Want to set up email on iPhone? Whether you have a business or personal email address, adding your account to the iOS Mail app is easy. In this step-by-step guide we explain how to set up email on iPhone quickly and correctly.

Want to receive your Theory7 email on your iPhone or iPad? Good news: it's easier than you think. In this guide we explain step by step how to set up your email account, both via automatic configuration and manually. After following these steps you can immediately send and receive emails from your Apple device.

Before you start

• Email address: Your full email address (e.g. info@yourdomain.com)
• Password: Your email account's password
• Mail server: mail.theory7.net (for both incoming and outgoing mail)

You'll find these details in DirectAdmin under "E-mail Accounts". Forgotten your password? You can reset it there too.

Method 1: Automatic Configuration (Recommended)

Steps for automatic configuration

1. Open Settings on your iPhone
2. Scroll down and tap Mail
3. Tap Accounts
4. Tap Add Account
5. Choose Other (at the bottom of the list)
6. Tap Add Mail Account
7. Enter your details:
   • Name: Your name as it should appear on sent emails
   • Email: Your full email address
   • Password: Your email account's password
   • Description: A name for the account (e.g. "Work" or your domain name)
8. Tap Next

Your iPhone will now automatically try to detect the server settings via autodiscover. If this succeeds, you don't need to do anything else. The account is added and you can get started right away.

Method 2: Manual Configuration

IMAP or POP3?

We recommend IMAP for most users. With IMAP your emails are synchronized between all devices. Delete an email on your iPhone? Then it's also gone from webmail and your laptop. Handy if you use multiple devices.

POP3 downloads the emails to your device and optionally removes them from the server. This is only useful if you only read email on one device.

Theory7 server settings

Use these settings for manual configuration:

Setting	IMAP (Recommended)	POP3 (Alternative)
Incoming server	mail.theory7.net	mail.theory7.net
Incoming port	993 (SSL)	995 (SSL)
Outgoing server (SMTP)	mail.theory7.net	mail.theory7.net
Outgoing port	465 (SSL) or 587 (STARTTLS)	465 (SSL) or 587 (STARTTLS)
Username	Your full email address	Your full email address
Authentication	Password	Password

Step-by-step manual configuration

1. Open Settings > Mail > Accounts > Add Account
2. Choose Other > Add Mail Account
3. Enter your name, email address, password and description
4. Tap Next
5. If automatic detection fails, choose IMAP at the top of the screen
6. Under Incoming Mail Server enter:
   • Host Name: mail.theory7.net
   • User Name: Your full email address
   • Password: Your email password
7. Under Outgoing Mail Server enter:
   • Host Name: mail.theory7.net
   • User Name: Your full email address
   • Password: Your email password
8. Tap Next
9. Wait for your iPhone to verify the settings
10. Choose which items you want to sync (Mail, optionally Notes)
11. Tap Save

Adjusting SSL settings and ports

1. Go to Settings > Mail > Accounts
2. Tap the account you just added
3. Tap Account (at the top)
4. Tap Advanced (at the bottom)
5. Under Incoming Settings check:
   • Use SSL: On
   • Server Port: 993
6. Go back and tap SMTP under "Outgoing Mail Server"
7. Tap mail.theory7.net under "Primary Server"
8. Check:
   • Use SSL: On
   • Server Port: 465
   • Authentication: Password

Push mail and fetch frequency

1. Go to Settings > Mail > Accounts
2. Tap Fetch New Data
3. Set Push to On if you want instant notifications
4. Or choose a fetch schedule: every 15, 30 or 60 minutes

Note: Push uses more battery. With "Fetch every 15 minutes" you miss at most fifteen minutes and save battery.

Solving problems

"Cannot connect to server"

• Check that you're connected to the internet (wifi or mobile)
• Check that the server name is exactly mail.theory7.net (no typos)
• Try a different port (587 instead of 465 for outgoing mail)

"Username or password incorrect"

• Check that you're using your full email address as the username
• Watch out for uppercase and lowercase letters in your password
• Reset your password in DirectAdmin if you're unsure

"Cannot send email"

• Check that SMTP server authentication is turned on
• Enter the same username and password as for incoming mail
• Check that port 465 with SSL is on, or port 587 with STARTTLS

Emails aren't arriving

• Check your spam folder
• Log in to webmail (webmail.theory7.net) to check whether the email is there
• Check that IMAP is set up and not POP3 (POP3 may remove emails from the server)

Extra tips for optimal use

Setting up a signature

Set up a professional signature via Settings > Mail > Signature. You can use a different signature per account.

Using the VIP list

Mark important contacts as VIP. This way you only get notifications for emails that matter and never miss an important message.

Adding multiple accounts

You can add multiple Theory7 email accounts. Simply repeat the steps above for each account. In the Mail app you can view all inboxes separately or combined in the "All Inboxes" view.

