Overview
This article explains the basic information you'll need to set up a DreamHost email address on any email client you like. View the following page for a list of popular email clients:
If you are hosting your email at a different company, you must consult their documentation for the settings mentioned below.
Step 1 — Add the email address to the panel
You can create your email address through your Manage Email page.
View the following article for detailed instructions on how to add an email address:
Step 2 — Locate your username and password
Once you create an email address, you will have your Username and Password.
Username
This is the part before your domain. For example username@example.com.
- Your email client may only require this first part of the email address, but it's possible that your email client may need the full email address to connect. This depends on your mail client.
Password
The password for the user is what you chose when creating the address.
- The Password can be changed at any time through your Manage Email page or through the Mailboxes interface. View the 'Change password' article for details.
- The Username/Password Authentication setting must be enabled and set to ‘Password’.
- Passwords are CaSe SeNsItIvE!
- Passwords for your email users can be changed at anytime.
- View the Passwords article to help choose a strong password.
Step 3 — Locate your mail servername
To quickly find your email settings in the panel, open the Manage Email page and look for the Email Setup Info link in the upper right. Click the text to open the quick-access instructions for your email address:
- Incoming
- imap.dreamhost.com
- pop.dreamhost.com
- Outgoing
- smtp.dreamhost.com
Your server name (aka hostname) controls where your email is sent from and sent to. The following are the only hostnames you should use to connect to your email. View the IMAP or POP address and enabling secure ports article to determine if you'd prefer to use an IMAP or POP connection.
Incoming
IMAP hostname: imap.dreamhost.com
POP hostname: pop.dreamhost.com
POP downloads messages from the server to your local computer by default.
This means that after you connect, the emails are removed from the server and will no longer be available when you log into your email address in the future.
If you wish to also keep your emails on the server when using a POP connection, you must configure your client to keep a copy of them on the server. The steps to do this differ depending on your email client.
Outgoing
smtp.dreamhost.com
If you do not use one of the hostnames above, your client will fail to connect. You may see the following errors:
- Certificate mismatch
- This identity cannot be verified
These error can be avoided by using the hostnames above. View the following article for further details.
Some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) require that you use their SMTP server to send mail (example: smtp.yourISP.com). You must check with your ISP to see if they require you to use their SMTP server for outgoing mail, or if you can use your domain's mail server for outgoing mail.
Step 4 — Set secure ports and choose IMAP or POP
Many modern email clients automatically enable secure ports during your configuration. This means you may not even be asked for this information. However, some email clients require you to specifically add these details.
If your client asks for port numbers, you'll need to know which ones to enter. Some ports are insecure while others are secure. The port numbers you choose also dictate if your address uses an IMAP or POP connection.
When choosing a port, only secure port settings are recommended. When choosing between POP and IMAP, you'll want to choose IMAP unless you have a specific reason to use POP.
View the following articles for details on which secure port settings you should use:
MX records
MX records are the DNS records that tell other mail servers how to find your email address on the internet.
Only after you create your first email address are MX records created for your domain. It takes about 4-6hrs for them to be set up after the first address is added, so you must wait that long to use the first email address. After that there is no delay when adding an email address.
If your website and email are hosted at DreamHost, you don't need to worry about these records.
Only if your nameservers are hosted at another company would you need to point your MX records to DreamHost.
Third-party email client configuration
Older email clients may have trouble connecting to DreamHost email services and may need to be upgraded to a version that supports TLS 1.2 or higher. This is because TLS versions 1.0 and 1.1 are no longer supported for secure email connections.
These email clients include (but are not limited to):
- Outlook 2007
- Outlook 2010
- MacMail on MacOS 10.11 or older
- Any Microsoft mail client running on Windows 7
DreamHost recommends that you update your OS or use a different mail client such as Mozilla Thunderbird, which comes with TLS 1.2 support out-of-the-box.
Follow these links for specific instructions on how to set up the corresponding email clients:
Temporary blocks
Multiple failed login attempts to an email address may result in the server temporarily blocking your IP. This block will eventually be lifted automatically, but if you need it removed sooner, please contact support.
See also
DreamHost links
- Email client protocols and port numbers
- Email quickstart guide
- SMTP quota limits
- SMTP quota overview
- Certificate domain mismatch error when connecting to a DreamHost mail server
Third-party links
- Dan's Mail Format Site -- lots of info on the format of email messages and the standards and traditions related to this
- SMTP on Wikipedia
- IMAP on Wikipedia
- POP3 on Wikipedia
- Email client protocols and port numbers
- Set up email on a Windows phone
