Email setup

Question

Outlook won't let me add an IMAP account. Enter a port number after semi colon :

Answer 1

In Outlook when you try to add an IMAP account manually, Outlook expects server:port syntax. If you type just the hostname (e.g., imap.gmail.com), Outlook will propmt “Enter a port number after the semicolon (:)” because it expects something like imap.gmail.com:993.

When entering IMAP or SMTP server details manually, use this format:

Type	Server (with port)	Encryption
Incoming (IMAP)	imap.gmail.com:993	SSL/TLS
Outgoing (SMTP)	smtp.gmail.com:465	SSL/TLS

Other examples:

• Outlook.com → outlook.office365.com:993 (IMAP), smtp.office365.com:587
• Yahoo → imap.mail.yahoo.com:993, smtp.mail.yahoo.com:465
• iCloud → imap.mail.me.com:993, smtp.mail.me.com:587

If Outlook still rejects it try these:

• Temporarily disable “Simplified Account Creation” (if Outlook is forcing automatic setup). You can do this via Registry:

    [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Setup]
    "DisableOffice365SimplifiedAccountCreation"=dword:00000001
  

  Then restart Outlook and try adding manually again.
• Make sure IMAP is enabled in your mail provider’s settings (for Gmail, check under Settings > Forwarding and POP/IMAP).

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hth

Marcin