> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.tied.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# IMAP and SMTP

> Connecting a mailbox Tied does not have an OAuth button for — and the ordering rule that catches everyone.

Most email inboxes should connect through **Google or Microsoft**, where you click through an OAuth consent screen and nothing else is required. Use IMAP and SMTP when that is not available: a self-hosted mail server, a provider without an OAuth integration, a shared mailbox your IT team will not federate.

Both live on the **Configuration** tab of an email inbox. An inbox connected through Google or Microsoft has no Configuration tab at all — the provider holds the settings, so there is nothing here to fill in.

## IMAP first. Always.

<Warning>
  *"To enable SMTP, please configure IMAP."*

  The SMTP section is hidden until IMAP is configured — not greyed out, simply not on the page. This
  is the single most common point of confusion on this page — people arrive wanting to fix outbound
  mail, find no SMTP section at all, and conclude something is broken. Nothing is broken. Fill in
  IMAP, save, and the SMTP section appears.
</Warning>

The reason is that the two do different jobs, and one is a prerequisite for the inbox existing at all:

* **IMAP** — *"Enabling IMAP will help the user to receive email."* Without it there is no inbox.
* **SMTP** — *"Enabling SMTP will help the user to send email."* Without it, replies go out through Tied's own sending infrastructure instead.

## IMAP

Toggle **Enable IMAP configuration for this inbox**, then:

| Field | Placeholder | Notes |
| - | - | - |
| **Address** | *"Address (Eg: imap.gmail.com)"* | Your provider's IMAP hostname |
| **Port** | *"Port"* | 993 with SSL, 143 without. Use 993 |
| **Login** | *"Login"* | Usually the full email address, but some providers want a bare username |
| **Password** | *"Password"* | See the note below — this is usually **not** your account password |
| **Enable SSL** | — | Leave it on |

Save with **Update IMAP settings**.

<Warning>
  **If your provider has two-factor authentication, your normal password will not work.** You need
  an app-specific password — Google calls it an App Password, Microsoft calls it an app password,
  and most other providers have an equivalent. Generate one scoped to mail and use that.

  This is the second most common failure on this page, and it presents as a plain authentication
  error that does not mention 2FA at all.
</Warning>

## SMTP

Available once IMAP is saved. Toggle **Enable SMTP configuration for this inbox**, then:

| Field | Placeholder | Notes |
| - | - | - |
| **Address** | *"Address (Eg: smtp.gmail.com)"* | Your provider's SMTP hostname |
| **Port** | *"Port"* | 587 for STARTTLS, 465 for SSL. 587 is the usual answer |
| **Login** | *"Login"* | Normally the same as IMAP |
| **Password** | *"Password"* | Normally the same app password as IMAP |
| **Domain** | *"Domain"* | The HELO domain. Leave blank unless your provider told you otherwise |
| **Encryption** | — | Match it to the port: STARTTLS with 587, SSL/TLS with 465 |

Save with **Update SMTP settings**.

<Info>
  **Port and encryption have to agree.** 587 with SSL/TLS selected, or 465 with STARTTLS, fails —
  and the error is usually a timeout rather than anything that names the mismatch. If sending hangs,
  check this pairing before anything else.
</Info>

## With SMTP, and without it

| | SMTP configured | SMTP not configured |
| - | - | - |
| Replies are sent by | Your own mail server | Tied's sending infrastructure |
| The `From` address is | Yours, natively | Yours, with Tied sending on your behalf |
| Deliverability depends on | Your server's reputation and DNS | Tied's, plus your [custom domain](/channels/email/custom-domain) records |
| Replies appear in | Your mailbox's Sent folder | Tied only |

That last row decides it for a lot of teams. With SMTP configured, everything Tied sends is in your own Sent folder alongside everything your people send by hand — which matters if you are ever asked to produce a complete record of what a customer was told.

## When mail stops

In this order:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Check the password did not expire" icon="key-round">
    App passwords get revoked when someone resets an account password, leaves, or has their session
    invalidated. This is the most common cause by a wide margin, and it presents as an inbox that
    was working yesterday and is silent today.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Check the mailbox is not full" icon="inbox">
    A full mailbox rejects IMAP connections on some providers with an error that reads like an
    authentication failure.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Check the provider did not start blocking you" icon="shield-alert">
    Some providers disable IMAP access after a period of inactivity, or block a login from an
    unfamiliar location until someone approves it in a security prompt.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Check port and encryption still agree" icon="plug">
    Relevant after any provider-side change, because providers do sometimes move a port and
    deprecate the old one.
  </Step>
</Steps>

If outbound fails but inbound works, the problem is SMTP alone and your replies are quietly going out through Tied instead — which looks like it is working, so check the `From` header on a test send rather than assuming.

## Next

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Email" icon="mail" href="/channels/email">
    Connecting a mailbox, and how email threading works.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Custom domain" icon="at-sign" href="/channels/email/custom-domain">
    Sending from your own domain, and the DNS records for it.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Inbox settings" icon="sliders-horizontal" href="/channels/inbox-settings">
    Sender name, and the rest of the tabs.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Troubleshooting" icon="life-buoy" href="/troubleshooting">
    When mail is not arriving at all.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>


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