How to Add Comcast, AOL, Verizon and EarthLink Accounts

These are US internet-provider mailboxes, and each one blocks mail apps in a different way. Comcast has a switch you must turn on first. AOL and Verizon want a generated app password instead of your normal one. EarthLink just needs the right servers. Find your provider below and use only that block.

Comcast / Xfinity (@comcast.net)

Start here: turn on Third Party Access Security

Xfinity blocks outside mail apps unless a checkbox in Xfinity Email is ticked. If you have never used a mail app with this mailbox, that box is unchecked, and Xfinity's own page says you will get an error when you try to set the account up. This is the most common reason a Comcast account won't add.

To turn it on, in a web browser:

1. Sign in to Xfinity Email with your Xfinity ID and password.
2. In the top-right corner, click the Gear icon, then select Settings.
3. Click Security.
4. Check the box under Third Party Access Security.

Xfinity's own instructions: Turn your access to third-party email programs on or off.

This switch is on Xfinity's website, not in BlueMail. Xfinity's own page says the account signs in with your Xfinity ID and password, so use that — there is no separate code to generate.

Comcast server settings

Xfinity recommends IMAP. Port 110 is no longer supported for POP3 — use 995. Port 25 is not supported for sending at all. Full list: Set up your Xfinity Email address with an email program.

AOL (@aol.com)

Start here: your normal password will not work

AOL requires third-party mail apps to sign in either through AOL's own sign-in page or with an app password — a randomly generated code you create once. Typing your usual AOL password into a manual setup form is refused, and that looks like a wrong password when it isn't.

Try the provider list first. On the Choose provider screen, pick AOL rather than Manual Setup — AOL only asks for an app password when the app doesn't use AOL's own sign-in page.

If you set the account up by hand instead, create an app password first:

1. Sign in to your AOL Account Security page.
2. Click Generate app password or Generate and manage app passwords.
3. Click Get Started.
4. Enter your app's name in the text field.
5. Click Generate password.
6. Use the one-time password to sign in to BlueMail, then click Done.

AOL asks you to do this in a browser you have signed into AOL Mail with for several days in a row, and not in a private/incognito window. App passwords stay valid even after you change your main password — deleting the app password is the only way to revoke it. AOL's own instructions: Create and manage 3rd-party app passwords.

AOL server settings

Use your full email address, including @aol.com, as the username. AOL's own page: Use POP or IMAP to sync AOL Mail on a third-party app.

Verizon (@verizon.net)

Verizon.net mailboxes were migrated to AOL Mail, so they now follow AOL's rules — you need an app password, created exactly as described in the AOL section above. The servers are a mix: incoming mail comes from AOL, outgoing still goes through Verizon.

Use your full email address, including @verizon.net, as the username. Verizon's settings are published by AOL: Configure POP and IMAP settings for Verizon.net AOL Mail accounts.

EarthLink (@earthlink.net, @mindspring.com and other EarthLink domains)

EarthLink has no access switch and no app password. Wrong server values are the usual cause here, and the trap is that the IMAP and POP3 servers follow different rules.

IMAP is the same for every EarthLink domain — earthlink.net, mindspring.com, ix.netcom.com and the rest all use the same host:

POP3 incoming is per-domain, in the form pop. plus your own domain. The outgoing server stays the same:

Both servers need authentication: use your full email address and password. EarthLink's own page: Email Server Settings.

Choosing POP3 so mail stays on the server

POP3 downloads mail to the device. If you want it to stay on EarthLink's server as well — so webmail or another device still shows it — set that in BlueMail after the account is added: Settings | Accounts | [tap the account] | Delete Messages on Server, and choose Never. See How to delete emails from the server with POP3 accounts and How does my POP3 account work in BlueMail.

Don't mix protocols on one address. EarthLink warns that having some devices on POP and others on IMAP for the same mailbox causes messages to go missing.

Other ISP domains

@nexicom.net — Nexicom documents a POP3-only setup with no encryption: incoming mail.nexicom.net, port 110, security None; outgoing outgoing.nexicom.net, port 587, security None, with sign-in required and your full email address as the username. Nexicom publishes no IMAP settings. Their own instructions: Email Setup on Android Phone or Tablet.

@juno.com — Juno publishes the server names pop.juno.com and smtp.juno.com and nothing else: no port numbers, no IMAP, and no stated security setting beyond a recommendation to use SSL. Ask Juno for the ports before setting the account up by hand (Juno's page).

@bright.net, @fairpoint.net — we could not find current settings published by these providers. Ask them for the incoming server, outgoing server, ports and security setting, then enter them by hand.

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. If that works, you're done.

If BlueMail can't find the details, enter them by hand:

1. 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.
2. On the Choose provider screen, tap Manual Setup at the bottom.
3. Choose IMAP or POP3, matching the table you used above.
4. Fill in the form — it holds the server, Security and Port fields. Pick SSL, TLS or STARTTLS in the Security dropdown to match the table, and use your full email address as the username.

Full walkthrough: Configuring your account manually.

It worked before and stopped

For Comcast, check Third Party Access Security first — see above. An unticked box is the whole fix, and it can be turned off from the Xfinity side.

For AOL and Verizon, check whether the app password is still there. Changing your main password doesn't break an app password, but deleting one does — generate a new one and enter it in BlueMail.

For EarthLink, check the server details on the account: Settings | Accounts | [tap the account] | Incoming/Outgoing Settings — see Edit Account.

Still stuck? Can't Add My Account works through the other usual causes, Bad Username or Password covers a sign-in the server rejects, and Connection issues, sync failures or missing emails covers accounts that added fine but won't stay connected.