iCloud IMAP settings: servers, passwords and fixes

What are the iCloud Mail IMAP and SMTP settings?

IMAP is the incoming-mail connection; SMTP is the outgoing-mail connection. Configure both if you want to receive and send. A working inbox does not establish that the outgoing connection works.

The table combines Apple’s server and credential guidance with Mailera’s iCloud port and encryption presets.

Apple’s iCloud Mail server guide labels SSL as required for both connections. It says to try TLS if IMAP reports an SSL error, or TLS or STARTTLS if SMTP reports an SSL error. Don’t turn encryption off to resolve a connection problem.

Keep the incoming and outgoing encryption selections separate. In Mailera, use SSL/TLS for the incoming preset and STARTTLS for the outgoing preset rather than copying the incoming selection into both fields.

There are no iCloud POP3 settings to substitute here: Apple explicitly says iCloud Mail does not support POP.

How do you create an iCloud app-specific password?

Start with an existing iCloud Mail address and an Apple Account protected by two-factor authentication. Apple requires two-factor authentication to generate and use app-specific passwords. If you need to enable it first, follow Apple’s two-factor authentication instructions.

An app-specific password is the credential you enter into the mail app for this manual setup. It is not your normal Apple Account sign-in password.

1. Sign in to your Apple Account at account.apple.com.
2. In “Sign-In and Security”, select “App-Specific Passwords”.
3. Select “Generate an app-specific password” and follow the onscreen steps.
4. Enter the generated password in your email app’s incoming password field.
5. Use that same app-specific password for the outgoing SMTP password.

These controls are described in Apple’s guide to generating and revoking app-specific passwords. Keep the generated password out of screenshots, support messages and logs.

What if you forgot the password or it stopped working?

Generate a replacement through Apple and update the app’s incoming and outgoing credentials. Revoke the old password using “Remove” beside its entry. “Revoke All” removes every app-specific password, so don’t choose it when you only intend to disconnect one app.

Revoking a password signs out the app using it. Changing or resetting your primary Apple Account password automatically revokes all app-specific passwords; you must generate new ones for the apps you want to keep using. This is a useful first check when a previously working mail app suddenly rejects its saved password.

For more on managing app passwords, see the guide to app passwords for agent mailboxes.

How do you enter these settings in an email app?

Use manual IMAP setup when you need to enter the server details yourself. Menu names vary between email apps:

1. Start adding an existing email account and enter your iCloud Mail address.
2. Choose manual setup and IMAP if the app asks for an account type. Do not choose POP.
3. Enter imap.mail.me.com for incoming mail. Use the port and encryption pairing shown in the table.
4. For the incoming username, start with the address name before @icloud.com. If the app cannot connect, try the full email address, as Apple advises.
5. Enter your app-specific password, not your Apple Account password.
6. Enter smtp.mail.me.com for outgoing mail, with authenticated SMTP. Use your full iCloud Mail address as the outgoing username and the same app-specific password.
7. Save the account, then test receiving and sending separately.

For the receiving test, send a harmless message from another address you own to your iCloud mailbox. Check whether the connected app loads it. For the sending test, send a new message from the connected iCloud account to another address you own, then check that destination mailbox.

Keep the two results separate in your troubleshooting notes. “Received successfully, sending failed” points you toward the outgoing settings instead of making you rework a functioning incoming connection.

What about Outlook and Android?

If you’re entering iCloud Mail settings in Outlook or an Android email app manually, use the iCloud server and credential details above. The app’s name does not change which provider hosts your mailbox.

If you’re connecting a different mailbox, use the separate Outlook IMAP and SMTP settings guide or Gmail IMAP and SMTP settings guide. Those guides cover other providers; they aren’t extra steps for connecting iCloud.

How do you connect iCloud Mail to Mailera?

Mailera connects an existing mailbox; it does not create an iCloud mailbox or email address. Its iCloud connection page describes the app-password connection method. For the manual-server option, see the IMAP and SMTP provider page.

You need an Admin or Leader role to add a mailbox.

1. Open Mailboxes → Add mailbox → One mailbox.
2. Enter your address in Email address. Confirm the detected iCloud provider, or select it under Or choose a provider, then choose Continue.
3. Read How to get an app password and What you'll need. Generate the password through Apple if you haven’t already.
4. Under Connection details, enter the app-specific password in Password. The optional Display name is your sender name; use Mailbox group to choose the group for this mailbox.
5. Select Test & connect.

The connection test checks Incoming server sign-in, Folder detection and Outgoing server sign-in when an outgoing server is configured. Test & connect does not send an email. An outgoing sign-in success is therefore not an end-to-end delivery test; use the separate sending test described above.

If the result says Can receive email, but cannot send yet, choose Edit details to correct the outgoing settings, then Test again. Alternatively, select Save as receive-only if you want to save the incoming connection without working sending access.

You can choose Run in background to leave the page while Mailera finishes the test and saves the mailbox. After success, look for the connected confirmation for your address. Mailera initially loads messages within the retention period, newest first.

Open Mailboxes, then inspect the newly loaded messages.

Keep passwords hidden when sharing a screenshot of this process. Review Mailera’s security page before connecting a mailbox whose access you manage for a team.

What common mistakes stop iCloud IMAP or SMTP from working?

Start with the symptom rather than changing every setting at once.

Mailera does not promise instantaneous synchronization. Background checks run more often for mailboxes in active use and less often for idle ones; inactive mailboxes can sleep and wake on use.

Finally, distinguish a connection problem from message placement. Mailera can show whether a message is in Inbox or Junk and move it out of Junk, but it cannot guarantee inbox placement or override Apple’s filtering decisions.