Mozilla Thunderbird can be used with most standard hosted email accounts. This guide explains how to enter your mailbox settings manually when you already have the correct server details from your email provider or website hosting company.
Manual configuration is useful when Thunderbird cannot identify your email provider, when the automatically detected settings are incorrect, or when your provider has supplied specific settings that must be used.
You will need the following information from your email provider or hosting company:
Your full email address
Your email password
The incoming mail server name
The outgoing Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) server name
The incoming and outgoing port numbers
The connection security required for each server
The authentication method required for each server
Your username, which is usually your full email address
Do not guess the server names, ports or security settings. These details can differ between email providers.
We recommend Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) for most users. IMAP keeps your messages and folders synchronised between the server, Thunderbird, webmail and your other devices.
Post Office Protocol (POP) generally downloads messages to one device. Depending on its settings, it may also remove downloaded messages from the server. This can cause confusion when the same mailbox is used on a computer, phone and other devices.
Choose POP only if your email provider or technical support team has specifically instructed you to use it.
Open Mozilla Thunderbird.
Select the menu button near the top right of the window.
Select New Account, then Existing Email. Depending on your version of Thunderbird, this may appear as Add Account, then Email.
Enter your name as you want it to appear on emails you send.
Enter your full email address and email password.
Select Continue.
Select Configure manually.
Thunderbird will now display separate settings for your incoming and outgoing mail servers.
Under Incoming server, enter the details supplied by your email provider:
Protocol, choose IMAP unless you have specifically been instructed to use POP
Hostname, enter the incoming mail server name
Port, enter the incoming port number
Connection security, select the required encryption setting
Authentication method, select the method specified by your provider
Username, enter the supplied username, which is usually your full email address
The incoming server is responsible for receiving your email and synchronising your mailbox with Thunderbird.
Under Outgoing server, enter the SMTP details supplied by your email provider:
Hostname, enter the outgoing mail server name
Port, enter the outgoing port number
Connection security, select the required encryption setting
Authentication method, select the method specified by your provider
Username, enter the supplied username, which is usually your full email address
The outgoing server is responsible for sending email. It normally requires authentication, even if you are able to receive email without difficulty.
Check each setting carefully, particularly the server names, port numbers and username.
Select Re-test.
If Thunderbird confirms that the settings are valid, select Done.
If your provider opens a separate sign-in or authorisation window, sign in and approve Thunderbird’s access to the mailbox.
Allow a few moments for your folders and messages to appear, especially if the mailbox contains a large amount of email.
If the test fails, compare every value with the information supplied by your provider. A single incorrect character in a server name, username or password can prevent the connection.
Once the account has been added:
Send a test email from Thunderbird to another email address you can access.
Confirm that the message appears in the Sent folder.
Reply to the test email from the other address.
Confirm that the reply arrives in the Thunderbird Inbox.
This checks that both the incoming and outgoing server settings are working.
If the account has already been added but is not working correctly:
Select the Thunderbird menu button.
Select Account Settings.
Select Server Settings beneath the relevant email account to check the incoming server.
Select Outgoing Server (SMTP) near the bottom of the accounts list to check the outgoing server.
Confirm that the correct outgoing server is assigned to the email account.
If you have several email accounts in Thunderbird, make sure you are editing the server assigned to the correct address.
Check the outgoing SMTP server name, port, connection security, authentication method and username. Also confirm that the correct outgoing server is assigned to the account.
Check the incoming server name, protocol, port, connection security, authentication method and username.
First confirm that the same email address and password work in webmail. If the account uses two-factor authentication, your provider may require an app password or a separate sign-in approval. Do not disable two-factor authentication simply to make the account connect.
Do not accept the warning or add a security exception simply to continue. The server name may be incorrect, the security certificate may have expired, or the connection may not be properly secured.
Check the server details with your email provider before proceeding. Also confirm that the date and time on your computer are correct.
Compare the working device’s settings with Thunderbird, but do not copy saved passwords or security exceptions. Also check whether the email provider limits the number of connected devices or requires approval for a new sign-in.
Contact your email provider or hosting support team and send them:
Your email address
The incoming and outgoing settings you entered
The version of Thunderbird you are using
The exact error message shown on screen
Do not send your email password by ordinary email.
For automatic setup instructions and guidance for Microsoft Outlook, see our automatic email setup guide for Outlook and Thunderbird.
Recommended page title: How to Set Up a Hosted Email Account Manually in Mozilla Thunderbird
Suggested search title: Manual Email Setup for Mozilla Thunderbird
Suggested meta description: Learn how to set up a standard hosted email account manually in Mozilla Thunderbird using the incoming and outgoing server settings supplied by your provider.
Existing page address: Retain /email-setup-for-mozillathunderbird-8/ to preserve any existing links and search value.
Screenshot recommendation: Remove all existing Thunderbird 8 screenshots. The interface and account setup screens are outdated. The written guide is sufficient on its own. If screenshots are added later, use current images showing the Existing Email screen, the Configure manually settings and the Re-test button.
Useful reference links:
