Microsoft Outlook and ImprovMX Incompatibility

Explains why ImprovMX SMTP is incompatible with Microsoft Outlook.

Microsoft Outlook is a popular email client, but unfortunately, it does not work with ImprovMX’s SMTP service. The issue stems from the way Outlook handles sending and receiving accounts—it does not allow them to be configured separately.

The Problem

ImprovMX provides industry standard SMTP settings for sending emails, which works with most email clients. However, for inbound emails, we only forward messages to your existing inbox and do not provide a traditional mailbox for receiving. This means you need to set up your outgoing and incoming email configurations separately.

Outlook, however, does not support this kind of “de-coupling.” It expects an SMTP server to be linked to the same provider as the incoming mail server. Because of this limitation, Outlook does not work properly with ImprovMX’s SMTP service.

The Alternative

If you’re looking for a reliable desktop email client that fully supports ImprovMX’s configuration, we recommend Mozilla Thunderbird. Thunderbird allows you to configure sending and receiving accounts independently, making it a great choice for use with ImprovMX.

We have a full guide on how to configure Thunderbird with ImprovMX SMTP here.

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