Report. Check the displayed retention window and relevant event-type filters. If no event appears, check the application log or the delivery log of any separate mail provider used by the application.

cPanel screenshot example

Related help

• Choose IMAP or POP for business email
• Use webmail to separate a mailbox problem from a device problem
• Change a mailbox password and update every authorized device
• Collect useful evidence when an email message is missing
• Send a website support request with useful troubleshooting details
• Set local or remote email routing for the correct mail provider
• Understand SPF, DKIM and DMARC for your business domain
• Find what is using your hosting disk space

Official references

• cPanel Email Accounts

Content and source review: November 1, 2026. Interface labels depend on the cPanel version and tools enabled for your service.

Symptom guidance and related-help review: November 1, 2026.

Customer symptom and related-help review: November 1, 2026.