A work address — the one that ends in your employer's, bank's, university's or government department's own domain — is not a public email service. The mailbox sits on a server your organisation runs or rents, and only your organisation knows how it is configured. That is why adding one behaves differently from adding Gmail, Outlook or Yahoo.
Why there is nothing to look up
BlueMail's auto-detect recognises known public providers. A company server usually isn't one of them, so there is no settings page anywhere on the internet with your server names on it. The details come from your IT department, and nobody else has them — not us, not a search engine, and not another article.
If auto-detect fails on a work address, that on its own is normal. The real question is which of the reasons below applies to your mailbox.
Why a work mailbox refuses an outside app
These are the usual causes. Most of them are decisions your organisation made, and all of them are settings on their side rather than in BlueMail.
- IMAP and POP3 are switched off. Many organisations disable them entirely and allow only Exchange — so there is no IMAP server to connect to, whatever you type in.
- The mailbox is Exchange, not IMAP. It needs Exchange ActiveSync or Exchange EWS, and the server name is rarely the same as your web address.
- The account needs approval before an outside app can connect. Some organisations require an administrator to allow the app, or require the phone to be enrolled in their device management (MDM) first.
- Two-factor authentication or conditional access is on. Your normal password is then refused, and you need an app-specific password issued by your organisation.
- The server is only reachable from inside. If it accepts connections only from the office network, you have to be on the company VPN for setup to succeed.
- It's a Microsoft 365 mailbox and the tenant requires admin consent. Sign-in fails until an administrator approves BlueMail for your organisation.
- The address isn't a mailbox. Some organisations issue an address that only works inside their own portal or webmail and has no IMAP, POP3 or Exchange service behind it. Nothing can add it, because there is nothing to connect to.
What to ask your IT department
Send them one message with all of it — this is the whole list, and a half answer means another round trip. Tell them you're setting the mailbox up in a standard mail app on your phone or computer.
| What to ask for | Example of an answer |
|---|---|
| Protocol | Exchange ActiveSync, Exchange EWS, IMAP or POP3 |
| Incoming server | mail.example.com |
| Incoming port and security | 993 with SSL/TLS |
| Outgoing (SMTP) server | smtp.example.com |
| Outgoing port and security | 587 with STARTTLS |
| Username format | the full email address, or DOMAIN\username |
| Password | your normal one, or an app-specific password they issue |
| Approval | whether the app or the device has to be approved first |
| Network | whether the server works from outside the office, or needs VPN |
The examples in the right-hand column are only there to show the shape of each answer. They are not your settings — don't type them in.
Where these go in BlueMail
Try the normal sign-in first. On the password screen, Allow BlueMail to auto-detect the server details of your account is ticked by default — leave it ticked and tap Next. Some organisations do publish their settings for auto-detect, so this is worth one attempt.
If BlueMail can't find them, enter what IT gave you by hand:
- First account? Tap Continue, type your email address, tap Sign in, then tap Having trouble? Manual Setup under the Sign in button. Already have an account in BlueMail? Go to Settings | Accounts | Add Account.
- On the Choose provider screen, tap Manual Setup at the bottom.
- Manual Setup asks What kind of account is this? Choose the protocol IT gave you: IMAP, POP3, Exchange ActiveSync or Exchange EWS.
- Fill in the form. For IMAP it holds Email Address, Username, Password, IMAP server, Security, Authentication and Port. Username is a separate field from Email Address — that's where a
DOMAIN\usernamegoes if that's the format your organisation uses.
Full walkthrough: Configuring your account manually.
If IT says Exchange or Microsoft 365
Choose Exchange ActiveSync where your organisation supports it — it syncs calendar and contacts as well as mail. Adding an Exchange Account covers both Exchange options.
If it's a Microsoft 365 mailbox and sign-in is refused, an administrator has to approve BlueMail for your organisation once, in the Microsoft Entra admin center. That is not something you can do from the app — send your IT team How to Approve BlueMail for Use with Office 365?, which has the steps they need.
If your organisation blocks third-party mail apps
Then BlueMail cannot connect, and no setting in the app gets around it. This is a deliberate restriction on the mail server, and only your administrator can lift it. Ask them whether third-party mail apps are permitted for your mailbox — if the answer is no, that is the end of it, and any workaround you find online will fail the same way.
Still stuck?
If IT gave you the settings and it still won't add, work through Can't Add My Account — it covers the rest of the usual causes. If you're getting a specific message: Bad Username or Password · Not Authorized · IMAP Disabled.
If the account added and then stopped, see Connection issues, sync failures or missing emails.
