How to Set Up Email in Microsoft Outlook

This guide shows you how to add a Noiz mailbox to Microsoft Outlook on your Windows or Mac computer, so that you can send and receive mail for your own domain from the Outlook desktop app. The single most important thing to know before you start is that "Outlook" is now two different programs that look and behave very differently: classic Outlook (the long-standing desktop application that ships with Microsoft 365 and Office) and new Outlook (the redesigned app Microsoft is rolling out to Windows, built on the same technology as Outlook on the web). Which one you have decides how you add the account, and it decides which quirks you will meet on a custom domain such as yourdomain.com. This article covers both, and is written for Noiz email clients whose mailbox lives on the Noiz mail platform.

The reliable route on a custom domain is a manual IMAP setup, where you type the exact Noiz server settings in yourself. Outlook's automatic discovery frequently fails or guesses wrongly for domains that are not large public providers, so knowing the correct values, and where to enter them, saves a great deal of trial and error. Those values are listed in full below.

Last reviewed: 27 July 2026, against Microsoft Outlook for Windows in both its classic and new forms, and Outlook for Mac. This guide is written for Noiz hosting and is kept current against Microsoft Outlook. It complements, and does not replace, the official Microsoft Outlook documentation linked below. Microsoft updates Outlook, and in particular the new Outlook app, very frequently: buttons move, and the account-setup screens change between builds. Where a screen differs from what is described here, the field names and the values you enter stay the same even when their arrangement moves. Where new Outlook is concerned, treat the exact wording as a guide rather than a guarantee, and fall back to classic Outlook if a manual IMAP option is not present in your build.

Official Documentation Reference

• Add an email account to Outlook (Microsoft): Microsoft's own walkthrough, with separate tabs for new Outlook, classic Outlook and Outlook for Mac.
• POP, IMAP and SMTP settings for Outlook (Microsoft): the reference for the server, port and encryption fields you fill in during a manual setup.

Prerequisites

• The mailbox already exists on the Noiz mail server. If you have not created it yet, do that first: see How to Create an Email Address in Plesk. Outlook can only connect to a mailbox that has already been provisioned.
• You know the full email address, for example [email protected], and the password that was set when the mailbox was created. The username for Noiz mail is always the full email address, not just the part before the @. If you have lost the password, you can reset it from Plesk: see How to log in to Plesk.
• Microsoft Outlook is installed and signed in. Outlook is part of Microsoft 365 and Office; keep it updated so you have current security fixes and the setup screens described here.
• A working internet connection, and a domain whose mail is hosted at Noiz. If your domain was only recently pointed to Noiz, allow DNS changes time to take effect before mail.yourdomain.com will resolve.

Know Which Outlook You Have

This step decides everything that follows, so do it before you touch any settings. In new Outlook there is a labelled toggle in the top-right corner of the window that reads New Outlook. If you can see that switch, you are in the new app. If there is no such toggle and the ribbon along the top is dense with tabs such as File, Home, Send / Receive and View, you are in classic Outlook.

The distinction matters because the two apps handle a custom-domain mailbox in fundamentally different ways:

• Classic Outlook connects directly to the Noiz mail server and gives you a full manual setup screen where every field (server, port, encryption) is under your control. This is the dependable path for a domain such as yourdomain.com, and it is the one to use if you want certainty.
• New Outlook was built first for Microsoft accounts and only gained support for third-party IMAP mailboxes over time. Its manual options are far more limited, its automatic discovery often mis-handles custom domains, and, importantly, it routes your mail through Microsoft's cloud rather than talking to the Noiz server directly (explained in its own section below). It can work, but it is the fussier of the two.

If you have a choice and simply want the mailbox working quickly and predictably, use classic Outlook. If classic Outlook is not available to you, or you specifically want the new app, follow the new Outlook section and read the gotchas carefully.

IMAP or POP: Choose IMAP

Outlook can collect your mail using one of two protocols, and the choice is not cosmetic.

