mail : how to set-up a pop account ?

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Level 1

9 points

mail : how to set-up a pop account ?

Hi,

macOS Sierra Mail 10.3

When I define a mail account in Mail that account is automatically created as an IMAP account, no option to change the type to POP.

Does anyone know how to set-up a POP account in Mail ?

There used to be a trick available (pressing the Option Key when clicking the Continue button) for Mail to ask for the type of the account (imap or pop). That seems not to work anymore.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

P.S. : btw, couldn't find a Mail Community. What am I doing wrong ?

Posted on May 3, 2017 8:49 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

BDAqua

Level 10

239,495 points

May 3, 2017 1:22 PM in response to nunof

I've gotten around this before by starting with a fake provider, like nunof.com, going through the setup, waiting for it to time out, then going back & editing the pop3.nunof.com & smtp server.

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Answer 2

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,862 points

May 3, 2017 1:01 PM in response to nunof

Your providers are making it very difficult. Please just follow the steps in under "Add and Account" in Mail (Yosemite): Set up Mail with your email accounts.

Adding an account is quite simple.

Also, when referencing Sierra, it's not "Sierra 10.3" it is "Sierra 10.12.x", the "x" being the current version. You can find this by clicking the Apple symbol in the upper left of the display and clicking About this Mac.

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Answer 3

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,862 points

May 3, 2017 10:18 AM in response to nunof

There is no Mail community, because Mail is included as part of the operating system you would post in the version of Mac OS community for assistance.

BTW, the email provider must be first set up as a POP account. For example if you use gmail as your mail provider then that must be setup as a POP account on the Gmail website.

Also, most email providers will provide instructions on how to set an account on your Mac.

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Answer 4

nunof Author

Level 1

9 points

May 3, 2017 12:05 PM in response to BDAqua

Hi,

Thanks. The providers are well known local (France, Belgium) ISPs (not listed in Apple's suggestions). My mail accounts with them are defined as POP accounts. I already use them on my desktop. I'm trying to define them on my laptop.

The ISPs don't provide support for Mac, just Windows. They say I must define an account in Mail that is a POP account. And then connect. As simple as that. The only problem is that Mail doesn't allow me to define a POP account. Mail seems to know only IMAP accounts.

Thanks anyway.

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Answer 5

nunof Author

Level 1

9 points

May 3, 2017 10:38 PM in response to rkaufmann87

The document you mention states that when I add an account Mail prompts me for the type of the account. That's not the case. At least no longer in Sierra.

Also the 10.3 is not the Sierra version. It is the version of Mail that comes with Sierra.

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Answer 6

nunof Author

Level 1

9 points

May 3, 2017 10:40 PM in response to BDAqua

Thanks for this, but is didn't work.

There's something strange. Mail no longer supports the definition of a POP account and nobody is complaining ? I must be missing something ...

Thanks for your suggestions.

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Answer 7

nunof Author

Level 1

9 points

May 4, 2017 12:21 AM in response to BDAqua

Correction, your tip DID work !

Recaping :

- define a fake account with a fake provider, sign-in and then wait for MAIL to let you know that the connection failed

- at this point MAIL lets you edit your fake account, including an option to indicate the type of the account IMAP or POP

Thanks very much.

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Answer 8

Sep 15, 2017 8:13 PM in response to BDAqua

Thank you so much! I spent nearly an hour on the phone with tech support and then Live chat with remote control, using Rogers, the biggest email provider in Canada. They were zero help. Wish I saw your post first. Great workaround. But I'm sure there MUST be a way to do it properly, right ??

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Answer 9

Jan 4, 2018 6:06 PM in response to nunof

On MacMail, Preferences>accounts>"add an account" by selecting "+">Other mail account>Continue>enter your email address with an extra character ("fake account") and add password. On the next window you will have the opportunity to change the IMAP to POP. That's pretty much all that's needed. Oh, don't forget to remove the extra character ("fake account") in your actual email address. Good luck.

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