How do I set up my Rocketspark email in Outlook for Mac?

Disclaimer: If you have a Google Workspace account you will be able to follow this guide here.

If you have a Rocketspark-hosted email account, you can read and send your mail from Outlook for Mac on your desktop or laptop. This guide walks you through connecting your Rocketspark email to Outlook for Mac using IMAP (the standard way to sync mail across devices). By the end you'll have your inbox loading in Outlook alongside any other email accounts you use.
 

Before you start: which version of Outlook are you using?

Microsoft has two versions of Outlook for Mac at the moment: New Outlook (the rebuilt version that became the default in late 2024) and Legacy Outlook (the older version, sometimes called classic Outlook). The screenshots in this guide are from New Outlook. If you're on the older Legacy Outlook, jump to the Legacy Outlook for Mac section at the bottom of the guide.

Not sure which one you have? Open Outlook and look at the top menu bar. If you see a toggle that says "New Outlook" in the top right, you're on the new version.

Setting up your Rocketspark email in New Outlook for Mac
 

Step 1 — Open Outlook for Mac

Launch Outlook from your Applications folder or the Dock.
Already have accounts in Outlook? If you already have one or more accounts set up, skip ahead to Step 5.
 

Step 2 — Open Outlook settings

From the menu bar at the top of your screen, click Outlook, then choose Settings (this menu item used to be called Preferences, and may still appear that way on older builds).

Step 3 — Open Accounts

In the Settings window, click Accounts.

Step 4 — Click Add Email Account

Step 5 — Enter your email address

Type the email address you want to set up, then click Continue.

Step 6 — If Outlook detects Exchange, click "Not Exchange?"

Outlook sometimes guesses your account is an Exchange account when it isn't. If you see the screen below, click Not Exchange? in the top-right corner to keep setting up your account as IMAP.

Step 7 — Choose IMAP as the account type

On the Choose the provider screen, click the IMAP tile.

What about that "Sync with Microsoft Cloud" toggle? If it's switched on, Outlook will store a copy of your mail in Microsoft's cloud so the new sync engine can keep things up to date across devices. To make that work, your email password is sent to Microsoft. Most people leave it on for convenience. If you'd rather keep your mailbox between your Mac and Rocketspark's servers only, switch it off before clicking IMAP.

Step 8 — Confirm the sync choice

You'll see a confirmation screen for your sync choice. Click Continue.

Step 9 — Enter your account details

Fill in the basic details, then toggle on Show Advanced Settings to reveal the server fields.

Step 10 — Enter the server settings

When Advanced Settings is on, you'll see the incoming and outgoing server fields. Fill them in exactly as below.

Incoming mail (IMAP):

Outgoing mail (SMTP):

Step 11 — Click Add Account

Your Rocketspark email is now connected to Outlook for Mac. Your inbox should start loading within a minute or two, depending on how many emails are in your mailbox.

Setting up your Rocketspark email in Legacy Outlook for Mac

If you're using the older Legacy Outlook for Mac, the menus look different but the server details are exactly the same. The short version:

1. Open Outlook and go to Outlook > Preferences > Accounts.
2. Click the + icon at the bottom-left and choose New Account.
3. Enter your email address and click Continue.
4. When Outlook asks you to choose a provider, select IMAP/POP, then choose IMAP as the type.
5. Fill in:
   • Email address: your Rocketspark email address
   • Username: the same email address
   • Password: your Rocketspark Webmail password
   • Incoming server: secure.emailsrvr.com, port 993, SSL on
   • Outgoing server: secure.emailsrvr.com, port 465, SSL on
6. Click Add Account, then Done.

If Legacy Outlook keeps trying to use Exchange or autodiscover, look for an option to set up the account manually and choose IMAP from there.

Frequently asked questions
 

Outlook keeps asking for my password — what's going on? 

Nine times out of ten this is either a typo in the password or SSL being switched off on the SMTP side. Double-check the password by logging into Webmail, then re-check that both Incoming (993) and Outgoing (465) servers have Use SSL to connect ticked. If you've recently reset your password, you'll need to update it in Outlook too.
 

Should I use IMAP or POP? 

Use IMAP. IMAP keeps your mail synced across all your devices, so an email read on your phone shows as read in Outlook too. POP downloads mail to one device and (by default) removes it from the server, which causes problems if you check mail anywhere else.
 

What does "Sync with Microsoft Cloud" actually do, and is it safe? 

It lets New Outlook's sync engine cache your mail on Microsoft's servers so the app feels faster and works better offline. To do that, Microsoft needs your email password. It's safe in the sense that Microsoft is a trusted provider, but it's a choice worth being aware of. If you prefer to keep your mail only between your Mac and Rocketspark's mail servers, switch the toggle off before choosing IMAP in Step 7.
 

Why does Outlook think my Rocketspark email is an Exchange account? 

Outlook's autodiscover tries Exchange first and sometimes guesses wrong for IMAP accounts. The Not Exchange? link in the top-right of that screen (Step 6) is the way around it. Click it, and Outlook will let you continue setting up as IMAP.
 

Can I add more than one Rocketspark email account to Outlook? 

Yes. Repeat the steps for each address. Each one shows up as its own inbox in Outlook's sidebar.
 

I've set up my account, but emails I send from Outlook aren't appearing in Webmail's Sent folder. Why?

 This is usually a "Sent items" folder mapping issue. In Outlook, go to Outlook > Settings > Accounts, click your Rocketspark account, then look for Folder mappings or Sent Items folder and point it to the Sent folder on the server (sometimes called "Sent" or "Sent Items"). Once that's mapped, sent mail will sync both ways.
 

Need more help?

If you're still stuck, flick us a message at support@rocketspark.com and we'll help you get it sorted.