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UK Email Settings - Help and Advice

This page offers help and advice for those having trouble sending or receiving email. It includes a list of UK POP and SMTP server addresses

 

New to setting up email? This page gives you some basic information on what you need to do to set up your email application to access the major UK email services.

 

Receiving Email

This is done using a service called POP3. Your email application needs to have the correct POP3 address to allow you to collect your email. You will need a username and password to connect to a POP3 server.

 

Sending Email

This is done using a service called SMTP. Your email application needs to have an SMTP server address.

Note that to stop Spam, some email services only let you send email via their SMTP server if you are connected to the Internet using that Internet provider. For example, Tiscali may not let you send emails from your Tiscali account if you are connected using BT Broadband.

 

Outlook Express iconOutlook Express

To set up an email account, go to Tools > Accounts, select the Mail tab and go to Properties. Server information is under the Server tab.

 

Outlook iconMicrosoft Outlook

Tools > Email accounts > Add a new email account. Select Pop3

 

AOL Email settings

Incoming mail server (POP3) Outgoing mail server (SMTP) Username (example)
pop.aol.com smtp.uk.aol.com
Must set port to 587
myaolname

 

BT Broadband Email settings

Incoming mail server (POP3) Outgoing mail server (SMTP) Username (example)
mail.btinternet.com mail.btinternet.com myname@btinternet.com

Note that with BT Broadband, you have to set SMTP Authentication.
For help with BT Broadband setup, see our BT Broadband FAQ

 

Gmail / Googlemail settings

To collect your Gmail from an application such as Outlook or Outlook Express, you need to enable POP on your Gmail account. To do this, log onto your Gmail account from a web browser and go to "Settings" > "Forwarding and Pop/IMAP". You should see an option to enable POP:

Gmail POP setting

Once enabled, use the following settings on your email application:

Incoming mail server (POP3) Outgoing mail server (SMTP) Username (example)

pop.gmail.com

Needs to use SSL. Set Port to 995

smtp.gmail.com

Requires SSL or TLS. Use Port 465 (for SSL) or Port 587 (for TLS)

myname@gmail.com

 

 

Lineone settings

Incoming mail server (POP3) Outgoing mail server (SMTP) Username (example)
pop3.lineone.net smtp.lineone.net myname@lineone.net

 

Plusnet Email settings

Incoming mail server (POP3) Outgoing mail server (SMTP) Username (example)
mail.plus.net relay.plus.net yourname@username.plus.com

For help with Plusnet, see our Plusnet FAQ

 

Sky Broadband Email settings

Incoming mail server (POP3) Outgoing mail server (SMTP) Username (example)
pop.tools.sky.com smtp.tools.sky.com myname@sky.com

For help with Sky Broadband, see our Sky Broadband FAQ

TalkTalk Email settings

Incoming mail server (POP3) Outgoing mail server (SMTP) Username (example)

mail.talktalk.net
(pop3.talktalk.net also works)

smtp.talktalk.net myname@talktalk.net

 

Talk21 Email settings

Incoming mail server (POP3) Outgoing mail server (SMTP) Username (example)

in.talk21.com

out.talk21.com username@talk21.com

 

Tiscali Email settings

Incoming mail server (POP3) Outgoing mail server (SMTP) Username (example)
pop.tiscali.co.uk smtp.tiscali.co.uk myname@tiscali.co.uk

 

Virgin Media Email settings

Incoming mail server (POP3) Outgoing mail server (SMTP) Username (example)
pop.virgin.net smtp.virgin.net my.name@virgin.net

 

Other UK Email settings

  Incoming server (POP3) Outgoing server (SMTP)
1 and 1 Internet pop.1and1.com smtp.1and1.com
3 (Mobile Broadband) imap.three.co.uk smtp.three.co.uk
BT Click tbc smtp.btclick.com
Clara pop.clara.net relay.clara.net
Construction Plus tbc smtp.constructionplus.net

Any settings you'd like us to add? Let us know

 

Help and Troubleshooting?

I can't send emails

If you see an error message such as "Problem sending message", you may be trying to send an email using a different Internet Service Provider to the one you're connected with.

When you send an email, you use the SMTP server you entered into your email application. Some UK Internet Service Providers only allow you to send emails via their SMTP server if you're also connecting to them using their Internet service - this helps protect against spam.

On a mobile? If you're trying to send email from your mobile phone, you'll need to use your network operator's SMTP server address, and not your email provider's SMTP server address. See our GPRS page for UK GPRS settings.

Can't log on to email

If, when attempting to log in to get your email, you're constantly prompted for your password, there are two possible causes:

  1. You may already be logged on - Perhaps via a web browser or a PC program like Outlook. You're not allowed to log on to a POP server from a second machine.
  2. Check that your email account has not been temporarily locked as you may have made repeated attempts to log on incorrectly. Try logging on via a web browser, if your provider offers a webmail service, to check that your account is working.

One useful way of checking that access to your email POP mailbox is working, is to try to connect using www.mail2web.com

 

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