Email, Messaging, & Video Calls Email How to Access AOL Email for Mac The Apple Mail app is preconfigured to access AOL Email By Heinz Tschabitscher Writer A former freelance contributor who has reviewed hundreds of email programs and services since 1997. our editorial process Heinz Tschabitscher Updated March 27, 2020 CatLane / Getty Images Email Yahoo! Mail Gmail Tweet Share Email While you can always check your AOL email through a web browser, Apple Mail allows you to access the same content and features from a simple app. Most operating systems support an email client that can send and receive email through AOL. There are two ways to do this. One is to use POP (Post Office Protocol), which fetches your messages for offline access so you can read all of your new emails. The other is through IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol); when you mark messages as Read or Delete messages, you see those changes reflected in other email clients and online through a browser. It's your choice which to use, but neither one is difficult to configure because the Mail app comes preconfigured for AOL. How to Set up AOL Mail on a Mac Using IMAP Open Apple Mail, and select Mail > Preferences from the menu bar. Select the Accounts tab. Select the + button under the accounts list. Select AOL, then select Continue. Enter your name, AOL email address, and AOL password in the text fields. Select Sign In. Highlight the newly created AOL account in Accounts list. Select the Mailbox Behaviors tab. In the Sent pane, make sure Store sent messages on the server is not checked. In the Junk pane, open the drop-down menu and select Quitting Mail. Close the Accounts configuration window. Select Save if asked to Save changes to the 'AOL' IMAP account? How to Set up AOL Mail on a Mac Using POP Select Mail > Preferences from the menu. Select the Accounts tab. Select the + button under the accounts list. Select AOL, then select Continue. Enter your name, AOL email address, and AOL password in the text fields. Make sure Automatically set up account is not checked and click Continue. Make sure POP is selected next to Account Type. Next to Incoming Mail Server, enter "pop.aol.com" and select Continue. Next to Description, enter "AOL" under Description. Verify that "smtp.aol.com" is entered next to Outgoing Mail Server. Also, make sure Use Authentication is checked, and your username and password have been entered. Select Continue > Create. Highlight the newly created AOL account under the accounts list in the Accounts tab. Select the Advanced tab. Ensure that "100" is entered next to Port. You can optionally do the following: Pick the desired setting under Remove copy from server after retrieving a message:Keep all mail on the AOL server without running out of storage. If you let macOS Mail delete messages, they are not available in AOL Mail on the web or for download on other computers or via IMAP. Close the Accounts configuration window.