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Configure Apple Mail for Macintosh

Software: Apple Mail 3.6

Operating System: Mac OS

Note: These instructions follow the version of the software noted above. For other versions, there may be some variation, but the information below should serve as a guide to get you started. To identify the version of your software, look for the About link in the software's main menu or Help menu.

  1. Open Apple Mail. The Welcome to Mail window will open.
    Note: If you have configured Apple Mail on this computer before, you need to add another account to access UMail. Go to Mail > Preferences, and click + (the Add Account icon in the lower left corner). After the Add Accounts screen opens, you can use the following instructions to configure your UMail account.
  2. In the Welcome to Mail window:
    • In the Full Name field, enter your name.
      Note: This will appear in the From field of your outgoing messages.
    • In the Email Address field, enter your UMail address.
    • Leave the Password field blank.
    • Click Continue. The Incoming Mail Server window will open.
  3. In the Incoming Mail Server window:
    • From the Account Type drop-down menu, select IMAP.
    • In the Incoming Mail Server field, enter mail-?.oit.umass.edu, where ? is the first letter of your OIT Account NetID.
    • In the User Name field, enter your NetID.
    • Leave the Password field blank.
    • Click Continue. You will receive an error message stating that the attempted login failed because you did not enter your OIT Account password. For security reasons, we recommend that you do not enter your password.
    • Click Continue again. The Incoming Mail Security window will open.
  4. In the Incoming Mail Security window:
    • Verify that Use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is selected.
    • From the Authentication drop-down menu, verify that Password is selected.
    • Click Continue. The Outgoing Mail Server window will open.
  5. In the Outgoing Mail Server window:
    • In the Outgoing Mail Server field, enter mail-auth.oit.umass.edu.
    • Directly under the Outgoing Mail Server field, select Use only this server.
    • Select Use Authentication.
    • In the User Name field, enter your NetID.
    • Leave the Password field blank.
    • Click Continue. You will receive an error message stating that the attempted login failed because you did not enter your OIT Account password. For security reasons, we recommend that you do not enter your password.
    • Click Continue again. The Outgoing Mail Security window will open.
  6. In the Outgoing Mail Security window:
    • Verify that Use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is selected.
    • From the Authentication drop-down menu, verify that Password is selected.
    • Click Continue. The Account Summary window opens.
  7. In the Account Summary window, select Take account online (at bottom) and click Create.
  8. When prompted for a password to connect to the mail server, enter your OIT Account password.
  9. Apple Mail will prompt you to change the IMAP path prefix. Click Change.
  10. Apple Mail will open. Verify that the Inbox is selected. You should see all the emails that are currently in your UMail Inbox.
  11. Go to Mail > Preferences...
  12. In the General window, click Accounts (upper left corner).
  13. In the Accounts window, click the Account Information tab (if necessary). In the Account Information window, make sure the information listed is correct and leave the Password field blank.
  14. To verify the settings for the outgoing mail server:
    • From the Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP) drop-down menu, select Edit Server List.
    • Verify that your outgoing server name is selected (at top).
    • Click the Advanced tab.
    • Verify that Use default ports (25, 465, 587) and Use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) are selected.
    • Verify that the Authentication drop-down menu is set to Password.
    • In the User Name field, verify that your NetID is entered and leave the Password field blank.
    • Click OK.
  15. In the Accounts window, click the Advanced tab. In the Advanced window:
    • Select Enable this account, Include when automatically checking for new mail and Compact mailboxes automatically.
    • Verify that the IMAP Path Prefix field is set to INBOX.
    • Verify that the Port field is set to 993, and that Use SSL is selected.
    • From the Authentication drop-down menu, verify that Password is selected.
    • Verify that Use IDLE command if the server supports it is selected.
  16. Close the Accounts window. You will be prompted to save your changes. Click Save.
  17. To check that your outgoing mail settings are correct, use Apple Mail to send a message to your UMail address. You will need to enter your OIT Account password to send the message. The message should appear momentarily in your Apple Mail inbox.
  18. Congratulations! Apple Mail is now configured to send and receive messages for your UMail account.

    Now that you've finished setting up your Apple Mail to access UMail, we suggest that you configure your software to look up UMass Amherst email addresses. To learn how, follow the link under Related Pages, below.

Related Pages

Need Help?

If you encounter problems, submit an online Help Request.
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Contact the OIT Help Desk at 545-9400.

Last revised August 06, 2009