Configuring Microsoft Outlook - Central Mail Service

Before you start setting up an email account in Outlook, make sure you know your Central Staff (IMAP) account user name and password. If you don't know them, contact the IT Services Help Desk for assistance.

The following instructions are based on Microsoft Outlook 2003. To configure Outlook 2007, see instructions on Microsoft's support pages using the same local settings specified in step 4 below.

1. Begin by opening Outlook, and choosing Tools > E-mail Accounts:

2. On the E-mail Accounts wizard window, select Add a new e-mail account and click Next:

3. For your server type, select IMAP and click Next:

4. Enter the following details in the Internet E-mail Settings (IMAP) window:

Your Name

your first and last name.

E-mail Address

your e-mail address.

User Name

your central staff account (IMAP) username

Password

the password for your IMAP account

Incoming mail server (IMAP)

imap.qmul.ac.uk

Outgoing mail server (SMTP) *

smtp.qmul.ac.uk

5. Click More Settings
6. On the Internet E-mail Settings window, select the Outgoing Server tab.
7. Check the option My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication
8. Check the option Use same settings as my incoming mail server

9. Select the Advanced tab and check the option This server requires encrypted connection (SSL) for both the Incoming (IMAP) and the Outgoing (SMTP) server:

* Note: If you are using an Internet Service Provider (ISP) from off campus, use the SMTP server specified by your ISP. This will usually not require authentication or an encrypted connection. If you are using an ISP from off campus (or sending from the College's Halls and Wireless networks) and still want to use the college SMTP server but have problems sending email using the settings above, try changing the SMTP port number to 587 or 465.

Changing The Sent Items Folder

Outlook stores copies of sent messages locally, on your PC, so when using Outlook with the College's IMAP mail service, sent messages will not normally be accessible remotely. If you want to change this default set up, you can set up a Rule to have sent messages copied to the server. See Changing The Default 'Sent Items' Folder in Outlook 2003

Address Books

Using the College Staff LDAP Directory with Outlook

Outlook - Good Practice Settings

How Outlook is configured to interact with the IMAP mail server can have a significant effect on performance. Please see:

Improving Microsoft Outlook 2003 IMAP Performance

You are strongly advised also to set the following options to ensure that your messages can be easily read and comply with Internet standards.

•  Choose Options from the Tools menu
•  From the drop down menu Compose in this message format, select Plain text
•  Click OK

If you really want to use formatted text in your messages, it is recommended that you select HTML from the Compose in this message format menu in preference to Rich Text. Rich Text is a proprietary format which is likely to cause problems of unreadability, especially with attachments, when sending to people who do not use Outlook. See this FAQ