OUTGOING SERVER ON MAIL DOES NOT CONNECT ON MY MACBOOK

Question

OUTGOING SERVER ON MAIL DOES NOT CONNECT ON MY MACBOOK

Paige Bothroyd 0

Hello,

I have gone through APPLE 3 times.

I cannot link my email to my MAIL app on my MacBook due to the outgoing server. I can log in perfect on both safari and my phone. I have also sent test emails to myself on both online login and my phone - they both work. I can see incoming emails via mail on my laptop, but I cannot send emails out.

I need help with this as I have excused all avenues via APPLE yesterday and today.

Paige Bothroyd 0 Reputation points

2026-11-08T14:24:27.5033333+00:00

Where am I checking this? on the mail app or on Safari? I have deleted my email on the mail app if so because the lady at apple told me to. yesterday I added the email using "Microsoft Exchange" but was advised today that I had to add my email via "Other Mail Account" - however this way did not allow me to add or log in. this is why I have been advised to speak with someone from Microsoft.

2 answers

Your answer

Paige Bothroyd 0 Reputation points

2026-11-08T14:24:27.5033333+00:00

Where am I checking this? on the mail app or on Safari? I have deleted my email on the mail app if so because the lady at apple told me to. yesterday I added the email using "Microsoft Exchange" but was advised today that I had to add my email via "Other Mail Account" - however this way did not allow me to add or log in. this is why I have been advised to speak with someone from Microsoft.

Answer 1

Hi Paige Bothroyd,

I can understand how frustrating this must be after going through the setup several times with Apple, especially when the same mailbox continues to work normally in Safari and on your phone.

Based on what you described, the Microsoft mailbox service does not appear to be completely down. The problem is more likely related to the account type or authentication being used by Apple Mail on the Mac.

Could you let me know the following without sharing your complete email address?

The domain after the @, for example outlook.com, hotmail.com, or a company domain
The exact message shown when “Other Mail Account” refuses the sign-in
Whether this is a personal Microsoft account or an account supplied by an employer or school

This information matters because the appropriate setup option may be different for Outlook.com, Microsoft 365 business or school accounts, and third-party email services. If the account can be added successfully again, Apple Mail’s server settings can be reviewed under Mail > Settings > Accounts > Server Settings.

Please do not manually enter smtp.office365.com unless it is confirmed to be the correct server for this particular account. Once the domain and error message are available, we can point you to the correct account type and settings. Thank you so much for your understanding.

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Answer 2

Since incoming mail works in Mail on the MacBook but sending fails, the issue is most likely with the outgoing SMTP configuration, SMTP authentication, or a network firewall blocking the SMTP server.

Try these checks in order:

Verify the outgoing server settings in Outlook for Mac.
- Open Tools > Accounts.
- Select the affected account.
- Check the Outgoing server value.
- If the mailbox is a Microsoft 365 account, the SMTP server is smtp.office365.com.
Turn on SMTP authentication.
- In Tools > Accounts > select the account.
- Under Outgoing server, click More Options.
- Select the correct authentication type.
- Enter the account credentials if prompted.
- This is required for some POP and IMAP accounts even when incoming mail works.
Confirm the account credentials and server details.
- In Tools > Accounts > select the account.
- Verify the email address, user name, and password.
- If the provider requires special settings, SSL or a non-default port may also be required.
Check whether the network is blocking SMTP.
- If sending fails only on the MacBook’s current network, the ISP or local firewall may be blocking the outgoing mail server.
- In that case, ask the email provider, ISP, or network administrator for an alternative SMTP server and enter it in the Outgoing server field.
- This can vary by location, especially on laptops used on different networks.
Make sure Outlook is online.
- On the Outlook menu, confirm Work Offline is not checked.
If the account is configured in Apple Mail rather than Outlook, recheck the manual SMTP values.
- For Microsoft 365 mailboxes in Mac Mail, the outgoing server is smtp.office365.com.
- The incoming server is outlook.office365.com.
- If Mail shows Unable to verify account name or password, continue with manual entry of the server settings.
If the server is unavailable, contact the email provider or mail administrator.
- If the account worked before and web access still works, the mail server may still be available for web and mobile access while the Mac app is using incorrect SMTP settings.

If the account is not a Microsoft 365 mailbox, the correct SMTP host, authentication method, SSL requirement, and port must come from the email provider.