Account Troubleshooting

How to troubleshoot account set up.

Some external factors may prevent Postbox from connecting to your account. To get your account up and running in Postbox, follow these troubleshooting steps in order.

1) Ensure that you have the correct settings for your account

Postbox staff does not have access to your email credentials. Work with your ISP, hosting provider, network administrator, IT manager, or SysAdmin to get the correct settings for your email account:

Incoming Server

• Account Type (POP or IMAP): 
• Server Name: 
• Port: 
• User Name: 
• Connection Security (SSL/TLS or STARTTLS): 
• Authentication (Password, OAuth2, etc.):

Outgoing Server

• Server Name: 
• Port: 
• User Name: 
• Connection Security (SSL/TLS or STARTTLS): 
• Authentication (Password, OAuth2, etc.):

For additional resources, please see Setting Up Accounts.

2) Ensure that your email server supports, and is correctly configured to use, IMAP, POP, or SMTP

Google Accounts

IMAP needs to be enabled in your Gmail account. For more information, please see this help article:
Setting up GOOGLE / GMAIL Email Accounts

Apple iCloud Accounts

Apple requires that you generate app-specific passwords for third-party apps that use your iCloud data. For more information, please see this help article:
Setting up iCloud, .Me or .Mac Accounts

Exchange

The Exchange protocol is proprietary, but if your Exchange server has IMAP or POP turned on, Postbox should work just fine. Please contact your IT administrator to determine if IMAP and POP are turned on, and if so, at what settings. For more information, please see this help article:

Setting up Microsoft Exchange (over IMAP)

For all other accounts, please consult with your ISP or IT administrator.

3) Clear out old passwords

1. Open the password manager.
   • (Mac) Preferences > Security > Passwords > Saved Passwords, and click on the Show Passwords button.
   • (Windows) Options > Security > Passwords > Saved Passwords, and click on the Show Passwords button.
2. Click Show Passwords, then Yes to display your passwords.
3. Take a screenshot of your passwords as a backup.
4. Click the Remove All button.
5. Restart Postbox, and then enter your passwords when prompted.

4) Ensure that a previous setup attempt is not interfering with new account setup

The best way to ensure that older account data or settings are not interfering with the setup of a new account is to create a new Postbox profile as a diagnostic test. A new profile will act as a fresh Postbox install, but it can reside alongside your existing install, so you don't have to worry about anything changing in your current setup.

1. Go to Help > Troubleshooting, and select the checkbox for Open Profile Manager on Restart.
2. Click Apply and Restart.
3. Create a new profile.
   
   NOTE: Make sure that the "Don't ask at startup" checkbox is NOT checked.
4. Next, set up the account. 

5) Disable third-party software

Sometimes there are issues external to Postbox which are causing it to malfunction.

• Anti-virus or backup software can prevent Postbox from saving preferences.
• Folder permissions issues on disk can prevent Postbox from being able to save messages.
• Third-party utilities may block ports.
• Fonts may be corrupt.
• ...and more.  

The easiest way to troubleshoot these types of issues is to restart your computer in safe mode:

• macOS
• Windows 10
• Windows 8

Once in safe mode, try setting up your account in Postbox.

Additional Resources

Please see the following article(s) for information on common providers:

• Setting up Google / Gmail
• Setting up Windows @live.com, @hotmail.com and @outlook.com
• Setting up Yahoo! Mail
• Setting up iCloud, .Me or .Mac
• Setting up COX
• Setting up Office 365
• Setting up AOL Mail
• Setting up Comcast / XFINITY
• Setting up GoDaddy
• Setting up 1 and 1 or 1and1 Email
• Setting up Fastmail