Back to Mail
Desktop clients
Thunderbird, Outlook, Apple Mail (covered separately), Spark, K-9 - the IMAP/SMTP setup is identical. This guide uses Thunderbird; the field names match almost every other client.
Universal settings
Every mail client asks for the same six things. They're all in the right rail - copy them as you go:
- Username - your full email address (same on both servers).
- Password - from your Openship admin Overview tab.
- IMAP server / port / security - typically port 993 with SSL/TLS.
- SMTP server / port / security - typically port 587 with STARTTLS.
- Authentication - "Normal password" (not OAuth).
Thunderbird
- 1Open Thunderbird. If this is your first account, the setup wizard appears automatically. Otherwise: File → New → Existing Mail Account.
- 2Enter your name, full email, and password. Click Continue.
- 3Thunderbird will try to auto-detect. Stop it by clicking Manual config as soon as the option appears - auto-detection often picks the wrong protocol.
- 4Set the IMAP host, port 993, SSL/TLS, Normal password. SMTP: host, port 587, STARTTLS, Normal password. Username on both = your full email.
- 5Click Re-test. The dots should turn green. Click Done.
Outlook (classic)
- 1File → Add Account → Advanced options → check Let me set up my account manually.
- 2Enter your email → Connect.
- 3Choose IMAP.
- 4Fill the incoming/outgoing servers and ports from the right rail. Set incoming encryption to SSL/TLS and outgoing to STARTTLS.
- 5Enter your password. Outlook will verify; once green, click Done.
K-9 / Spark / FairEmail (open-source clients)
The flow is the same on every other IMAP client: when asked, choose Manual setup → IMAP, fill the values from the right rail, and avoid any "OAuth" or "Google sign-in" options - this is a standalone IMAP/SMTP server, not a Google account.
Common pitfalls
"Server doesn't trust the certificate" usually means Let's Encrypt hasn't propagated yet (5-15 min after install). Accept the cert once and the warning won't repeat.
"Username and password not accepted" when your credentials are correct - check that the username field has your full email, not just the local part before @. This server's virtual-mailbox setup requires the full address.