Access an AOL Email Account With Outlook

Setting up e-mail on an iPad
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by Heinz Tschabitscher
An independent writer who has reviewed hundreds of email programs and services since 1997.
Updated September 19, 2018

If you use Outlook to keep your schedule and to maintain your to-do list, to jot down notes and to manage your email accounts, wouldn't it be nice if you could also use it to access your AOL email accounts?

Fortunately, AOL provides IMAP access; you can easily add it to your list of Outlook email accounts in just a few steps. Some settings are not exactly standard, though, so pay close attention when you create the account.

Set Up an AOL Email Account in Outlook

Keep in mind that the steps below are for Outlook 2016 but they shouldn't be too different from earlier versions of Outlook. If your version of Outlook is really old (2002 or 2003), see this step-by-step, picture walkthrough.

  1. Access the File > Account Settings > Account Settings menu item to open the Account Settings window. Earlier versions of MS Outlook can get to this screen through the Tools > Account Settings menu.

  2. In the first tab, called Email, select the button titled New.

  3. Select the bubble next to Manual setup or additional server types.

  4. Select Next >.

  5. Choose POP or IMAP from the list of options.

  6. Select Next >.

  7. Fill out all the details in the Add Account window:

    • The Your Name section should be whatever name you want to be identified as when sending mail.
    • For Email Address, enter your full AOL address, like example12345@aol.com.
    • In the Server Information section, pick IMAP from the drop-down menu and then imap.aol.com for the Incoming mail server and smtp.aol.com for the Outgoing mail server (SMTP).
    • Type your AOL email username and password in those fields at the bottom of the Add Account screen, but make sure to drop the "aol.com" portion (e.g. if your email is homers@aol.com, just enter homers).
    • Make sure the Remember password box is checked so you don't have to enter your AOL Mail password each time you want to use the account.

  8. Select More Settings at the bottom right of the Add Account window.

  9. Go to the Outgoing Server tab.

  10. Check the box that says My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication.

  11. In the Advanced tab of the Internet Email Settings window, type 587 in the Outgoing server (SMTP) area.

  12. Select OK to save those changes and exit the window.

  13. Select Next > on the Add Account window.

  14. Outlook might test the account settings and send you a test message. You can select Close on that confirmation window.

  15. Select Finish to close down the Add Account window.

  16. Select Close to exit the Account Settings screen.