What Are the Outlook.com IMAP Server Settings?

The Internet Message Access Protocol (known more commonly by its acronym, IMAP) is an email protocol that can be used for accessing email on a remote web server. It is one of the two most widely used mail protocols used for retrieving emails.​

Before you learn how to use Outlook.com's IMAP server settings to access your email from all of your devices, do consider Exchange access for your Outlook.com account, though: it does everything IMAP can (letting you send and receive email) and synchronizes your contacts, calendars, to-items and what not as well.

What Are the Outlook.com IMAP Server Settings?

The Outlook.com IMAP server settings for accessing email and folders at Outlook.com in email program, cell phone or mobile device are:

• Outlook.com IMAP server address: imap-mail.outlook.com
• Outlook.com IMAP user name: Your full Outlook.com email address (not an alias)
• Outlook.com IMAP password: Your Outlook.com password (or an application password)
• Outlook.com IMAP port: 993
• Outlook.com IMAP TLS/SSL encryption required: yes

To send mail using an Outlook.com account from an email program, see the

• Outlook.com SMTP server settings.

Note that you can also access Outlook.com using POP as an alternative to IMAP.