How to Access Outlook.com via POP in an Email Program – To use Outlook.com when you’re offline, you must enable your Outlook.com account to allow POP email downloads. POP isn’t enabled by default, but you can enable POP access in the Outlook.com settings.
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How to Access Outlook.com via POP in an Email Program
A POP email server permits an email program, or app of your choice, to download your Outlook.com messages. After your Outlook.com email is configured in the email client, the POP server can download the messages from Outlook.com and display the messages in your offline desktop or mobile email client.
To allow email programs to connect to and download messages from your Outlook.com email account using POP, access the POP and IMAP section of your Outlook.com account settings:
Click the Settings gear icon in the upper-right corner of the Outlook.com screen.
Select View all Outlook settings at the bottom of the panel that opens.
In the Settings screen, select Mail in the left panel.
Click Sync Email.
Choose Yes under POP options to let devices and apps use POP.
Once POP is enabled, a new question appears asking whether devices and apps that use POP can be set to delete messages from Outlook after download. Select the “Don’t allow devices and apps to delete messages from Outlook. It will move the messages to a special POP folder instead” option if you’d rather Outlook.com keep the messages after the client downloads those messages. Otherwise, select Let apps and devices delete messages from Outlook if you prefer that option.
Click Save at the bottom of the page to confirm the changes.
If you’re looking for a flexible alternative to POP that offers access to all folders and synchronizes actions, Outlook.com offers IMAP access.
How to Connect to Outlook.com Email With POP
To connect to Outlook.com email with POP, you must enter the appropriate settings. Below are the settings for the POP server, as well as the IMAP and SMTP settings.
The POP settings appear with the IMAP and SMTP settings because you need these settings to set up access to Outlook.com from other apps. These general instructions work with almost any email client. Enter the requested information as you set up the account.
Outlook.com POP Server Settings
The Outlook.com POP server settings for downloading new incoming messages to an email program, cell phone, or mobile device are:
| Outlook.com POP server address | pop-mail.outlook.com |
| Outlook.com POP username | Complete Outlook.com email address (not an alias) |
| Outlook.com POP password | Outlook.com password |
| Outlook.com POP port | 995 |
| Outlook.com POP encryption method | SSL |
| Outlook.com POP TLS/SSL encryption required | Yes |
Outlook.com IMAP Settings
You can also set up Outlook.com using IMAP as an alternative to POP.
These are the Outlook.com IMAP settings:
| Outlook.com IMAP server name | imap-mail.outlook.com |
| Outlook.com IMAP port | 993 |
| Outlook.com IMAP encryption method | SSL |
Outlook.com SMTP Email Settings
Use these server settings to authorize the email client to send emails on your behalf:
| Outlook.com server name | smtp-mail.outlook.com |
| Outlook.com username | Your full Outlook.com email address |
| Outlook.com port | 587 (try 25 if it doesn’t work) |
| Outlook.com password | Your Outlook.com password |
| Outlook.com TLS/SSL encryption required | Yes |
| Outlook.com STARTTLS | Yes (try SSL or SSL/TLS if it’s not available) |
Double-Check the Server Settings
Mobile devices and email programs have become more user-friendly when it comes to accessing your email accounts. However, you may run into problems during the server setup. Check the POP, IMAP, and SMTP settings carefully.
In the case of the POP server, it’s common to overlook the hyphen and periods in the server address. The port number is also important, and you may have to change from a default port number to the correct port number for Outlook.com.
It is also possible that Outlook.com changed these settings. Check the current settings at Microsoft Office Support or use the Settings menu on Outlook.com to find the updated settings.
