Last verified: Dec 2023
IONOS IMAP Settings & Email Setup
Operating as a subsidiary of United Internet, IONOS has gained a reputation for reliability and innovation. If you're one of the millions of IONOS customers and wish to add your IONOS email address to your email client, you can use the latest settings below. And in case you wish to migrate your email data from your existing provider to IONOS (or vice versa), the tutorial at the end of the page walks you through the migration!
Set Up Your IONOS Email Adress
Wit the current IONOS IMAP settings below, you can add your IONOS email address to your email client (Outlook, Thunderbird, Apple Mail…). Depending on your preferences, use the IMAP or POP3 settings for incoming emails and SMTP for outgoing emails. If you're unsure whether to use IMAP or POP3, have a look at the comparison at the end of this page.
IONOS IMAP Settings for Incoming Emails
Use the IONOS settings for IMAP (recommended) in order to set up your incoming emails in your email client:
| IMAP Server | imap.ionos.com |
| IMAP Port | 993 |
| IMAP Security | SSL/TLS |
| Username | Your complete email address (youraddress@domain.com) |
| Password | Your IONOS password |
IONOS SMTP Settings for Outgoing Emails
In the section for outgoing emails, add the following SMTP settings to your email client:
| SMTP Server | smtp.ionos.com |
| SMTP Port | 465 |
| SMTP Security | SSL/TLS |
| Username | Your complete email address (youraddress@domain.com) |
| Password | Your IONOS password |
Can't Use Port 465 for SMTP?
In case your email client can't connect with the IONOS SMTP server via port 465, you can use the alternative port 587.
When using the alternative port, you have to change the encryption method as follow:
- Thunderbird: SSL/TLS or STARTTLS
- Outlook 2016/2019: TLS
- Outlook on Microsoft 365: STARTTLS
- Gmail App: STARTTLS
Alternative: IONOS POP3 Settings
If you don't wish to use IMAP for incoming emails, you can add your IONOS email address to your email client by using POP:
| POP Server | pop.ionos.com |
| POP Port | 995 |
| POP Security | SSL/TLS |
| Username | Your complete email address (youraddress@domain.com) |
| Password | Your IONOS password |
Comparison: IMAP or POP3 for Incoming Emails?
Choosing between IMAP or POP3 as a protocol for incoming emails highly depends on how you use your IONOS email account:
➡️ If choose IMAP, any changes to your emails (read, send, delete…) will be synchronized across all the devices you use to access your email. As your emails are still stord on the IONOS mail server, you can ensure that your emails don't get lost when a problem with your smartphone or PC occures.
➡️ With POP3, your emails will be downloaded to your device. Changes will only be reflected on the device where you initially downloaded the email to. Therefore, POP3 does not sync changes between multiple devices. And when losing the device you downloaded the email to, the email data is lost, too.
A general advise is to choose IMAP over POP, as it is the safest option and allows you to access the same emails on multiple devices like smartphones, tablets, and PCs. However, if you have a large mailbox and need to conserve storage space, POP becomes the preferable option. With POP, emails are downloaded to your device, freeing up storage capacity in your mailbox.
Email Migration to / from IONOS:
Do you need to migrate your existing emails to IONOS or from IONOS to another provider? Luckily, that's a very easy process: All you need is a reliable migration tool like MailJerry and your IONOS IMAP settings. So let's get started!
➡️ Download the email migration app MailJerry or start your migration directly in the browser.
➡️ Launch MailJerry and select "New Migration".
➡️ Select the account type and fill in the email credentials for your existing email account in the "Existing Address" fields.
➡️ In the "New Address" section, input the IMAP settings for your new email account (e.g., the IONOS email settings provided above).
➡️ Begin your migration by clicking on "Start Migration."
Wait for the email migration from / to IONOS to complete.
🎉 Congratulations! You can now access your previous emails in your new email account!
