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Connect an email mailbox (IMAP/SMTP)

This guide connects an existing email mailbox (e.g. support@yourcompany.com) to The-Y CRM. Afterwards, incoming mail lands automatically as tickets in the inbox, and your replies go back out from the same address.

⏱ approx. 5–10 min · Permission: settings.manage (admin) · Applies to Free & Paid

Settings → Channels in The-Y CRM — Settings → Channels — where you add the mailbox.

Before you start — what you need

The email address and password of the mailbox you want to connect.
Your provider's server details: IMAP server (incoming) + SMTP server (outgoing), each with host, port and encryption. The most common ones are in the provider table below.
For Gmail/Google and Microsoft/Outlook with two-factor sign-in enabled: an app password (see Troubleshooting) — your normal login password will not work for IMAP/SMTP there.

One-click connect for Gmail and Microsoft 365 via OAuth is in progress. Until then, you can reliably connect any mailbox over IMAP/SMTP as described here — this works with every provider.

Step by step

Open channel settings. In the app, click Settings → Channels on the left. If you have multiple brands (workspaces), first pick the brand this mailbox belongs to at the top.
Add a mailbox. Under "Mailboxes & numbers" click "＋ Add" and choose the type Email. The "Set up" panel opens automatically.
Enter the sender address. Enter the email address you want to send/receive from (e.g. support@yourcompany.com) and optionally a display name.
Enter IMAP (incoming). This is the server The-Y fetches new mail from.
- Server/Host (e.g. imap.yourcompany.com)
- Port — usually 993 (SSL/TLS)
- Username (often the full email address) and password — stored encrypted (AES-256).
Enter SMTP (outgoing). The server The-Y sends your replies through.
- Server/Host (e.g. smtp.yourcompany.com)
- Port — 587 (STARTTLS) or 465 (SSL). The-Y picks the encryption automatically from the port.
- Username/password as for IMAP (identical with most providers).
Test the connection. Click "Test connection". The-Y saves the entries and immediately opens a real test connection. Green "Connection OK" = all good. An error message (e.g. 535 Authentication failed) comes straight from the server — see Troubleshooting.
Choose the import mode. Decide what happens on the first fetch:
- New mail only (recommended): only mail arriving from now on becomes tickets.
- Full history: the existing mailbox is imported gradually (in batches, de-duplicated).
Add a signature (optional). Enter an HTML signature for this mailbox. Placeholders such as {{user.firstname}} are filled per sending agent automatically; a live preview shows the result.
Save & activate. Save the mailbox. It is now active — incoming mail appears in the Inbox, replies go out from this address (with a quote + correct threading headers).

You can add several mailboxes per brand (e.g. support@ and info@). Which mailbox sends system mail (password reset, invitations) is set under Settings → System email.

Server details for common providers

If you don't know your server details, you'll usually find them in your provider's help under "set up IMAP/SMTP". The most common:

Provider	IMAP (incoming)	SMTP (outgoing)	Login / note
Gmail / Google Workspace	imap.gmail.com : 993 (SSL)	smtp.gmail.com : 587 (STARTTLS)	App password required (with 2FA on); enable IMAP in the Gmail account
Microsoft 365 / Outlook	outlook.office365.com : 993	smtp.office365.com : 587	App password with 2FA on; SMTP-AUTH must be allowed in the tenant
GMX	imap.gmx.net : 993	mail.gmx.net : 587	Enable "POP3/IMAP access" in the GMX account
web.de	imap.web.de : 993	smtp.web.de : 587	Enable IMAP in the account
Own server / host	imap.yourdomain.com : 993	smtp.yourdomain.com : 587	Details from your host (Virtualmin/Plesk/cPanel "Email accounts")

Providers change server details occasionally. When in doubt, your email provider's official IMAP/SMTP guide always wins.

Check that it works

Incoming: Send a test mail from another account to the connected address. Within ~1 minute it appears as a new ticket in the Inbox.
Outgoing: Open the ticket, write a reply, "Send". Check in the other account that the reply arrives (including your signature).

Troubleshooting

535 Authentication failed / "username or password wrong"

The server rejects the credentials. Most common causes: (1) With Gmail/Outlook and two-factor you need an app password instead of the normal password — create it in the security area of your Google/Microsoft account and enter it here. (2) The username is not the full email address (some hosts want e.g. u12345). (3) IMAP/SMTP is not enabled on the mailbox.

wrong version number / SSL error when connecting

Port and encryption don't match. Use 993 for IMAP (SSL) and 587 (STARTTLS) or 465 (SSL) for SMTP. The-Y derives the encryption from the port — if you enter e.g. port 587 with forced SSL, this error appears.

Certificate/hostname error (own mail server)

If your server's TLS certificate is issued for a different hostname, The-Y retries the SMTP send once with relaxed certificate checking — so sending usually still works. Cleaner is a certificate that matches your mail hostname exactly.

The first fetch imported my whole history

That happens when "Full history" was selected on setup. For a clean start choose "New mail only". You can close already-imported old mail in the inbox.

Nothing arrives

Check: is the mailbox active (toggle in the channels table)? Is the IMAP host/port correct? The fetch runs in the background about once a minute — wait briefly. If "Test connection" is green but still nothing arrives, check the IMAP status in the email panel.

What's next

← All channels Using the inbox Set up WhatsApp System email sender