Workspace Email Help

Troubleshooting Apple Mail

If you’re having trouble with receiving or sending your Workspace email, using Apple Mail on Mac, see below for some helpful troubleshooting steps.

If you need immediate access to your email account, log in through Workspace webmail. If you cannot access your email on Workspace webmail, your email account may be email client accessible only.

Common problemsTry this to fix...
Username and password are incorrect
  1. Go to email.secureserver.net, and log in with the email address and password you used to set up your account.
  2. If unsuccessful, double-check your email address with your account administrator, and try again.
  3. If still unsuccessful, reset your password.
  4. Update your account settings in Apple Mail.
Using incorrect POP or IMAP setting
  1. Go to your Email Setup Center, look under Email Server Settings.
  2. If you see only Incoming Server (POP3), you must use POP to set up your account. If you also see Incoming Server (IMAP), you should use IMAP to set up your account.
  3. If you need to change the account type, set up a new account from scratch, using the correct IMAP or POP settings.
Using the wrong server address
  1. Go to your Email Setup Center, look under Email Server Settings to get your correct server addresses.
  2. Be sure you are using the correct server address, with the correct POP or IMAP setting.
  3. Check and update your account settings in Apple Mail.
Ports are blocked
  1. Go to your Email Setup Center, look under Email Server Settings to get your port options.
  2. If the port is in black, SSL needs to be unselected. If the port is orange, you need to select SSL in your account settings.
  3. Update your account settings in Apple Mail, using a different port than before.
Not using Password authenticationApple Mail may say that entering your User Name and Password for either your incoming or outgoing server authentication is optional, but it is required when setting up Workspace email.

Update your Apple Mail settings, being sure that any:
  • Authentication is set to Password
  • User Name is your full email address
  • Password is filled in, and correct
You can't receive mail

You see the error:
The mail server [server address] is not responding
There’s a problem with your incoming server or port settings.

See Using incorrect POP or IMAP settings, Using wrong server address, and Ports are blocked above.
You can receive mail, but can’t send mail

You see the error:
Cannot send message using the server [server address]
The sender address [your email address] was rejected by the server
There’s a problem with your outgoing server or port settings.

Try these steps to fix.
Mail stopped working immediately after upgrading your Mac OS version
  1. In Apple Mail, under Inbox, select the mailbox you want to change.
  2. Click the cog, and select Edit "[your email address]"…
  3. Click Advanced.
  4. Look at the Automatically detect and maintain account settings option.
    1. If it is unselected, click to select. Then quit and relaunch Apple Mail.
    2. If it is selected, click to unselect. Then quit and relaunch Apple Mail. Repeat steps 1 - 3. Click the same option to select it, again. Quit and relaunch Apple Mail, again.

Read more about this fix.

Note: As a courtesy, we provide information about how to use certain third-party products, but we do not endorse or directly support third-party products and we are not responsible for the functions or reliability of such products. We are not affiliated with, endorsed, or sponsored by Apple or Apple products.