My mailbox won't connect: Gmail, Microsoft 365 and other providers
Start from the error you see, or from your provider. This page points to the exact fix, and the detailed steps live in the pages it links to.
Warmerly signs in to both SMTP (to send) and IMAP (to read) before it saves a mailbox, so a mailbox that connects here will work for real. Use Test connection on the setup form before saving. It tells you which of the two failed.
Find your provider
| Provider | How it connects | If it fails, go to |
|---|---|---|
| Gmail and Google Workspace | Google app password (not your normal password) | App password guide. If Google says the setting is "not available for your account", see 2-Step Verification and Workspace admins |
| Microsoft 365, Outlook.com, Hotmail | One-click Microsoft sign-in | Outlook sign-in errors, SMTP username or password failed after sign-in |
| Zoho, Namecheap Private Email, IONOS, Hostinger, others | Manual SMTP and IMAP settings | Manual setup and host and port table |
| OneMail and the free mailbox | Hosted by Warmerly, no password to enter | OneMail, Free mailbox |
What each message means
| You see | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| "Wrong username or password" | The login was refused | Recheck the address and password. If the mailbox has two-step sign-in, it needs an app password |
| "needs an app password, not the password you sign in with" | Two-step sign-in is on | Create an app password and paste that |
| "The provider blocked this sign-in as unusual" | The provider wants you to confirm it was you | Sign in to webmail in a browser, confirm, then retry |
| "Microsoft has SMTP sending switched off" | Authenticated SMTP is disabled for your Microsoft 365 organisation | An admin has to enable it. See Microsoft 365 troubleshooting |
| "Couldn't reach the mail server" | Host or port wrong, or the server is down | Check the host and port for your provider |
| "Secure-connection problem, the port may be wrong" | Wrong port for the encryption type | Try 465 or 587 for SMTP |
| "The provider is temporarily blocking logins" | Too many attempts in a short time | Wait a few minutes and try again |
Microsoft 365 in a few lines
- Warmerly uses SMTP and IMAP over Microsoft sign-in (it does not send through Microsoft Graph). Exchange needs the username to be the mailbox's primary SMTP address, which can differ from the sign-in address. A reconnect re-reads the correct address.
- SMTP AUTH turned off for the organisation looks like a credentials error even though sign-in worked. Only a tenant admin can turn it on.
- "Need admin approval" from Microsoft before you get back to Warmerly means your organisation only lets administrators approve new apps. Ask an admin to approve Warmerly.
- Aliases, shared and delegated mailboxes work if the signed-in user has Send As or Full Access rights and you set the SMTP and IMAP username to that mailbox address.
Google in a few lines
- Gmail and Workspace use an app password, which only appears once 2-Step Verification is on. On Workspace an administrator may need to allow 2-Step Verification first.
- If the app password is later deleted or your Google password changes, the mailbox disconnects. Create a new app password and use Reconnect.
It was working and then stopped
That is a disconnect, not a setup problem. See Why did my mailbox disconnect, and how do I reconnect it?. A wrong password is never retried automatically. If the mail server was only unreachable, Warmerly retries on its own about every 30 minutes.
Still stuck
Ask Warmi in the chat widget. It can see your mailbox's status and the reason for the last failure. If you add a mailbox by SMTP and IMAP and nothing above helps, contact support with the exact message shown.