Overview
This article shares the process for users to configure an IMAP email account in Microsoft Outlook client.
Important Points About IMAP in Outlook Windows:
- IMAP can only sync emails and notes (IMAP protocol limitation as per RFC 9051)
- IMAP cannot sync calendars
- Outlook for Windows no longer supports note syncing through IMAP
What This Means for You:
- You can only sync your emails
- Your calendar will be stored only on your computer
- Meeting invites from emails will show up in your calendar (Outlook will convert those into local events)
- Changes you make to calendar events (or new events) won't sync back to the server
If you need to also use calendar syncing features in Outlook, consider using ActiveSync or KOFF:
Process
Follow these steps:
- Launch Microsoft Outlook.
- Go to File > Account Settings.
- Choose New.
- Choose Manual setup or additional server types and click Next.
- Choose POP or IMAP and click Next.
- Enter the user, server, and login information.
- On the right side, choose the period you want messages to be kept offline locally in your machine.
- If you want Outlook to remember your password, check the Remember password option.
- Click More Settings and under the Outgoing Server tab, check the My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication option.
- Choose the option Use same settings as my incoming mail server.
- Click OK > Next, and the client will test your settings.
- If everything is OK, it shows you two verifications completed.
- Click the Close button. The new account will show under the Email tab.
- Verify if the account is displaying in Outlook's left panel. You will also see the automatic messages here that were sent during the testing phase.