Add an email account to Outlook for Windows

There are many different types of email accounts you can add to Outlook, including an Outlook.com or Hotmail.com account, the work or school account you use with Microsoft 365, Gmail, Yahoo, iCloud, and Exchange accounts.

Select a tab option below for the version of Outlook you're using. What version of Outlook do I have?

New Outlook Classic Outlook

Note: If the steps under this New Outlook tab don't work, you may not be using new Outlook for Windows yet. Select the Classic Outlook tab and follow those steps instead.

In this article:

Add a new account | Set as primary account | Remove account | Troubleshoot password issues

Add a new account in new Outlook

On the View tab, select View settings.
Select Accounts > Email accounts. You can now add a new account.
Under Email accounts, select Add Account, and select a suggested account from the dropdown menu or enter a different email address. Click Continue.

Note: Some non-Microsoft email providers, like Gmail, Yahoo, and iCloud, require you to change some settings on their websites before you can add these accounts to Outlook.
If prompted, enter your password for the account and select Done.

Set as primary account in new Outlook

On the View tab, select View settings > Accounts > Email accounts.
In the Email accounts section, find the account you want to make changes to or delete. Beside the account name, select Manage.
Under Account details, select Set as primary account.
When you're finished, select Return to accounts page, or close the Settings window

Remove an account in new Outlook

On the View tab, select View settings > Accounts > Email accounts.
In the Email accounts section, find the account you want to delete. Beside the account name, select Manage.
Under Account details, select Remove to remove this account from Outlook. Any offline cached content for this account will be deleted when you remove the account.

Note: This step only removes the account from the Outlook app, it doesn't delete the account. To delete an account, get help from your email provider.
For accounts where Microsoft isn't the email provider (for example, Gmail, Yahoo, iCloud, and non-Microsoft IMAP and POP accounts), the Remove Account window appears. Select an option to remove the account from only this device or from all devices. If you select, Remove from all devices, your account will be removed from all devices where you added your account to Outlook.
When you're finished, select Return to accounts page, or close the Settings window.

Troubleshoot password issues when adding an account in new Outlook

Forgot your password

If you forgot the password for a Microsoft account, use our sign-in helper to get back into your account, or see Reset a forgotten Microsoft account password.

If you forgot your password for a work or school account, see Reset your work or school password using security info.

App password message

If you know you’re using the correct password for your email account, and you see a message such as:

Please create an app password for Outlook on your email provider's site.

App passwords are randomly generated one-time use passwords that provide temporary access to your online accounts. Temporary passwords act as a security layer, preventing the need to share your main account credentials with potentially less secure or unknown applications.

Depending on your email provider, an app password may be necessary to add certain account types to Outlook such as IMAP or iCloud accounts.

To add an app password, do the following:

Go to your email provider to get the app password. Your email provider will provide instructions for how to generate an app password to use in email applications such as Outlook in place of your regular password.
After you get the app password from your provider, copy it, and then paste it when prompted for your account password in Outlook.

For specific help with adding a Gmail or iCloud account, see Add a Gmail account or Add or manage an iCloud email account.

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Try guided support

These steps are the same whether you're adding your first email account or additional email accounts to classic Outlook for Windows.

Select File > Add Account.

(If you don't see a File tab, perhaps you are using New Outlook for Windows. Go to New Outlook for instructions."
Enter your email address and click Connect.
If prompted, enter your password again, then select OK > Finish to start using your email account in classic Outlook for Windows.

Remove an account

Removing an email account from classic Outlook for Windows doesn't deactivate the email account. If you want to deactivate your account, talk to your email account provider. Once you delete an account from classic Outlook, you'll no longer be able to send and receive mail from that account in Outlook.

In classic Outlook for Windows, select File.
Select Account Settings > Account Settings.
Select the account you want to delete, then select Remove.
You'll see a message warning you that all offline cached content for this account will be deleted. This only affects content downloaded and stored on your computer.
Select Yes to confirm.

Important: If you want to delete the last or the only email account you have in classic Outlook for Windows, you'll receive a warning that you must create a new location for your data before removing the account. For more information, see Create an Outlook Data File.

Troubleshoot

Forgot your password

If you forgot the password for a Microsoft account, use our sign-in helper to get back into your account, or see Reset a forgotten Microsoft account password.

If you forgot your password for a work or school account, see Reset your work or school password using security info.

App password message

If you know you’re using the correct password for your email account, and you see a message such as:

Please create an app password for Outlook on your email provider's site.

Depending on your email provider, an app password may be necessary to add certain account types to classic Outlook for Windows such as IMAP or iCloud accounts.

Go to your email provider to get the app password. Your email provider will provide instructions for how to generate an app password so you can use it in email applications such as classic Outlook.

After you get the app password from your provider, copy it, and then paste it when prompted for your account password in classic Outlook.

For specific help with adding a Gmail or iCloud account, see Add a Gmail account or Add or manage an iCloud email account.

Use advanced setup

You may need to manually add your email account. Choose from one of the advanced methods below:

Use advanced setup to add a POP or IMAP email account in classic Outlook for Windows

If you need to enter specific values for incoming and outgoing server names, port numbers, or SSL settings, you can use Outlook's advanced setup option. You can use these instructions to add a POP or IMAP account to classic Outlook.

Open classic Outlook and select File > Add Account.
On the next screen, enter your email address, select Advanced options, then check the box for Let me set up my account manually and select Connect.
Select your account type. Most of the time when you need to use this option, you'll select IMAP.
The Account settings screen should be pre-populated with most of the account settings you need. However, if you need to look up your settings, see the POP and IMAP account settings topic. Enter your incoming and outgoing server settings and then select Next.
Enter your password and then select Connect.

Use advanced setup to add a third-party MAPI email account to classic Outlook for Windows

If you are using a third-party MAPI provider, download and configure the MAPI email provider application as suggested by provider company.

Open classic Outlook and select File > Add Account.
On the next screen, enter your email address, select Advanced options, check the box for Let me set up my account manually, and select Connect.
On the Advanced Setup screen, select Other.
On the Other screen, choose the type of server to connect to from the list.

Note: The Other option and your account type listed under it will only appear if you’ve properly installed and configured the MAPI provider.
Click Connect.
The third-party MAPI provider application installed on your machine should launch.
Finalize the account setup by following the MAPI provider's instructions.

Need to update settings for an existing email account in classic Outlook?

If you already created an email account but need to update existing settings because of recent problems, go to Change or update email account settings in Outlook for Windows.