A plain-English walk-through for reading your new ColweB-hosted email address: in a browser, in Outlook, in Gmail, or on your phone. Should take about five minutes, less if you've done this kind of thing before.
Before you set up Outlook at all, it's worth knowing your email also works in any web browser, with no install, no setup and nothing to configure. If you only check this address occasionally, webmail might be all you ever need.
Open your webmail link in any browser and sign in with your full email address and password. That's it.
If you can log in to webmail, your account is alive and your password is correct, so any Outlook problem below is just a settings problem, not an account problem. Worth knowing before you start.
Windows 11 ships with two versions of Outlook side by side, and they behave differently. Open Outlook and look at the top-right of the window:
If the top-right shows a small toggle that says "Try the new Outlook", you're on Classic. This is the one we'd suggest you stay on, because it handles your email setup cleanly.
Jump to Classic steps →If the toggle reads "Try the new Outlook" in the off position, or you see a sleeker interface with no menu bar, you're on the new one. Setup is a little more manual but still works.
Jump to New Outlook steps →You can switch from New Outlook back to Classic at any time: click the "New Outlook" toggle in the top-right of the window to turn it off. The Classic version will reopen, and your accounts come with you.
Whichever route you take, these four things are what Outlook needs to know. We'd suggest keeping this section open in another tab, because the wee Copy buttons save you from typing.
Your mailbox supports both, and Outlook will sometimes ask you which to use. Choose IMAP. It keeps your email on the server so anything you read or send on your PC also shows up on your phone, and your mail is safe if your computer dies.
Pick the version that matches what you found above:
In Classic Outlook click File in the top-left, then Add Account. (If you're using Outlook for the first time, the same window appears automatically, so just skip to step 2.)
Enter your full email, you@yourdomain.co.uk, and before clicking Connect, expand Advanced options and tick "Let me set up my account manually". This stops Outlook from guessing the wrong settings.
Outlook will ask you to pick an account type, so choose the IMAP tile.
Copy the values from your settings card above into the matching boxes:
Incoming mail — server mail.yourhost.com, port 993, encryption SSL/TLS.
Outgoing mail — server mail.yourhost.com, port 465, encryption SSL/TLS. Tick "My outgoing server requires authentication" if you see the option.
Outlook asks for the password the first time it tries to connect. Use the one we sent you. Tick "Save in your password list" so you don't have to type it again.
You should see "Account added successfully". Click Done, then send a quick email from your new address to a different account of yours (Gmail, work, whatever you have handy). When it arrives, reply to it, and that proves both directions work. You're done.
Click the cog icon in the top-right corner of New Outlook. In the panel that opens, go to Accounts → Email accounts, then click Add account.
Enter your full email, you@yourdomain.co.uk, and click Continue. New Outlook will try to set you up automatically and most likely fail, because it's designed mainly for Microsoft accounts. Don't worry, we'll do it manually instead.
When it asks how to connect, choose IMAP.
Use the password we sent you.
When the IMAP/SMTP form appears:
Incoming (IMAP) server — mail.yourhost.com, port 993, secure connection (SSL/TLS).
Outgoing (SMTP) server — mail.yourhost.com, port 465, secure connection (SSL/TLS).
Make sure the username field shows your full email address, not just the bit before the @.
New Outlook takes a few seconds to verify the settings. If it succeeds, the account appears in your sidebar and starts pulling in messages.
New Outlook can be temperamental with non-Microsoft mail providers. If you've checked your settings twice and it's still complaining, click the "New Outlook" toggle in the top-right to switch back to Classic and follow the steps in the other tab, because Classic handles this kind of account properly.
Plenty of people already live in Gmail or Outlook.com and would rather not learn a new inbox. That is a fair thing to want, and it mostly works, but both Google and Microsoft have changed the rules recently and a lot of the advice still floating around online no longer applies. Here is where each one actually stands.
On a phone, the Gmail app and the Outlook app both add your mailbox properly, and that is the easiest route by a distance. On a computer, neither the Gmail website nor the Outlook.com website will collect your mail any more, so use webmail, a desktop app, or ask us to forward your mail to an inbox you already read.
This is the one we would suggest. The Gmail app on Android, iPhone and iPad adds a mailbox like yours over a standard IMAP connection, which means you read and send from your business address alongside your personal Gmail, with everything staying in sync.
