How to set up email account in Outlook which is using Microsoft 365?

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My email client is Outlook. My account is hooked to Microsoft 365 and the server is Microsoft Exchange. I switched to InMotion yesterday. However, I have trouble in setting up email accounts in Outlook which is hooked to the server of InMotion. My goal is to keep my email addresses the same as before so all my contacts will not aware that I changed the hosting service provider. 


However, it looks like Outlook does not let me change the connection settings of my email accounts. I can add or remove accounts but cannot modify the connection setting. If I remove one of my email accounts and add it back automatically, it goes back to Microsoft 365. If I add it manually, I can add it pointing to InMotion server, However, by doing so, I will lose all my old emails. What can I do now? Any suggestion? 


I did try to export my old emails to a pst file and import it back. However, I need a top level folder to import old emails to but Outlook does not allow me to create a top level folder. If I import it to the current folder, it will mess up everything. 

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rong yao

Thanks again, Arnel. I figured out what the problem was. It was associated with some security related settings. I did not do it correctly previously. After I corrected the settings, I can add my email accounts to Outlook client. Thanks anyway for your help. I appreciate it. 

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IMH Support Agent 2
Quote from rong yao

Hi Arnel,

Thank you very much for your reply. I think it is helpful and I appreciate it. However, my problem now is that I cannot add the email account created on the InMotion server to Outlook after I removed the old account. If I choose the automatic way, the old email accounts will be added back. I guess Microsoft 365 saved my old settings somewhere and Outlook will load the old settings by default if I choose the automatic way. If I choose the manual way, it will first stuck and after many minutes of waiting, it show this error message: The connection to the incoming(IMAP) server was dropped. Please check the incoming(IMAP) server settings and try again. Actually I checked settings many times and I am sure I typed it correctly:


Incoming Server:

secure270.inmotionhosting.com

IMAP Port: 993   POP3 Port: 995

What can I do now?

Thank you again,

Rong

Hello Rong Yao,

I think there is a bit of confusion about how the email servers and clients work.  The email servers are where the accounts reside.  But since you are MOVING to InMotion's email server, you should not be putting any accounts on the old Outlook server.  The email clients receive the email from the email servers.  The point of the migration is to set up the InMotion server so you can pull the old email accounts to the new server.  Your old email accounts on the Exchange server (Outlook) should not be removed until you have copied over the email accounts to the new location.  

I hope this makes sense to you.  You shouldn't remove accounts from the old server until the emails have been migrated.  Once you're done, you can remove the connection in your Outlook email client (not server).  The old server data can then be deleted.

If you're still confused about this, then I recommend speaking with an experienced mail administrator or the technical support team.

If you have any further questions or comments, please let us know.


Kindest Regards,

Arnel C.

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rong yao

Hi Arnel,

Thank you very much for your reply. I think it is helpful and I appreciate it. However, my problem now is that I cannot add the email account created on the InMotion server to Outlook after I removed the old account. If I choose the automatic way, the old email accounts will be added back. I guess Microsoft 365 saved my old settings somewhere and Outlook will load the old settings by default if I choose the automatic way. If I choose the manual way, it will first stuck and after many minutes of waiting, it show this error message: The connection to the incoming(IMAP) server was dropped. Please check the incoming(IMAP) server settings and try again. Actually I checked settings many times and I am sure I typed it correctly:


Incoming Server:

secure270.inmotionhosting.com

IMAP Port: 993   POP3 Port: 995

What can I do now?

Thank you again,

Rong

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IMH Support Agent 2
  • Answered

Hello Rong Yao,

Thanks for the question about using Outlook with a different server.  Your email client can use POP3, IMAP, or Microsoft (IMAP4). InMotion email servers use IMAP or POP3.  Typically, the transfer is done in several steps:

  1.  If you are using a cPanel-based hosting account, then you will need to log in to cPanel, go to Email, and then create all of the email accounts on the InMotion server.   This method of migrating emails is not good if you have a lot of email accounts.  You will need to create a duplicate (exact spelling and password) for every email account you want to migrate.

    There are 3rd party applications that you may consider, but they are usually not free.

  2. Once you have created the email accounts on the InMotion server, your next step will be to make sure that your email client (Outlook) has the same email account created using the new location. Your email client should have BOTH the old and the new accounts. The incoming server (IMAP server) is where things will be different. In order to identify the 2 different servers, use the IP address for the older server and the domain name for the new server. If the domain name is identical for both, use the IP addresses instead.  Make sure to note and identify each.
  3. Once you have them both configured properly, run Outlook. 
  4. Go to your old email address and copy the emails from the old account to the new one. 

Once you have completed migrating all of the emails from the old account to the new one, you can remove the old email addresses from Outlook and begin using the new ones.

I hope this helps to identify the steps you need to take.  Please reference our articles for additional knowledge.


If you have any further questions or comments, please let us know.


Kindest Regards,

Arnel C.