• IMAP keeps your mail on the Noiz server and mirrors it into Outlook. Folders, and the read or unread status of every message, stay in sync across all your devices and Noiz webmail. This is the right choice for almost everyone, and it is what Noiz recommends.
• POP (POP3) downloads your mail to one computer and, in its traditional configuration, removes it from the server. Anything a POP client has already pulled down will not appear on your phone, your other computers, or in webmail. It suits only a single-device setup with a deliberate reason to store mail on one machine.

The practical rule: if you check mail on more than one device, or ever use webmail, choose IMAP. This guide uses IMAP throughout; the settings table also lists the POP values should you have a specific need for them.

The Noiz Mail Settings

These are the settings a Noiz mailbox uses in any email program. Wherever you see yourdomain.com, replace it with your own domain. Keep this table to hand: a manual setup is simply a matter of typing these values into the matching fields.

If you have a specific reason to use POP instead of IMAP, change only the incoming server: use the same hostname mail.yourdomain.com with port 995 and SSL/TLS. The outgoing SMTP settings are identical either way.

Two points that catch people out on a custom domain:

• The username is the whole address, including @yourdomain.com. A username of just you will fail to authenticate.
• Both incoming and outgoing use SSL/TLS on the encrypted ports (993, 465 and 995). Do not fall back to the older unencrypted ports (143 for IMAP, 110 for POP, or 25 for SMTP); Noiz mail is encrypted throughout. Note that Noiz uses SMTP on port 465 with SSL/TLS, not the alternative 587 with STARTTLS that some providers default to. If Outlook pre-fills 587, change it to 465 and set the encryption to SSL/TLS.

Set Up in Classic Outlook (Manual IMAP)

This is the dependable path. It gives you the full manual form and connects Outlook straight to the Noiz mail server.

Start the Account Wizard

1. Open Outlook and go to File in the top-left, then Add Account. (On the very first run, Outlook may present the account screen automatically.)
2. Type your full Noiz email address, for example [email protected].
3. Click Advanced options, tick Let me set up my account manually, then click Connect. This is the step that skips Outlook's guesswork and lets you enter the exact Noiz values.

Choose IMAP and Enter the Servers

1. When asked to Choose account type, select IMAP.
2. Under Incoming mail, set the Server to mail.yourdomain.com, the Port to 993, and the Encryption method to SSL/TLS.
3. Under Outgoing mail, set the Server to mail.yourdomain.com, the Port to 465, and the Encryption method to SSL/TLS.
4. Leave Require logon using Secure Password Authentication (SPA) unticked. Noiz mail uses a normal password, not SPA.
5. Click Next.

Enter the Password and Finish

1. Type the mailbox password when prompted and click Connect.
2. Outlook tests the connection to the incoming and outgoing servers. When it succeeds, you see a confirmation that the account was added.
3. Click Done. Outlook creates the account and begins downloading your folders and messages.

Your Noiz mailbox now appears in the folder list on the left. Send yourself a short test message and reply to it, to confirm that sending and receiving both work end to end.

Set Up in New Outlook for Windows

New Outlook can host a Noiz mailbox, but it treats third-party domains very differently from classic Outlook, and there are real pitfalls. Read the whole section before you begin.

Add the Account

1. Click the Settings gear at the top right, then choose Accounts and Email accounts. (If new Outlook opens with a welcome screen, use the Add account prompt there instead.)
2. Click Add account and type your full Noiz email address, for example [email protected].
3. Click Continue. New Outlook now tries to detect the settings on its own.

When Automatic Detection Fails, Enter IMAP Manually

On a custom domain, automatic detection usually does not settle cleanly. When new Outlook cannot detect the mailbox, look for an option to choose the account type and pick IMAP, then enter the Noiz settings from the table above: incoming server mail.yourdomain.com on port 993 with SSL required, outgoing server mail.yourdomain.com on port 465 with SSL required, and your full email address as the username. Confirm and let new Outlook connect.

New Outlook Custom-Domain Gotchas

These are the specific issues Noiz clients meet with new Outlook on a custom domain. None of them apply to classic Outlook.

