Zentraler Informatikdienst

Setting up an IMAP e-mail account in macOS – Apple Mail, Thunderbird

For:  students    employees

This user guide will help you set up an e-mail account in the Apple Mail or Thunderbird desktop app if you manage your e-mails with IMAP.

You will then be able to send and receive e-mails on your macOS device using your University of Vienna e-mail address.

Setting up Apple Mail

  1. Open desktop app Mail – Mail – Add Account… – Other Mail Account…
  2. Enter name, e-mail address, u:account password
  3. u:account UserID, Incoming Mail Server: imap.univie.ac.at, Outgoing Mail Server: mail.univie.ac.at

Detailed user guide

Note

If you are asked about Ports or Encryption during configuration, enter the following information:

  • Encryption: SSL encryption
  • Port for IMAP: 993
  • Port for SMTP: 465

1. Adding account

Open the desktop app Mail. 

If you:

  • are starting Mail for the first time and have not yet set up an e-mail account: Continue with 2. Selecting account type.
  • have already set up an e-mail account in Mail: Select Mail from the menu bar at the top of the screen, then select Add Account….

2. Selecting account type

Choose Other Mail Account… and click Continue.

3. Setting up account

Enter the following data:

  • Name: your name
  • Email address: your e-mail address of the University of Vienna
    Students: aStudentIDnumber@unet.univie.ac.at (example: a12345678@unet.univie.ac.at)
    Employees: firstname.lastname@univie.ac.at (example: jamie.doe@univie.ac.at)
    Guests: UserID@univie.ac.at (example: doejamie99@univie.ac.at)
  • Password: your u:account password

Click Sign In.

4. Entering account details

Fill in the following details:

  • Username: the UserID of your u:account (example: doejamie99)
  • Incoming Mail Server: imap.univie.ac.at
  • Outgoing Mail Server: mail.univie.ac.at

Click Sign In.

5. Saving account

  1. In the following window, click Done to save the account.
  2. Your e-mail account is now set up.

6. Selecting default folders

Apple Mail uses its own names for the folders in which sent and deleted e-mails, drafts and spam are stored. These names may differ from those used by the University of Vienna’s e-mail server.

To ensure that only 1 folder is set up for these items on your device, you should select the default folders:

Click Mail in the menu bar at the top of the screen and open Settings….

  1. Under Accounts, select your university e-mail account (univie.ac.at).
  2. Open the tab Mailbox Behaviours.
  3. Select the following folders by clicking on the respective drop-down menu:
    • Drafts Mailbox: Drafts
    • Sent Mailbox: Sent
    • Junk Mailbox: Junk
    • Bin Mailbox: Trash
  4. Apple Mail automatically adds INBOX before these names.

Troubleshooting problems with receiving or sending e-mails

Follow this user guide if you encounter problems receiving or sending e-mails.

Select Mail from the menu bar at the top of the screen and open the Settings….

  1. Under Accounts, select your university e-mail account (univie.ac.at).
  2. Open the Server Settings tab.
  3. Deactivate the Automatically manage connection settings option for both Incoming Mail Server (IMAP) and Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP).
  4. Enter 993 as the port in the IMAP section and 465 in the SMTP section.
  5. Click Save.

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Setting up Thunderbird

Note

Depending on your version of Thunderbird, the names of the input fields may vary.

  1. Download and install Thunderbird
  2. Set up an account using the wizard or add an account: Settings ⚙ – Account Settings – New Account – Mail Account… – enter name, e-mail address – Edit configuration
  3. Incoming server: IMAP, imap.univie.ac.at, Port: 993, SSL/TLS, Normal password, u:account UserID
  4. Outgoing server: SMTP, mail.univie.ac.at, Port: 465, SSL/TLS, Normal password, u:account UserID, Test
  5. u:account password

Ausführliche Anleitung

1. Downloading and installing Thunderbird

  1. Open the Thunderbird website and click Downloads to download the latest version of Mozilla Thunderbird. 
    How to download and install a desktop app? To the basic user guide Installing desktop app
  2. Once the download is complete, you can open the downloaded file Thunderbird xxx.x.dmg by double-clicking it.
  3. Follow the instructions in the installation wizard. Select Standard for the installation type.
  4. Click Finish to complete the installation.

2. Adding and setting up an account

  1. Open Thunderbird. A wizard for configuring new e-mail accounts will appear.
    If you have already set up an account, open the settings via the gear icon ⚙ and select Account Settings and then the blue button New Account – Mail Account… in the top left corner.
  2. Enter:
    • Full name: your name (example: Jamie Doe)
    • E-mail address: your e-mail address at the University of Vienna:
      Students: aStudentIDnumber@unet.univie.ac.at (example: a12345678@unet.univie.ac.at)
      Employees: firstname.lastname@univie.ac.at (example: jamie.doe@univie.ac.at)
      Guests: UserID@univie.ac.at (Beispiel: doejamie99@univie.ac.at)
  3. Click Continue.
  4. Thunderbird will give you an overview of the settings. Click Edit configuration.

3. Checking incoming server

Check the settings for the incoming server. Thunderbird recognises most of them automatically, but you must add the user name.

  • Protocol: IMAP
  • Hostname: imap.univie.ac.at
  • Port: 993
  • Connection security: SSL/TLS
  • Authentication method: Normal password
  • Username: the userID of your u:account (example: doejamie99)

Click Continue.

4. Checking outgoing server

Check the settings for the outgoing server. Thunderbird recognises most of them automatically, but you must add the user name

  • Protocol: SMTP
  • Hostname: mail.univie.ac.at
  • Port: 465
  • Connection security: SSL/TLS
  • Authentication method: Normal password
  • Username: the userID of your u:account (example: doejamie99)

Click Test and then Continue.

5. Entering password, completing setup

  1. In the next window, enter your u:account password under Password and click Continue.
  2. In the following two windows, click Continue and Finish.

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