How to Use Microsoft® Outlook® 2000, 2002 and 2003
 to Read and Send AOL® E-mail

Create and Configure a New AOL E-mail Account in the Outlook Software

After the AOL e-mail account is set up, the Outlook software must be correctly configured to be able to connect to the AOL® service.

How to create and configure a new AOL e-mail account in the Outlook software:

1. Launch the Microsoft Outlook software.
2. Click the Tools menu, then click E-mail Accounts....
3. Choose the Add a new e-mail account option by clicking it, then click the Next button.
4. Choose the IMAP option by clicking it, then click the Next button.
5. In the Your Name: box, type your name as you wish it to appear on outgoing e-mail.
6. In the E-mail Address: box, type your full AOL® e-mail address, for example,  
    (GabbyGrace@aol.com.)
7. In the User Name: box, type your AOL® screen name, for example, GabbyGrace.
8. In the Password: box, type your AOL® password.
9. In the Incoming mail server (IMAP): box, type imap.aol.com.
10. In the Outgoing mail server (SMTP): box, type smtp.aol.com.
11. Click the More Settings button.
12. Click the Outgoing Server tab.
13. Click the My outgoing server requires authentication box to place a check mark in it.
14. Choose the Use same settings as my incoming mail server option by clicking it, then 
      click the Advanced tab.
15. In the Outgoing mail (SMTP): box, type 587, then click the OK button.
16. Click the Next button.
17. Click the Finish button.

What Your E-mail Application Must Support

AOL e-mail can be sent and received using other e-mail applications by setting up a connection to AOL®'s e-mail servers. Setting up access to the servers is simple, and the settings are similar for most e-mail applications.

Your e-mail application must support IMAP as the incoming e-mail server and authenticated SMTP as the outgoing e-mail server. The application must also allow you to change the outgoing (SMTP) e-mail server.

Note: SMTP is the major standard for sending e-mail on the Internet. Using an authenticated SMTP server means that to send e-mail you must log into the SMTP server with a user name and password. The user name and password to send AOL e-mail are your AOL® screen name and password.

E-mail Application Setup Basics

Setting up access to the AOL Mail servers is relatively simple, and the settings are similar for most e-mail applications. The basic information that you need is as follows:

Your e-mail address is screenname@aol.com. Be sure to include @aol.com suffix.
The Incoming mail (IMAP) server address is: imap.aol.com.
The Outgoing mail (SMTP) server address is: smtp.aol.com, port: 587.
Your user name is your AOL screen name.
Your password is your AOL® password.

Features Not Available with E-mail Applications

The following AOL® e-mail features are not available with other e-mail applications: 

In the Recently Deleted Mail folder, e-mail is marked ready to be deleted in the Inbox or Sent Items folders, then deleted by the AOL® IMAP servers every night. Some applications show deleted e-mail in the original folder with the message flagged for deletion (such as Outlook® or Eudora®), while other applications do not show these e-mails.

You will not be able to check the status of a sent message or retrieve unopened e-mail from AOL members.

The Report Spam button is not available on IMAP. To report messages as spam, move them to your Spam folder.

AOL IMAP servers do not allow folders to be created or deleted in the root folder. You will see an Inbox, Sent Items, Saved, Spam, and Voicemail folder. The Voicemail folder cannot be accessed unless you subscribe to the AOL® Voicemail product. For more information on AOL Voicemail, go to AOL Keyword: Voicemail.

You cannot manually add messages to the Inbox or Sent Items folders. Messages will only be added to these folders when an e-mail is received or sent by the AOL IMAP server.