Did you bump into a problem while dashing off a reply to an important corporate email in Apple Mail? Did you discover that the ‘Send’ button was dimmed when you hit it in Mail App on your Mac? If yes, it means you won’t be able to send any email – reason being, the outgoing mail server, i.e. SMTP associated with your Mail account is not configured correctly. It has happened due to the following causes –
- Firstly, changes made in the settings, which need to be updated
- Secondly, the Mail preference file is corrupt or outdated (or has the wrong file permissions attached or linked with it).
Apple Mail Outgoing Settings
The mail servers encounter various changes, including the server that receives the outgoing email messages. Such servers are constantly in targets of malware and other dreadful threats designed to turn the servers into zombie spam servers. To deal with these dangers, the Mail server software upgrades itself from time to time. This ultimately requires you to make changes in the outgoing mail server settings. Users who wish to bring some changes to the settings are advised to keep a copy of the outgoing mail server settings and follow the general instructions available for your email client.
How to Configure Outgoing Settings in Apple Mail
Users who want to configure outgoing mail settings should carry out the instructions mentioned beneath.
- Open your Apple Mail on Mac and click ‘Preferences’ from Mail menu
- Now, select the button that says “Accounts” (in the Mail preferences window)
- Look for the mail account from the list
- Here, you need to click the “Server Settings” or “Account Information” tab depending on the version of your Mail
- In the section “Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP)”, choose “Edit SMTP Server List” from the drop-down menu, either labeled ‘Account’ or ‘Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP)’, depending on the Mail version
- You will see a list of SMTP servers on the screen (your selected mail account must be highlighted)
- Click “Account Information” or “Server Settings” tab
You need to make sure the hostname or the server name is absolutely accurate – for an instance, mail.example.com or smtp.gmail.com. Verify the username and password linked to this email account. Click the ‘Advance’ tab if you do not find the username and password. Configure the SMTP server settings, in the ‘Advance’ tab to match details that the Mail Server providers. In case, the mail server uses a different port other than 587, 25, or 465, enter the required port number in the port field directly. If you are using the older version of mail, ensure that you use the ‘custom port’ radio button and enter the port number given by your mail service. Or, set the radio button to ‘Automatically detect and maintain account settings’ or ‘use default ports’, depending on your Mail version.
- Place a checkmark next to ‘Use Secure Sockets Layer’ if your mail account sets up its server to use SSL
- Select ‘Authentication’
- Provide correct username/ email address and password
- Click ‘OK’
Are you able to send the email now?
