Add an email account to Outlook

There are many different types of email accounts you can add to Outlook, including Office 365, Gmail, Yahoo, iCloud, and Exchange accounts.

Some third-party email providers, like Gmail, Yahoo, and iCloud, require you to change some settings on their websites before you can add these accounts to Outlook.

Outlook for PC Outlook for Mac Mobile email

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These steps are the same whether you're adding your first email account or additional email accounts to Outlook.

Select File > Add Account.
What you see next depends on your version of Outlook.

For Outlook for Office 365 and Outlook 2016

For Outlook 2013 and Outlook 2010

Enter your email address and click Connect.

Enter your name, email address, and password, and click Next.
If prompted, enter your password again, then select OK > Finish to start using your email account in Outlook.

If you need instructions for adding an email account using advanced settings, see Use advanced setup to add a POP or IMAP email account in Outlook for PC.

To update your email settings such as incoming and outgoing server names, see Update your email settings in Outlook for PC.

Outlook won't accept my password

If Outlook won't accept your password and you know you're using the password for your email account, you might have an email account that requires additional security.

Gmail, Yahoo, iCloud, and AOL accounts all use two-factor authentication to help verify that you're the person trying to access your email account.

To add your email account to Outlook, you'll need an app password. This is a different password than your regular email account password.

The steps to obtain an app password are different for each email provider. Select your provider in the drop-down for instructions.

Gmail does allow you to add your account to Outlook without setting up two-factor authentication and using an app password, but you must turn on a setting that allows "less secure apps" to connect to your account. We do not recommend this setting. We recommend turning on two-factor authentication and using an app password.

To turn on two-factor authentication and get an app password, use the following steps.

Go to Gmail from your browser, then select the Google apps icon in the upper right corner of the screen.
Select My Account. Under Sign-in & security, select Signing in to Google.
Under Password & sign-in method, if 2-Step Verification is OFF, click the > next to OFF. Otherwise, skip to step 4.
1. On the first screen, click CONTINUE.
2. If prompted, enter your Gmail password and then click NEXT.
3. Enter your phone number and select whether you want to receive your verification codes by text message or a phone call. Then click NEXT.
4. Enter the code you received and click NEXT.
5. Click TURN ON to finish setting up 2-step verification.
6. Return to the previous screen by clicking the left arrow at the top of the screen next to 2-Step Verification.
Under Password & sign-in method, select App passwords.
Enter your Google password and then select Sign in. At the bottom of the next screen, select Mail and Windows Computer from the drop-down lists, then select Generate.
Google will display an app password for you. Copy this password (without the spaces) and enter this password when Outlook prompts you for a password.

Go to the Yahoo website from your browser and select the settings icon in the upper right corner of the screen.
Select Account info > Account security. You may need to sign in again.
If Two-step verification isn't turned on, you'll need to do that before you continue. Then select Manage app passwords.
Select Outlook Desktop from the drop-down list, and then select Generate.
Yahoo will display an app password for you. Copy this password (without the spaces) and enter this password when Outlook prompts you for a password.

Go to the Apple ID website from your browser and enter your Apple ID and password.
If you've already turned on two-factor authentication, you'll receive a code on one of your devices. Enter this code to continue. Otherwise, turn on two-factor authentication.
In the Security section, under APP-SPECIFIC PASSWORDS, select Generate Password...
Enter a name for your password, such as Outlook, and select Create.
Apple will display an app password for you. Copy this password (without the spaces) and enter this password when Outlook prompts you for a password.

Note: AOL and Verizon customers who need to update their account settings after AOL's recent change to their server settings should see the section Update your email settings in Outlook for Mac. When checking your encryption settings, make sure they're set to SSL, SSL/TLS, or Auto and not TLS only.

Add a new account quickly

Most email accounts, including Office 365, Exchange server accounts, Outlook.com, Hotmail.com, Live.com and Google accounts can be set up in a few quick steps.

Type your email address > Continue.
Type your password > Add Account. (Your screen might look different from this one depending on the account you're adding.)
If adding a Yahoo, or other IMAP or POP account, you might be taken to those sites and asked to allow Outlook to access your mail, contacts, and calendars. Click Allow to continue.
If you are adding Gmail, you will get a prompt within Outlook to sign-in to your Google account. This is for users who are on Build 16.15.18070902 and higher.

Have you already added your Gmail account to Outlook then see, Improved auth for existing Gmail users.
Select Done to start using Outlook 2016 for Mac.

Improved auth for existing Gmail users

If you have a Google account added to Outlook for Mac earlier to the release of improved authentication experience for Google IMAP accounts, then you will need to sign-in using the browser to connect to your account.

Select Sign in to Google.
Choose an account.
You will be asked to allow Outlook to access your mail, contacts, and calendars. Choose Allow.
You will be asked to return back to Outlook. Choose Allow.
Select Done to start using Outlook 2016 for Mac.

Update your email settings in Outlook for Mac

Select Tools > Accounts.
Select the email account you want to change.
Update your account description, personal information, username and password, or other settings, depending on the type of account you're editing.
When finished with your updates, select OK.

Add more accounts

After your first account is set up, follow these steps to add all subsequent email accounts.

Select Tools > Accounts.
Click the plus (+) sign > New Account.
Enter the email address of the account.
Follow the prompts to complete the account setup.

Set up two-factor authentication for Gmail

Two-factor authentication is an extra layer of security for your account. Each time you log in to your Gmail account from a new device, you'll receive a single-use code on your phone. Enter this code to complete the sign-in.

Go to Gmail from your browser, then select the Google apps icon in the upper right corner of the screen.
Select My Account. Under Sign-in & security, select Signing in to Google.
Select 2-Step Verification and follow the prompts.

Set up two-factor authentication for Yahoo

Go to the Yahoo website from your browser and select the settings icon in the upper right corner of the screen.
Select Account info > Account security. You may need to sign in again.
If Two-step verification isn't turned on, you'll need to do that before you continue. Then select Manage app passwords.
Select Outlook Desktop from the drop-down list, and then select Generate.
Yahoo will display an app password for you. Make a note of this password (without the spaces) and use this as the password when adding a new account to Outlook.

Set up two-factor authentication for iCloud

Go to the Apple ID website from your browser and enter your Apple ID and password.
If you've already turned on two-factor authentication, you'll receive a code on one of your devices. Enter this code to continue. Otherwise, turn on two-factor authentication.
In the Security section, under APP-SPECIFIC PASSWORDS, select Generate Password...
Enter a name for your password, such as Outlook, and select Create.
Apple will display an app password for you. Make a note of this password (without the spaces) and use this as the password when adding a new account to Outlook.