• An IMAP option may simply not be there. New Outlook's support for manual, third-party IMAP mailboxes has arrived gradually and varies by build. If, after entering your address, you are offered no IMAP or advanced-setup choice at all, and instead only a Microsoft sign-in, your build does not yet support what you need. Switch to classic Outlook, or use Thunderbird or Noiz webmail, rather than fighting it.
• Do not sign in with a "Microsoft account" password. New Outlook may present a Microsoft sign-in box and ask for a password. Your Noiz mailbox is not a Microsoft account, and its password will be rejected there. You are looking for the path that lets you add an IMAP account and enter server details, not the one that signs you in to Microsoft.
• Auto-detection often mis-classifies the domain. New Outlook may try to treat mail.yourdomain.com as a Microsoft 365 or Exchange account and loop on a password prompt. That is the detection guessing wrongly, not a problem with your mailbox. The cure is to choose IMAP explicitly and type the settings yourself.
• New Outlook routes your mail through Microsoft's cloud. This is the most important difference to understand. When you add a third-party IMAP mailbox to new Outlook, your messages are synchronised through Microsoft's own cloud servers rather than fetched directly from the Noiz server the way classic Outlook, Thunderbird and webmail do. Your mail works, but a copy passes through and is held on Microsoft infrastructure to power features such as search. If keeping your business mail on Noiz infrastructure matters to you, whether for privacy, data-residency or POPIA reasons, prefer classic Outlook, Thunderbird or Noiz webmail, all of which talk to the Noiz server directly.
• Fewer manual controls. New Outlook exposes fewer connection settings than classic Outlook. Make sure SSL is required and the ports are 993 (incoming) and 465 (outgoing); if the app will not let you set those, that is another sign to use classic Outlook for this mailbox.

Set Up in Outlook for Mac

On a Mac, open Outlook > Settings > Accounts, click + and Add Account, and enter your full email address. When Outlook for Mac cannot detect a custom domain, choose IMAP as the type and enter the same Noiz values: incoming mail.yourdomain.com port 993 SSL, outgoing mail.yourdomain.com port 465 SSL, username the full address. The recent Outlook for Mac shares much of its design with new Outlook, so the same custom-domain caveats above are worth keeping in mind.

Troubleshooting

• Symptom: Outlook keeps asking for the password, or reports the credentials are wrong. The most common cause is a username that is not the full address. Check that both the incoming and outgoing usernames are the complete [email protected], not just you. Then confirm the password itself by signing in to Noiz webmail with the same details: see How to Access Email from Plesk Webmail. If webmail also rejects the password, reset it in Plesk and try again.
• Symptom: Outlook cannot find the settings automatically, or offers Microsoft 365 / Exchange when you want IMAP. This is normal for a custom domain. In classic Outlook, tick Let me set up my account manually and choose IMAP. In new Outlook, look for the IMAP or advanced-setup option and enter the Noiz values by hand; if none is offered, use classic Outlook instead.
• Symptom: mail is received but will not send. This is an outgoing (SMTP) problem. Confirm the SMTP server is mail.yourdomain.com on port 465 with SSL/TLS, using your full email address to authenticate. If Outlook set the outgoing port to 587, change it to 465. Some public networks block outbound mail ports; if sending fails only on one network, test on another connection to confirm.
• Symptom: a certificate or security warning about the mail host. Make sure the encryption is SSL/TLS on ports 993 and 465, and that the hostname is spelled exactly mail.yourdomain.com. A warning that the certificate name does not match usually means the domain's mail is not yet fully live on Noiz, or DNS has not finished pointing to the mail server. If the domain has only recently moved to Noiz, wait for DNS to take effect and try again.
• Symptom: new Outlook only offers a Microsoft sign-in and no way to enter server settings. Your new Outlook build does not support the manual IMAP mailbox you need. Use classic Outlook (toggle New Outlook off, top-right), or set the mailbox up in Thunderbird or Noiz webmail instead.

If you work through the settings above and the account still will not connect, open a support ticket with the Noiz support team. Include the email address, whether the problem is sending, receiving or both, which version of Outlook you are using (classic or new), and a screenshot of any error message. On Noiz managed plans the support team can verify the mailbox and its settings from the server side and point you to the exact value to correct.