Use an AOL app password to connect your inbox to Mailera

TL;DR

Mailera’s AOL connection uses an app password, not your normal AOL sign-in password. Open Mailboxes → Add mailbox → One mailbox, enter your AOL address, and follow the app-password guidance. Paste the credential into Password, then select Test & connect. The test checks access without sending mail. Mailera connects your existing inbox; it doesn’t create an AOL address.

What do you need before connecting AOL Mail?

Start with an existing AOL mailbox that you own or are authorized to connect. You also need an Admin or Leader role in Mailera; other roles cannot add mailboxes.

Keep these credentials separate:

An app password is the credential Mailera’s AOL connector expects in place of your normal account password. Don’t paste a Mailera API key into that field either.

If you cannot sign in to AOL itself, handle account recovery through AOL before continuing. That is a different problem from a rejected app password in a third-party connection. Use AOL’s own account and help pages, not recovery phone numbers posted on unrelated sites.

You don’t need to set up an API integration to complete this connection. The Mailera product overview explains how the connected mailbox can later be used through REST API, MCP, or webhooks.

Where do you get the AOL app password?

In Mailera’s AOL setup, look for How to get an app password and What you’ll need before the connection form. Use that provider guidance to reach AOL’s app-password instructions and obtain the credential for this connection.

Keep the generated password private. Paste it directly into Password under Connection details. Don’t include it in a support message, screenshot, application log, or example code.

If you cannot obtain an app password, stop before testing the connection. This connector requires an app password, not your normal AOL password. Follow AOL’s own guidance for the account rather than trying another provider’s setup instructions.

How do you connect your AOL inbox to Mailera?

1. Open Mailboxes → Add mailbox, then select One mailbox.
2. Enter your AOL address in Email address. Check the detected provider before continuing. If needed, select AOL under Or choose a provider, then select Continue.
3. Read How to get an app password and What you’ll need. Under Connection details, paste the AOL app password into Password.
4. Add an optional Display name if you want to set the sender name, and choose the appropriate Mailbox group.
5. Select Test & connect and watch the individual checks.

Mailera recognizes addresses ending in aol.com, aim.com, aol.co.uk, aol.fr, and aol.de as AOL connections. Still check the address itself: a correctly detected provider does not mean you entered the intended mailbox.

The AOL provider flow supplies the server configuration. You don’t need to switch to Custom IMAP just to enter AOL’s public server names.

What does Test & connect check?

The test separates incoming access from outgoing access:

Test & connect does not send an email. A successful outgoing sign-in is not a message-delivery test, and a successful incoming sign-in is not proof that sending works.

If you need to leave the page, Run in background lets Mailera finish testing and save the mailbox. Otherwise, stay on the page so you can see which stage needs attention.

What if only outgoing sign-in fails?

Mailera offers Save as receive-only when the outgoing connection fails during setup. Choose it if receiving mail is enough for your task; sending remains unavailable through that receive-only connection.

If you need outgoing access, select Edit details, correct the connection details, and select Test again. Keep the incoming and outgoing results separate when diagnosing the failure.

How do you confirm that messages are loading?

After a successful connection, Mailera displays Connected followed by the mailbox address. It then loads messages for the first time, newest first, within the retention period.

Use a fresh, harmless test message rather than an old message that might fall outside that period:

1. Send a message from another mailbox you control to the connected AOL inbox. Use a recognizable subject such as “AOL connection test.”
2. Confirm that the message is present in AOL and note its folder.
3. Open the connected mailbox in Mailera’s Unified inbox and look in the corresponding folder.
4. If the message is missing, recheck its folder and whether its age falls within the retention period before changing credentials.

The connection result confirms access; finding your test message confirms that Mailera has retrieved that message.

Mailera’s free plan retains messages for 30 days. Don’t treat the initial load as a complete historical archive of the AOL account.

AOL status in Mailera is based on the latest sync, not a fresh direct sign-in probe. Background checks also vary with mailbox activity, and inactive mailboxes can sleep. Don’t treat the displayed status as a promise of instant synchronization.

What AOL IMAP and SMTP settings does Mailera use?

Mailera’s AOL connector uses these settings:

In Mailera’s AOL flow, enter the mailbox address in Email address rather than configuring a separate custom-server connection. The table is useful when diagnosing which side of the connection failed. For the distinction between receiving and sending protocols, see IMAP, Graph and SMTP for agent builders.

The IMAP4rev2 specification, RFC 9051, separates access to messages stored on a server from sending mail, which uses a separate submission protocol. That distinction is why incoming and outgoing access need separate checks.

For the incoming connection, TLS begins immediately on port 993. That behavior is described in RFC 8314’s encrypted email access standard. The standard explains the protocol behavior; the table above describes Mailera’s AOL configuration.

What common mistakes cause an AOL connection to fail?

Start with the failed stage instead of changing every setting at once.

An app-password failure and a missing message can occur at different stages of the AOL connection. If incoming sign-in passed but the message is absent, start with retrieval and folders rather than immediately replacing the password.

Keep credentials and optional agent access separate

Keep app-password management on AOL’s side separate from permissions granted to apps through Mailera. When checking access after a credential change, don’t rely only on an older successful sync: confirm that a new message can be retrieved.

If an AI agent will read the connected mailbox, give it a Mailera API key with only the permissions it needs. For a reading task, use Read and restrict Mailbox scope to the relevant group rather than granting sending access by default.

Treat incoming email as untrusted data, not instructions. An email asking an agent to disclose credentials or change its operating rules is not authorization. Require confirmation before sending messages.

See the app-password guide for agent mailboxes for the broader setup, and Mailera’s security information before granting access.