Apple Mail (macOS): set up email

Set up an email account in Apple Mail on the Mac via IMAPInternet Message Access Protocol: the standard for retrieving email that keeps messages on the server and syncs them across multiple devices.. This guide applies to macOS 13 (Ventura) and later. Mail.app has barely changed across these versions.

Prerequisites

• The email account has been created in the panel.
• Server details are at hand: hostname, ports and mailbox password.

Step by step

1. Open the Mail app. On first launch, the account assistant appears. If other accounts already exist: Mail → Settings → Accounts → +.
2. In the provider dialog, select Other Mail Account… at the very bottom.
3. Enter your name, full email address and mailbox password. Click Sign In.
4. Mail tries an automatic configuration. If your domain doesn’t run on rack::SPEED nameservers, this fails and Mail asks for manual details. Then enter:
   • Account Type: IMAP
   • Incoming Mail Server: mail.<yourdomain>
   • Outgoing Mail Server: mail.<yourdomain>
5. Click Sign In. Mail checks the connection using the standard ports (993 IMAP, 587 SMTP).
6. Choose which apps should sync with the account. For a mail-only account, Mail is enough. Confirm with Done.

Set ports manually

If step 5 fails and Mail asks for port details: after setup, go to Settings → Accounts → [your account] → Server Settings and uncheck Automatically manage connection settings. You can then set the port (993 for IMAP, 587 for SMTP), authentication (Password) and encryption (SSL/TLS for IMAP, STARTTLS for SMTP) explicitly.

Troubleshooting

“Mail can’t verify the identity of the server” on first connection

mail.<yourdomain> has no SSL certificate for exactly this address.

Solution: Before confirming, open the certificate and check whether it names the server hostname (ending in rackspeed-cloud.de). If it does, the certificate is technically valid and you can accept it as trusted. Cleaner alternative: enter the *.rackspeed-cloud.de hostname from the panel as the server directly during setup.

Sent mail ends up under “On My Mac”

Mail doesn’t always detect the IMAP Sent folder automatically and then stores messages locally.

Solution: In the sidebar, navigate to the server’s Sent folder (often named Sent or Gesendet under your email address), right-click → Mailbox → Use This Mailbox For → Sent. Do the same for Drafts, Trash and Junk.

Spam filter training seems unreliable

Apple’s local junk filter and the server-side spam filter run in parallel.

Solution: Mark messages via Message → Move to Junk. Apple learns immediately, and the rack::SPEED filter learns as well via IMAP flags. Important: for clean training data, don’t empty the Junk folder yourself; let the server decide.

Related articles

• Find IMAP, POP3 and SMTP details: background on the server values.
• Create an email account: if the address doesn’t exist yet.
• Apple Mail (iOS): set up email: the same server details, mobile version.

Still stuck?

If Mail doesn’t connect despite correct details: open a ticket in the customer center. Helpful: macOS version, a screenshot of the error message and the server hostname you used.