How do I add my Earthlink.net account to the new Outlook on my new Windows laptop? "Add account" doesn't recognize it.

I have a new gaming computer with Windows 11 Pro and was recently forced to update Windows mail to the new Outlook. I struggled for days trying to get my two Earthlink.net email accounts added and finally, tonight, I discovered a way to do that.

First, apparently, the new Outlook is NOT compatible with Earthlink email accounts using IMAP prorocol. Every attempt to add my earthlink email accounts ended in failure with error messages about "some problem was encountered" or "password may be incorrect" or "you may need to use an app" to login. And the insistence of the new Outlook in wanting to use Microsoft Office 365 to sync my earthlink email accounts was EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING, NEVER SUCCESSFUL and, ultimately, a complete red herring and major waste of time.

However, I was successful in adding my Earthlink email accounts as POP3 accounts as follows:

1. Click on "Add Account" at the bottom left of Outlook app screen.
2. Type in your earthlink email address in the box labeled "Enter an email address to sign in".
3. Enter your earthlink email account password in the box labeled "IMAP/POP Password" (Note: Earthlink does not use a separate IMAP/POP password, but just enter your earthlink email account password here instead.)
4. Screen will pop up saying that you need to sync your IMAP account with Outlook (even though we will use POP3). Don't panic, just press "Continue".
5. At this point, you may get a screen saying "Waiting for IMAP . . ." OR you may get a pop-up window asking you to sign-in to Microsoft Office 365!!

6A, IF YOU GET THE "Waiting for IMAP. . ." message, you will eventually be returned to the previous screen with an error message in red stating "Sign in failed, Please try again in a few minutes. You may need an app password." IGNORE this misleading error message and proceed to Step 7.

6B. IF YOU GET THE POP-UP SCREEN asking you to the sign-in to Office 365, just click on the "X" in the upper right-hand corner of this window to close it. (What a confusing PITA this screen is and TOTALLY useless!) After exiting out of the Office 365 sign-in screen, will be returned to the previous screen but NOW with the option to select "Advanced Setup"

7. Click on the now available "Advanced Setup" option.
8. At the bottom of the pop-up window that appears, scroll down to the bottom of the list and choose "POP3" (NOTE: Choosing IMAP will end in failure if you attempt to use it to add your earthlink email account to Windows 11 new Outlook (as of APRIL 26, 2024).
9. In the pop-up window that appears:

• Enter your Earthlink email account password for the entry labeled "IMAP/POP Password"
• For Secure Connection Type" select the "SSL/TLS (recommended)" option
• Enter your Earthlink email account password for the entry labeled "SMTP Password"
• For "Secure connection type," select the "SSL/TLS (recommended)" option
• Click on "Continue"

10. In the "Sync your POP3 Account" pop-up window, click "Continue" (NOTE: Why you must sync your emails to the Microsoft Cloud, I don't understand, but you must click "Continue" nonetheless.)
11. You will now see a screen saying "Waiting for POP3 . . . "
12. HOPEFULLY, in 10-30 seconds, you will get a screen that says "Success! Your emails, contacts and events are now synced."
13. Click "Done" at the bottom of the Success pop-up window.
14. NOTE: It may take up to 30 minutes or more to download all your earthlink account emails depending, of course, on how full your inbox is and your internet connection speed.

Let me know if this works for you as it did for me for two of my Earthlink email accounts. Note: a third earthlink account would NOT successfully add to Outlook because (I believe) it had gone unused for too long.

Thank you Anna for your response. I am also having the same problem with the "New Outllook" doesn't give the option to set up POP accounts.

The link provided is for setting up email in an older version of Outlook and is not applicable here. I've been trying without success to set up earthlink email account(s) for the new Outlook but get a message that the password is incorrect (it is not). I've tried submitting numerous requests via the Outlook feedback mechanism with no response. Apparently this is a bug in Outlook which has not yet been resolved. Please advise if there is a workaround.

Same problem, will not hookup to outlook with my earthlink

I'm having the same problem, and today I was forced to shift to the new Outlook. You can try this link, but I have not been able to get the settings to work.

https://help.earthlink.net/portal/en/kb/articles/email-server-settings

I tried both port 143 and 993, and SSL none. Nothing connects. I have previously used Windows Mail app, and it worked with Earthlink.net.

Let me know if you figure it out, please!

Bruce