Imperial does not yet support the new version of Outlook for Windows. Guidance and further information will follow when it falls under support.

Check which version of Outlook I have.

Microsoft Outlook is the only supported email client at Imperial. Outlook can be accessed from the web, or a client can be installed on your desktop/laptop, Mac, iOS or Android device. Outlook is pre-installed on Imperial devices for easy access to your emails. 

For better security, we recommend you use Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). 

Note: Thunderbird v78 or higher supports MFA. iOS 11, iPadOS 13.1 and macOS 10.14 and above native mail client supports MFA. Some older email clients don't support MFA. Please check the vendor's website to see if they support modern authentication - some are able to with if you set up an App Password.

Email clients

Outlook for Windows

If you do not have the Office applications installed on your device, log in to Office 365 and select 'Install Office' from the top right corner of the home page. This will install the core Office applications, including Outlook.

Once downloaded follow these steps to set up your account:

  1. Open Outlook. You will be presented with a login screen.
  2. Enter your College username in the format username.ic.ac.uk. Click Connect. 
  3. A dialog box asking you to enter your password. Click Sign in. 
  4. The screen will display 'Use this account everywhere on your device'. Ensure the 'Allow my organisation to manage my device' box is checked. Click Yes.
  5. Account successfully added. Click Done. Outlook will open. 

Outlook is now configured to connect to your Office 365 mailbox.

Outlook for Mac

If you do not have the Office applications installed on your device, log in to Office 365 and select 'Install Office' from the top right corner of the home page. This will install the core Office applications, including Outlook.

  1.   Open Outlook. You will be presented with a 'Set up your email' screen
  2. Enter your email address in the format of username@ic.ac.uk and click Continue
  3. A dialog box will display with Imperial branding. Enter your College password here and click Sign in
  4. Your account will then be added.
  5. Click Done. Your emails will then display.
Outlook for iOS

To set up your College email account using the Microsoft Outlook app on your iOS and iPadOS device, follow these steps:

1. Download the Microsoft Outlook app from the App Store.
2. The Add an account screen will display. Enter your College email address (username@ic.ac.uk) and tap Add account.
3. Enter your College password. Tap sign in. 
4. Authenticate yourself

Your email account is now ready to use. 

Outlook for Android

To set up your Office 365 email account using the Microsoft Outlook app on your Android device, follow these steps:

  1. Download Outlook from the Play Store. 
  2. Tap on the Outlook icon in your Apps menu to launch it.
  3. Type your College username@ic.ac.uk (e.g. test160@ic.ac.uk) in the Email address field and press continue.
  4. Enter your College password in the Password field.  Note: Depending on your device, some security messages will pop up. Please accept these to continue. 
  5. Press the blue 'Tick' icon in the top right corner to finish.

 Your email account is ready to use.

Thunderbird for Linux

Thunderbird is not an officially supported mail client and we are unable to provide additional support configuring Thunderbird on your device if the instructions below do not work. The recommended mail client for Windows and Mac is Microsoft Outlook, which is available to download from Office 365.

To set up your Office 365 email account on Thunderbird, follow these steps:

  1. Open Mozilla Thunderbird.
  2. Go to the Home tab
  3. Click the Application menu button. 
  4. Select Account Settings.
  5. At the bottom of the left pane, click Account Actions.
  6. Select Add Mail Account.
  7. Enter your name, full College email address e.g., firstname.surname@imperial.ac.uk or initial.surname@imperial.ac.uk, and College password.
  8. Click Continue and wait for the setup to finish. Thunderbird will fail to find the settings on your email account. This is expected.
  9. Under incoming server enter IMAP Server hostname: outlook.office365.com Port: 993 SSL: SSL/TLS and Authentication: Normal password in the Incoming section. 
  10. Enter your College username@ic.ac.uk in the Incoming section (this is not your email address).
  11. Under outgoing server enter SMTP Server hostname: smtp.office365.com Port: 587 Connection security: STARTTLS and Authentication method: Normal password in the Outgoing section. 
  12. Enter your college username@ic.ac.uk
  13. Click Re-test.
  14. In Incoming server authentication method select Oauth2
  15. In Outgoing server authentication method select Oauth2
  16. Click Done to complete the account set up.
  17. You should be prompted to complete the normal web-based two-factor authentication process.

Your email account is now ready to use.

Please be aware that while we will endeavour to support Thunderbird, it is not a core college service and therefore we cannot guarantee stable use.

Steps for fixing known errors

If after clicking Done, your email does not appear, please try:

  • In the Tools menu, you will find Options. In options, there is a button called Attachments.
  • Please locate the association for the file type and delete it.
  • Next time you ask Thunderbird to open a file of that type it will ask you what to do with the file. You will need to select the correct application. You can also click Save and have Thunderbird remember exactly what to do with that file type.

If the attachments are being removed from emails then please try the following:

  • Currently there is an add-on that allows the attachment to be displayed, which comes directly from Mozilla

If you want to sync your contact, task and calendar information with Thunderbird then you can try using a TbSync add-on. Download the add on from Mozilla.