How IMAP Works in Zoho Mail

When IMAP is enabled for Zoho Mail, messages that you move or delete will be deleted or moved when you open your mail from any other program that’s using Zoho Mail through the IMAP servers. Likewise, when you read an email from your regular email client, the message will be marked as read when you log in to Zoho Mail on every other device.

How to Enable IMAP in Zoho Mail

To make sure IMAP is enabled for your account:

Select the gear in the upper-right corner of Zoho Mail to open the Settings tab. Scroll down and select IMAP Access under Mail accounts. Select IMAP under your email address. Select the box beside IMAP Access. Select the X beside the Settings tab to close it.

Additional IMAP Settings

There are a few optional features you can configure in your IMAP settings.

Launch Folder Settings

Place a check mark in the View in IMAP client and Notification columns to pick which folders should and should not be used over IMAP.

If a folder is using IMAP and you remove a message from your email program within that folder, then it will be deleted from the server too, which means you won’t be able to see it in Zoho Mail. You might disable IMAP for a specific folder if you want to make sure that you can delete emails from your other email client and have them stay in your Zoho Mail account.

Auto-Expunge

Choose the Auto-Expunge Mails option to promptly remove emails from the Zoho Mail server when you delete them from your email program. Otherwise, leave the option unchecked to delete messages from the server only after the local and online folders have synced. If you delete a message from your email program and then visit Zoho Mail in your browser shortly after, messages you delete should be deleted there too unless the folders haven’t synced yet.

How to Connect Zoho Mail to Outlook Via IMAP

Now that IMAP has been turned on, you can connect your Zoho Mail account to your preferred email client. For example, to view your Zoho Mail messages in Microsoft Outlook via IMAP:

Open Outlook and select File. Select Add Account. Enter your Zoho Mail email address and select Connect. Enter your Zoho Mail password and select Connect. Select Done.

Problems Connecting With the IMAP Server

If your email client doesn’t automatically connect to Zoho Mail, you may have to manually input the email server settings for Zoho Mail into your email program of choice. These settings are required in order to explain to the application how to access your account to download and send mail on your behalf. You need the Zoho Mail IMAP server settings for downloading mail to the program and the Zoho Mail SMTP server settings to send mail through the program.