Open the Gmail app, tap your profile picture, then Add another account, and choose Other. Enter your full email address, choose Personal (IMAP) when it asks, and use the server names, ports and password from the settings card above.
Gmail's old "Check mail from other accounts" setting worked over POP, and Google is retiring it. It has not accepted new setups since early 2026, and existing ones stop working in January 2027. If you find a guide telling you to use it, that guide is out of date. Please do not build your working day on it.
What still works on a computer is the sending half. Gmail's "Send mail as" lets you add your business address and send from it inside Gmail, using the outgoing server from the settings card. Pair that with mail forwarding, which we can switch on for you, and you get the arrangement most people actually want: your mail arrives in the Gmail inbox you already read, and your replies go out from your proper business address rather than your personal one.
Just ask and we will turn forwarding on. One thing to know before you choose it: with forwarding, your mail lives in your Gmail account rather than in your mailbox with us, so it is worth keeping that Gmail account well secured.
Microsoft removed the "connected accounts" feature that used to let an Outlook.com address collect mail from a mailbox like yours. On a free Outlook.com account there is no longer any way to add it, and no setting you have missed. If you have spent an evening hunting for it, that is why.
The Outlook app is a different thing from the Outlook.com website, and it is not affected: the desktop app on Windows or Mac and the Outlook app on your phone both add your mailbox normally. Section 4 above covers the desktop app step by step. Otherwise, use webmail, or ask us to forward your mail to whichever address you do read.
Any app that does IMAP will take these settings, and they nearly all do. On an iPhone, go to Settings → Apps → Mail → Mail Accounts → Add Account and choose Other, then Add Mail Account. On Android, open your mail app, add an account and choose Other or IMAP. Either way, use the same server names, ports and password from the settings card above, and make sure the username is your full email address rather than just the part before the @.
The handful of errors that come up most often, with the fix for each.
Nine times out of ten this is the username: Outlook sometimes auto-fills it with just the bit before the @. Make sure the username field shows your full email address, for example you@yourdomain.co.uk, not just you.
Still failing? Try logging into webmail with the same password. If webmail works and Outlook doesn't, it's a settings issue, not a password issue. If webmail also fails, the password is genuinely wrong, so give us a shout and we'll reset it.
Almost always a port or encryption mismatch. Double-check incoming is 993 with SSL/TLS and outgoing is 465 with SSL/TLS. Some Outlook versions phrase this as STARTTLS, but that's the wrong choice here, you want SSL/TLS.
Also check the server name has no typos and starts with mail. (not www. or your domain on its own).
This happens if the server name we gave you is a friendly alias for the actual mail host. The mail is being delivered correctly, and Outlook is just being cautious. Click View certificate, confirm it looks like a real certificate (issued by a recognised authority, not expired), and tick "Always trust". Outlook won't ask again.
If anything about the certificate looks dodgy (wrong domain, expired, unknown issuer), don't trust it. Contact us and we'll check it from our end.
This is the classic "outgoing server forgot it needs to log in too". In Outlook's account settings, find More settings → Outgoing Server and tick "My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication" with "Use same settings as my incoming mail server".
If you're on a hotel or guest Wi-Fi, port 465 is sometimes blocked at the network. Tether off your phone for a minute and try again. If that works, it was the network, not your settings.
New Outlook's support for non-Microsoft mailboxes has been on-again, off-again. If you've tried twice and it's still refusing, the path of least resistance is to use the "New Outlook" toggle in the top-right to switch back to Classic Outlook, and follow the Classic steps instead. Classic handles this without complaint.
Outlook lets you have multiple accounts side by side and uses whichever is "default" for new messages. To make your new address the default: File → Account Settings → Account Settings, click your new email in the list, then Set as Default.
Yes, and it is usually the easiest place to set it up. Section 5 covers the Gmail app, the Outlook app and the built-in Mail apps on iPhone and Android. Drop us a line if you'd like a walk-through for a specific phone.
No shame in it. Email setup is genuinely one of the fiddliest things on a computer, and the error messages are notoriously unhelpful. If any of the above isn't working, just reach out and we'll fix it together (or do it for you).
Send us a quick note saying what's happening, including any error message you're seeing, and we'll come back the same day. The contact form reaches us whether or not your own email is working.