How to Fetch Email from an External Account into ISPConfig

This guide shows you how to pull email from an external POP3 or IMAP account into a mailbox on your Noiz hosting account, using the Fetchmail feature in the ISPConfig control panel. This is useful when you are moving away from an old provider, or when you want messages from a secondary address (for example an old free webmail account) delivered into one central mailbox. ISPConfig calls this feature Fetchmail, and the form you fill in is called Get Email; behind the scenes ISPConfig uses a utility called getmail to do the retrieval, so you may see either name in error messages or documentation. A mailbox is sometimes called an email account, and the external account is sometimes called the source or remote account.

Last reviewed: 27 July 2026, against ISPConfig 3.3.1p1. This guide is written for Noiz hosting and is kept current against ISPConfig. It complements, and does not replace, the official ISPConfig documentation linked below.

Official Documentation Reference

• ISPConfig official documentation
• ISPConfig source: Get Email form definition (field list and protocol options)
• ISPConfig source: Get Email interface text (field labels and messages)

Prerequisites

• You can log in to the ISPConfig control panel.
• A destination mailbox already exists on your Noiz hosting account. If not, first create an email mailbox in ISPConfig.
• You have the connection details for the external account: the incoming mail server hostname (for example mail.example-provider.com, an example placeholder), the username, the password, and whether the provider offers POP3 or IMAP with SSL.
• Your hosting package allows at least one Fetchmail account. If ISPConfig reports that your limit is reached, contact the Noiz support team.

Step 1: Open the Fetchmail section

1. Log in to ISPConfig and click the Email tab in the top navigation.
2. In the left-hand menu, scroll to the Fetchmail section and click Fetchmail.
3. The list page titled Fetch emails from external POP3 / IMAP servers opens. Any retrieval accounts you have already set up are listed here.
4. Click the Add new Account button.

Step 2: Complete the Get Email form

The Get Email tab contains all the settings for one external account. Fill in the fields as follows.

Connection details

1. In the Type field, select the protocol used to collect mail from the external account: POP3, IMAP, POP3SSL or IMAPSSL. Choose one of the SSL options whenever the external provider supports encrypted connections; almost all modern providers do. If you are unsure whether to pick POP3 or IMAP, POP3 is the simpler choice for a one-way transfer of the inbox.
2. In the Pop3/Imap Server field, enter the hostname of the external provider's incoming mail server, for example mail.example-provider.com (an example placeholder; your provider will publish the real hostname in its settings pages). Enter the hostname only, with no https:// prefix and no port number. ISPConfig validates this field on save and rejects anything that is not a hostname or an IP address with the message Pop3/Imap Server is not a valid domain name.
3. In the Username field, enter the username for the external account. With most providers this is the full email address, for example [email protected], but some providers use only the part before the @ sign. Use exactly what you would type into that provider's webmail or mail client.
4. In the Password field, enter the password for the external account.

Retrieval options

1. Delete emails after retrieval: tick this if messages should be removed from the external account once they have been copied to your Noiz mailbox. ISPConfig shows a note beside the option: Please check first if email retrieval works, before you activate this option. Leave it unticked for your first test so nothing is removed from the source account until you have confirmed messages are arriving.
2. Retrieve all emails (incl. read mails): when this is left unticked, only new, unread messages are collected. Tick this if you also want messages that have already been read, which is usually what you want when migrating an old inbox. ISPConfig will not accept this option on its own. Ticking it while Delete emails after retrieval is unticked fails on save with Illegal combination of options. You can not use "Delete emails after retrieval" = no together with "Retrieve all emails" = yes, because that pairing would collect every read message again on every run. Tick the two together, or leave both unticked for a first test.
3. In the Destination field, select the mailbox on your Noiz hosting account that should receive the collected messages.
4. Make sure the Active checkbox is ticked, then click Save.

Step 3: Confirm that mail is being collected

1. After saving, the new entry appears in the list under Email > Fetchmail > Fetchmail, showing the external server, username and destination mailbox.
2. Retrieval runs on a schedule rather than instantly; the server checks the external account roughly every five minutes. Allow up to ten minutes for the first collection.
3. Send a test message to the external address, wait a few minutes, then check the destination mailbox in webmail or your mail client. The test message should arrive there.
4. Once you have confirmed retrieval works, you can safely edit the entry and tick Delete emails after retrieval if you want the external account emptied as messages are copied across. If you are migrating a whole inbox, tick Retrieve all emails (incl. read mails) in the same edit, since ISPConfig only accepts that option alongside Delete emails after retrieval.

To stop collecting mail temporarily, open the entry and untick Active. To remove it permanently, use the delete button next to the entry in the list view. Deleting the retrieval entry does not delete any messages already copied into your Noiz mailbox.

Troubleshooting

• No mail arrives in the destination mailbox: first allow at least ten minutes, as retrieval runs on a schedule. Then check the Pop3/Imap Server hostname for typing errors, confirm the Type matches what the provider supports (an SSL type against a non-SSL port will fail, and the other way round), and verify the username and password by logging in to the external provider's webmail with the same details.
• Saving fails with "Illegal combination of options": ISPConfig refuses to store Retrieve all emails (incl. read mails) ticked while Delete emails after retrieval is unticked, because that pairing would re-collect every read message on each run and fill the destination mailbox with duplicates. Tick both options, or untick Retrieve all emails (incl. read mails) so only new messages are collected.
• Old, already-read mail is not being collected: only new, unread messages are retrieved while Retrieve all emails (incl. read mails) is unticked. To migrate a whole inbox, tick Retrieve all emails (incl. read mails) and Delete emails after retrieval together, which is the only combination ISPConfig will save.
• The external provider rejects the login even though the password is correct: some large providers block ordinary POP3 or IMAP logins by default. You may need to switch on POP3 or IMAP access in that provider's settings, or generate an app password if the account uses two-step verification, then use the app password in the Password field.
• The max. number of Fetchmail records for your account is reached: your hosting package sets a maximum number of Fetchmail accounts, and you have used them all. Remove an unused entry, or contact the Noiz support team about raising the limit.

If you get stuck at any point, open a support ticket with the Noiz support team and include the external server hostname, the Type you selected and the destination mailbox address. Never include the external account's password in a ticket.