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Switch Comcast pop email to IMAP

How to switch Comcast pop email to imap


Posted on Mar 30, 2021 4:09 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Mar 31, 2021 4:14 PM

I'm sorry I could not get back on last night to help you. You can try and force the mail to error out. Delete the mail account again as I said, then when you go to add it back, enter an incorrect password. It will not verify. It will bring you to a page where you select POP or IMAP. You have to be sure you are in a location where they support IMAP, but I'm pretty sure they do all over. It has been a while since they switched. Now, after you select IMAP, go ahead and enter your correct username and password, then you will have to fill in the rest of the information as you continue. I'm not sure if the Port differences between what I have and what QuickTimeKirk provided makes a difference, but you can try both if necessary.


Incoming Mail Server

Host Name: imap.comcast.net

User Name: the first part of your email address before the "at"

Password: you should know that


Outgoing Mail Server:

SMTP: smtp.comcast.net. Tap on this to get to those settings>on this page it should be the Primary Server, tap on smtp.comcast.net again.

The Host Name is the same, smtp.comcast.net

User Name: same as the incoming

Password: same as incoming

Use SSL: turn this switch on

Authentication: Password

Server Port 587


Go back to the first page with the Incoming Mail Server


Tap on Advanced:

Mailbox Behaviors

Move Discarded Messages Into

Deleted Messages

Set all of these to your desired setting


Use SSL: turn on

Authentication: Password

IMAP Patch Prefix /

Server Port 993

12 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Mar 31, 2021 4:14 PM in response to milarb

I'm sorry I could not get back on last night to help you. You can try and force the mail to error out. Delete the mail account again as I said, then when you go to add it back, enter an incorrect password. It will not verify. It will bring you to a page where you select POP or IMAP. You have to be sure you are in a location where they support IMAP, but I'm pretty sure they do all over. It has been a while since they switched. Now, after you select IMAP, go ahead and enter your correct username and password, then you will have to fill in the rest of the information as you continue. I'm not sure if the Port differences between what I have and what QuickTimeKirk provided makes a difference, but you can try both if necessary.


Incoming Mail Server

Host Name: imap.comcast.net

User Name: the first part of your email address before the "at"

Password: you should know that


Outgoing Mail Server:

SMTP: smtp.comcast.net. Tap on this to get to those settings>on this page it should be the Primary Server, tap on smtp.comcast.net again.

The Host Name is the same, smtp.comcast.net

User Name: same as the incoming

Password: same as incoming

Use SSL: turn this switch on

Authentication: Password

Server Port 587


Go back to the first page with the Incoming Mail Server


Tap on Advanced:

Mailbox Behaviors

Move Discarded Messages Into

Deleted Messages

Set all of these to your desired setting


Use SSL: turn on

Authentication: Password

IMAP Patch Prefix /

Server Port 993

Mar 31, 2021 5:32 PM in response to Demo

Thank you everyone. My problem is solved. I called Comcast and they were able to help me. First they asked me to go & uncheck the Comcast mail security setting for third party client. Then I added my mail account on my iPad where I can choose between pop & imap account. After I filled up my info and click next to save it I get an error message. I was asked to go back to the Comcast security setting to undo what I did before. After all this I clicked save again even though it tells me I will still have a problem. Now, everything is fine and working well. Hope I explained it well so anybody who encounters the same problem can follow the steps.

Thanks again everyone.

Mar 30, 2021 7:20 PM in response to milarb

  • Incoming Mail Server Name: imap.comcast.net
    • Incoming Mail Server Port Number: 993 with SSL ON
  • If the Mail Client lets you select an authentication method, choose STARTTLS.
    • If Needed: 143 with SSL ON
  • Outgoing Mail Server Name: smtp.comcast.net
  • Outgoing Mail Server Port Number: 587 (SMTP)
    • If Needed: 465 (SMTPS)
  • Encryption: TLS (use SSL if TLS isn't shown.)
  • Authentication: Type in your Comcast username and password


Mar 31, 2021 4:40 PM in response to milarb

I probably shouldn’t butt in now, but it was very simple to convert my Comcast POP account to IMAP. I did this for my wife and for myself right on our devices. It’s been a few years but it was very simple.


The short explanation is that you add a “new” Comcast account and after everything is set up, you delete the POP account. I believe that Comcast mail now defaults to IMAP when setting up a new account.


I used these instructions from Xfinity. The only thing that I did differently was to not use Comcast Notes so I did not enable Notes in the settings.

https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/pop-imap-iphone


ChrisJ4203 may know something that I don’t know, but I’m just offering this as an easy alternative to try.

Mar 31, 2021 4:53 PM in response to Demo

Thanks Demo. You are right, it should have defaulted to IMAP, however the OP stated that when they added it back, it added back as a POP account. The "fix" that I provided will force it to the page that allows you to select POP or IMAP, which does not appear by default anymore. It should still be as easy as you stated, but something wasn't going right, that is for sure.

Switch Comcast pop email to IMAP

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