The new Outlook and your IMAP mailbox: why a copy goes through the Microsoft cloud

E-mail·· 31 views· 2 min read

The short answer: when you add an IMAP account from another provider (like ours) to the new Outlook for Windows, Microsoft explains that the mail, calendar and contacts of that account are synced through the Microsoft cloud. In practice, Microsoft’s service connects to our server and the new Outlook shows what that service brought. Classic Outlook, by contrast, connects to our server directly.

What this changes

Topic What changes
Who connects to the server Microsoft’s service, not your computer. Logins may show as coming from Microsoft addresses.
The password The service stores it to fetch the mail. If you change it in cPanel, you must change it in the new Outlook too.
A copy outside our server A copy of the mail passes through Microsoft’s service. For some companies that is a matter of internal policy.
Delays Mail may take a little longer to appear than in classic or webmail, because it goes through one more service.
Connection problems If Microsoft’s service cannot connect to our server, the error shows in the new Outlook even when your computer is fine.

What to do about it

1 If going through Microsoft is fine, use the new Outlook as normal, with IMAP and our settings.
2 If your company does not want mail outside our server, use classic Outlook or webmail, which connect directly.
3 After changing the mailbox password, update it under Settings > Accounts in the new Outlook, or sync stops.
4 To remove Microsoft’s copy, remove the account from the new Outlook. The mailbox on our server is not affected.
This is not a fault in your account or our server: it is how the new Outlook was designed for other providers’ accounts. Whether to use it is your decision.
Want to know more before deciding? Compare the two in classic Outlook or the new Outlook.

Questions about where your mail is kept? Ask us.

Open a support ticket

SEE ALSO

Classic Outlook or the new Outlook: what changes, and which one to use

Adding your mailbox to the new Outlook fails: the messages and what to do

Switching between the new and the classic Outlook, and going back

Outlook is not syncing: missing e-mails and folders that do not update

How to access your webmail

POP or IMAP: which to choose, and what you lose by picking wrong

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