Email FAQs

Last updated: 2 May 2021

This article answers the most frequently asked questions we get about email hosting. As always, please contact us if you have any questions.

• Will you migrate my old emails?
• Can you help me set up my email account in Outlook, Mac Mail etc?
• Can you transfer my existing contacts and/or calendar?
• Do you offer webmail?
• Is spam filtering included?
• Do you support both IMAP and POP?
• Can I sync my emails with my phone?
• What email programs do you support?
• Will I have any other charges?
• What happens if I want to upgrade / downgrade in the future?
• Which port number and encryption settings should I use?
• How can I change my password?

Will you migrate my old emails?

We can usually migrate emails from your old provider to us, free of charge.

To make sure the migration is as seamless as possible we typically do two email migrations. The first migration copies all your emails across. After that has been done you can update the DNS for your domain, so that incoming emails start to be delivered to the new mail server.

As it takes up to 24 hours for DNS changes to become fully effective we do another email migration after the new DNS settings have propagated. The second email migration picks up any emails delivered to the old server during the propagation time.

The migration script copies all emails from the old to the new server, including emails stored in custom folders. However, there is one exception: if the old mail server only supports POP3 (and not IMAP) then we can only migrate your inbox.

Can you help me set up my email account in Outlook, Mac Mail etc?

We sure can. If you encounter any errors then we can find out what is causing the issue, and if you get completely stuck we can do a screen share.

Please note that we also have support articles for setting up IMAP or POP3 accounts in Outlook 2016, Thunderbird and iOS (that is, iPhones and iPads).

Can you transfer my existing contacts and/or calendar?

If you are using webmail to manage your contacts and calendar then you need to manually transfer them. IMAP and POP3 are email protocols for retrieving emails from a mail server; they have no way of handling an address book or calendar. However, you can export and import your contacts in both the Roundcube or Horde webmail client.

If you are using an email client such as Outlook or Thunderbird to manage your address book and calendar then they won’t be affected when you switch your email to us. All your contacts and calendar entries will still be there.

Do you offer webmail?

Yes, you can access your emails via your web browser. There are two webmail clients to choose from: Roundcube and Horde. You can switch between the two at any time.

Is spam filtering included?

Yes, all our email hosting packages come with our advanced spam filter.

Do you support both IMAP and POP?

Yes.

What is the difference between POP3 and IMAP?

POP3 and IMAP are protocols for retrieving emails from a mail server. POP3 simply moves emails from the server to your email client, while IMAP keeps a copy of emails on the server.

We recommend using IMAP, in particular if you access your emails on more than one device. With IMAP, your inbox and other folders are always in sync: what you see in the email client on your PC is what you see in your phone’s mail app. With POP3, on the other hand, incoming emails are downloaded to the first email client that connects to the server. In other words, an email that is downloaded to your phone won’t normally show on your PC.

That said, an advantage of POP3 is that you will never run into disk space issues. Because IMAP keeps all your emails on the server you may need to archive emails from time to time. You can archive emails using any modern email client. How to do so is described in our support articles for Outlook 2016, Thunderbird and Evolution.

Can I sync my emails with my phone?

Yes, you can sync your emails between multiple devices / email clients if you use IMAP.

What email programs do you support?

You can set up IMAP and POP3 accounts in any modern email client, including Outlook, Mac Mail and email apps on phones and tablets. As long as your operating system and email client have support for current encryption standards it will work.

Specifically, your operating system and email client need to support at least TLS 1.2. Older versions of the protocol have known vulnerabilities and should not be used to protect sensitive data, such as your email password. The following operating systems and email clients won’t have any issues.

Windows

Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 all have support for TLS 1.2. However, Windows XP and Vista are not supported.

You may run in to TLS issues if you are using Outlook on Windows 7 (you may see the error “Your server does not support the connection encryption type you have specified”). If so, you can install Windows update KB3140245. Please note, though, that Windows 7 is no longer supported by Microsoft. If you are using Windows 7, please consider upgrading to either Windows 10 or an operating system that is still maintained.

macOS

On macOS, TLS 1.2 has been supported since version 10.9 (“Mavericks”). However, if you are using Mac Mail then you need to use at least version 10.12 (“Siera”). Thunderbird will work on 10.9. It is worth noting that Apple supports the last three OS X versions. In other words, all maintained versions of OS X have support for current TLS standards.

Linux, BSD, Chrome OS

Any current Linux, Chrome OS or BSD operating system has support for TLS 1.2, as have email applications available in the repositories for these platforms.

Android 4.0

Android has had support for TLS 1.2 since version 4.0 (“Ice Cream Sandwich”). As this version was released in 2011 you shouldn’t run into TLS issues on Android.

iOS

iOS 10 and later versions all have good support for TLS 1.2. This means that all maintained versions of the operating system work without problems.

Will I have any other charges?

To self-host your emails you need two things: a hosting package and a domain name. If you already got a domain name then you can use that domain for the hosting package. You don’t have to transfer your domain to us, but you are of course very welcome to do so.

If you don’t have a domain name yet then you can register a domain name during the checkout process.

What happens if I want to upgrade / downgrade in the future?

You can upgrade or downgrade your hosting package at any time via your billing account:

• Select Services
• Click on the Active button to the right of the product name
• Select Upgrade/Downgrade from the Actions box

Upgrades and downgrades are instant and there won’t be any downtime. The fee (or, in the case of a downgrade, the credit) is calculated pro rata.

Which port number and encryption settings should I use?

To connect to the mail server securely we recommend using the server name as the incoming and outgoing server name with the following ports:

• IMAP: 993
• POP3: 995
• SMTP: 465 or 587

To connection securely both SSL/TLS and authentication need to be enabled.

How can I change my password?

You can change the password for an email account via the cPanel control panel:

• Select Email Accounts
• Click on Manage button for the email account
• Enter or generate the new password
• Click the Update Email Settings button