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Windows Live Mail Setup Guide

Last Updated: April 18, 2015

Before you can use the Windows Live Mail client you will need to setup and configure it.

When you open Windows Live Mail for the first time a wizard guides you through the new account setup process.

However new email accounts can be setup at any time.

Before proceeding with the setup you need to obtain your email setings from your email provider.

Typical details that are needed for setup are:

  • SMTP server name– This sever is used to send email.
  • POP3 server name-This server is used to receive email.
  • Account name – This is your login name to receive
    email.
  • Account password -This is your login password to
    receive     email.
  • Email Address– this is used to set the from address when sending email
  • Encryption details if used and Ports

Here are the setup details for Yahoo mail

Incoming Yahoo Mail (IMAP) Server

Server – imap.mail.yahoo.com
Port – 993
Requires SSL – Yes

Outgoing Yahoo Mail (SMTP) Server

Server – smtp.mail.yahoo.com
Port – 465 or 587
Requires SSL – Yes
Requires authentication – Yes

Your login info

Email address – Your full email address ([email protected])
Password – Your account’s password

Setting Up The Account

The procedure below is applicable to any POP3,IMAP4 account on any email provider e.g. BT, Gmail,Yahoo, Bluehost etc,

Proceed as follows:

1. Select the Accounts tab and click  Email

wlm-new-email-account

A new account screen Opens.

Fill out your account details and if you are connecting to Gmail or hotmail then you can leave the manually configure server settings unticked as the wizard will enter them for you.

Otherwise tick the box and click next to configure the server settings.

wlm-setup-screen

Select the server type (usually IMAP) and enter the addresses of the IMAP and SMTP servers.

You need to pay attention to your server security settings as many email servers now require SSL (Secure Sockets Layer).

Almost all require SMTP authentication.

wlm-setup-screen-server-settings

Click next when finished and you should get a setup complete box.

wlm-setup-complete

The account folders will appear in the folder list (IMAP account) and your email should start to synchronise.

You can edit the account details if you have made a mistake by clicking on the properties link.

wlm-new-account-folders

Notes:

If you set up a POP3 Account then the option Leave email on the server is enabled by default. In outlook express it was disabled by default.

Common Setup Problems

Security– Almost all Email providers require authentication for SMTP if you forget to enable it you will have a error when trying to send email.

Encryption and Ports– When you enable SSL for POP3,IMAP4 and SMTP the client will try to use the default ports. Some ISPs use non-default ports with SSL so you will need to check.

Bad Username -Most Email servers require a user name of the form [email protected] (i.e. the email address). The client usually defaults to testuser1 (i.e. the display name).

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