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IMAP Mail with Outlook for Windows
Posted: 10: 37 AM, Monday, Feb 10, 2003
Last Updated: 8:00 AM, Monday, September 14, 2009
This document walks you through setting up Outlook for Windows to read your email on Colonial Mail for Faculty and Staff or GWmail for Students and Alumni via an IMAP connection. IMAP, "Internet Mail Application Protocol", allows you to read your mail from multiple computers without transferring any files or messages. Getting your email via IMAP is especially handy when you use several computers or if you travel a lot. POP is not recommended.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

You will need:
  • A Colonial Mail or GWmail Account. See the Account Center if you do not have an email account.
  • Outlook installed on your computer. Outlook is available with the purchase of Microsoft Office suite. Please see the Book Store or your Local Service Provider (LSP) if you do not own/have Outlook installed on your computer.

SET UP OUTLOOK 2003 TO ACCESS COLONIAL EMAIL
  1. Open Outlook.
  2. Click the Tools menu, and select E-mail Accounts...
  3. Click Add a new e-mail account, and click Next.
  4. Choose IMAP as your server type by clicking the radio button, and click Next.
  5. Fill in all necessary fields to include the following information:
    • USER INFORMATION
      • Your Name: <Enter your name as you would like it to appear in the From: field of outgoing messages.>
      • Email Address: Enter your full GW email address (NetID@gwu.edu)
    • SERVER INFORMATION
      • Incoming mail server (IMAP): imap.gwu.edu
      • Outgoing mail server (SMTP): smtp.gwu.edu*
    • LOGIN INFORMATION
      • User Name: Enter your GW email NetID (without the @gwu.edu)
      • Optional: Password: Enter your GW email password
  6. Click OK.

*For off-campus use, you must first logon to the GW VPN or replace smtp.gwu.edu with your ISP's SMTP outgoing mail server. (Alternatively, you may directly access Colonial Mail both on and off campus via its web interface.)

SET UP OUTLOOK 2007 TO ACCESS COLONIAL EMAIL

NOTE: Automatic configuration fails; the account *must* be configured manually in the Add New E-mail Account dialog box:

  1. Start Outlook.
  2. On the Tools menu, click Account Settings.
  3. On the E-mail tab, click New.
  4. Select the 'Manually configure server settings or additional server types' check box, and then click Next.
  5. Click Internet E-mail, and then click Next.
  6. Under User Information, follow these steps:
    • In the Your Name box, type your full name.
    • In the E-mail Address box, type your full e-mail address.
  7. Under Server Information, click 'IMAP' in the Account Type box.
  8. In the Incoming mail server box, type in lowercase letters: imap.gwu.edu
  9. In the Outgoing mail server (SMTP) box, type in lowercase letters: smtp.gwu.edu*
  10. Under Logon Information, follow these steps:
    • In the User Name box, type your NetID.
    • In the Password box, type your NetID password.
  11. If you want Outlook to remember your e-mail account password, select the 'Remember password' check box.
  12. Click Test Account Settings to send a test message to yourself.

*For off-campus use, you must first logon to the GW VPN or replace smtp.gwu.edu with your ISP's SMTP outgoing mail server. (Alternatively, you may directly access Colonial Mail both on and off campus via its web interface.)

SET UP OUTLOOK 2003 TO ACCESS GWMAIL
  1. Enable IMAP in GWmail:
    • Sign in to GWmail
    • Click Settings at the top of any GWmail page.
    • Click Forwarding and POP/IMAP.
    • Select Enable IMAP.
    • Click Save Changes.
  2. Set up your Outlook 2003 client to work with GWmail:
    • Open Outlook.
    • Click the Tools menu, and select E-mail Accounts...
    • Click Add a new e-mail account, then click Next.
    • Choose IMAP as your server type by clicking the radio button, and click Next.
      • User Information:
        • Your Name: Enter your name as you would like it to appear in outgoing messages.
        • E-mail Address: netid@gwmail.gwu.edu
      • Server Information:
        • Incoming mail server (IMAP): imap.gmail.com
        • Outgoing mail server (SMTP): smtp.gmail.com
      • Login Information:
        • User Name: netid@gwmail.gwu.edu
        • Password: Enter your GWmail password.
  3. Click More Settings... and then click the Outgoing Server tab.
    • Check the box next to 'My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication'
    • Select Use same settings as my incoming mail server.
  4. Click the Advanced tab
    • Check the box next to 'This server requires an encrypted connection (SSL)' under
      Incoming Server (IMAP). Enter 993 in the Incoming server (IMAP) box.
    • Check the box next to 'This server requires an encrypted connection (SSL)' under
      Outgoing Server (SMTP). Enter 465 in the Outgoing server (SMTP) box.
  5. Click OK.
  6. Click Test Account Settings.
    • After receiving the 'Congratulations!' message, click Close.
    • Click Next, and then click Finish.
  7. In Email Options under Tools > Options > Preferences:
    • Make sure that 'Save copies of messages in Sent Items folder' is NOT checked.

SET UP OUTLOOK 2007 TO ACCESS GWMAIL
  1. FIRST: Enable IMAP in GWmail:
    • Sign in to GWmail.
    • Click Settings at the top of any GWmail page.
    • Click Forwarding and POP/IMAP.
    • Select Enable IMAP.
    • Click Save Changes.
  2. Open Outlook.
  3. For new setups, select Do not upgrade.
  4. Click Yes.
  5. Enter your display name, email address (netid@gwmail.gwu.edu), and GWmail password
  6. Select the 'Manually configure server settings or additional server types' checkbox.
  7. Select Internet E-mail.
  8. User Information:
    • Your Name: Full Display Name
    • E-mail Address: netid@gwmail.gwu.edu
  9. Server Information:
    • Account Type: IMAP
    • Incoming mail server: imap.gmail.com
    • Outgoing mail server (SMTP): smtp.gmail.com
  10. Logon Information:
    • User Name: netid@gwmail.gwu.edu
    • Password: GWmail password
    • Optional: Click 'Remember password'
  11. Click Next.
  12. In the Tools menu, select Options then Mail Setup. Under 'Email Accounts,' click E-mail
    Accounts    .
  13. Select an account, and click Change above the list of accounts. Click More Settings, then
    the Advanced tab.
    • Incoming server must be 993, and must use SSL encryption.
    • Outgoing server can use 587, TLS encryption.
  14. Click the Outgoing Server tab.
    • Make sure that 'My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication' is selected.
    • The radio button 'Use same settings as my incoming mail server' should also be
      selected.
  15. Click OK > Next > Finish > Close > OK.

ISP SMTP OUTGOING MAIL SERVERS

GW's SMTP server will not work off-campus through your Internet Service Provider (ISP) unless first connected to the GW VPN. If you opt not to first use the GW VPN while off-campus, you must replace smtp.gwu.edu with your ISP's SMTP server. We are happy to provide the following courtesy list of common SMTP outgoing mail servers; but you should contact your ISP directly for detailed instructions.**

**Note: If you're using an SMTP server other than smtp.gwu.edu, you may need to enable SMTP Authentication to be able to send GW email through your ISP's SMTP server. Please contact your ISP for instructions to guide you through enabling SMTP Authentication, and to troubleshoot the configuration of your personal computer, home network router, and email and Internet service.
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