More about email at Theory7

Setting up email on iPhone: via the Microsoft Outlook app

Setting up Outlook on your iPhone

1. Download Microsoft Outlook from the App Store if you don't already have it
2. Open the app and tap Add Account
3. Enter your full email address and tap Add Account
4. Choose IMAP as the account type
5. Enter the server settings:
   • IMAP server: mail.theory7.net, port 993, SSL
   • SMTP server: mail.theory7.net, port 465, SSL
6. Enter your password and tap Sign in
7. Your account will now sync

Benefits of Outlook on iPhone

• Focused Inbox: automatically separates important mail from ads and notifications
• Integrated calendar: your email and calendar in one app
• Attaching files: direct integration with cloud storage like OneDrive and Google Drive
• Swipe actions: customizable swipe gestures for quickly archiving, deleting or scheduling

Setting up email on iPhone: frequently asked questions

Can I use multiple email accounts on my iPhone?

Yes, you can add as many email accounts as you want. The Mail app shows all inboxes separately or combined in the "All Inboxes" view. Simply repeat the setup steps for each account.

What's the difference between IMAP and POP3 on my iPhone?

Feature	IMAP	POP3
Synchronization	Same inbox everywhere	Only on this device
Mail on server	Stays	Gets removed
iPhone storage usage	Only loads headers	Downloads everything
Suitable for multiple devices	Yes	No
Recommended	Yes	Only in exceptions

My iPhone keeps asking for my password

This usually happens if the password has been changed or there's an SSL issue. Remove the account and add it again with the correct password. Also check that SSL is set correctly on port 993 (incoming) and 465 (outgoing).

How do I remove an email account from my iPhone?

1. Go to Settings > Mail > Accounts
2. Tap the account you want to remove
3. Scroll down and tap "Delete Account"
4. Confirm the deletion

Setting up email on iPhone: battery-saving configuration

• Use "Fetch" instead of "Push": Push keeps a constant connection open, which uses more power. "Fetch every 15 minutes" is a good balance
• Limit the number of days synced: Set only the last 7 or 30 days to sync instead of everything
• Enable notifications smartly: Use VIP notifications for important contacts and disable notifications for less urgent accounts
• Use Low Power Mode: In low power mode, email is fetched less often

Want to set up your email on other devices too? Read our guide to setting up email on Android or discover how to create your own email address.

Setting up email: iPhone vs iPad

On the iPad you have the advantage of Split View: you can open the Mail app next to another app. This is handy if you want to copy the server details from an email or webpage while setting things up. Open Safari on one side with this guide and the Settings app on the other.

Also note that if you use Apple ID synchronization, an account you add on your iPhone may automatically appear on your iPad (and vice versa). If you don't want this, disable iCloud Mail synchronization in your iCloud settings.

Need help?

Setting up email on iPhone: tips and common problems

Summary: setting up email on iPhone

With this guide you can easily set up email on iPhone in a few minutes. Have questions about setting up email on iPhone? Then get in touch with our support team.

Setting up email on iPhone: advanced settings and tips

Another useful setting is configuring your signature per account. If you have multiple email accounts on your iPhone, you can set a separate signature for each account. Go to Settings, then Mail, and scroll down to Signature. Choose Per Account instead of All Accounts so you can use a professional signature for your business email and a more informal one for your personal email.

VIP notifications help you not miss important emails. Open the Mail app, go to your VIP folder and add contacts whose messages you always want to receive right away. You can then enable notifications for VIP contacts while disabling your regular email notifications. This prevents constant interruptions while keeping you reachable for important messages.

Solving common problems when setting up email on iPhone

Error message: Cannot verify account. This message appears when the login details are incorrect or the server settings are wrong. Check your password by logging in via webmail. If that works, remove the account from your iPhone and add it again with the correct server settings. Note that some providers require an app-specific password if you have two-factor authentication enabled.

Emails aren't syncing. Check whether you're using the correct protocol (IMAP or POP3). IMAP syncs across all devices, POP3 doesn't. Also check the sync settings: go to Settings, then Mail, then Accounts, choose your account and check that Mail is enabled. Also set the number of days you want to sync, by default this is set to the last month.

Sending doesn't work. This is often caused by an incorrect SMTP server or port setting. Check that you're using the correct outgoing server. The most commonly used ports are 587 (with STARTTLS) and 465 (with SSL/TLS). Some networks block port 25, so don't use it for outgoing mail on mobile devices.

Setting up email on iPhone: security and privacy tips

Also enable the Protect Mail Activity option. This feature, available since iOS 15, prevents senders from tracking whether you've opened their email, when you did so, and from which location. This protects your privacy without affecting your email's functionality. You'll find this setting under Settings, then Mail, then Privacy Protection.

Finally, consider using a VPN when checking your email on public wifi networks. Even with SSL encryption, metadata such as the servers you connect to can leak. A VPN encrypts all your internet traffic and provides an extra layer of security. Combine this with a strong, unique password for your email account and enable two-factor authentication where possible for maximum protection.

Setting up email on iPhone: managing multiple accounts

Use the All Inboxes feature to see all messages from all your accounts in one place. This option appears automatically in the Mail app once you've configured multiple accounts. You can also view your inbox per account separately by selecting the specific account in the account overview. Set a different push/fetch setting for each account to optimize battery usage.

Organize your accounts with clear labels and notification settings. You can set for each account separately whether you want sound alerts, badges and lock screen notifications. For your business account you might want to see every notification right away, while your personal mail is less urgent. Also check out our guide to setting up Outlook with your hosting mail if you want a desktop solution.