Setting up email

MicroApps runs real email hosting on your own domain: proper mailboxes, auto-generated DNS records, and built-in metrics. Deliverability is handled for you, so your mail lands instead of vanishing.

The journey is four steps, in this order: turn email on for the domain, publish the mail records, create a mailbox, connect a mail app. Every click is named below.

Talk to us

Email hosting is offered on request and is enabled per account. Contact us and we'll switch it on for yours.

What you need first

• The domain already added to your account, and verified before you can create a mailbox. That half is in Custom domains & SSL.
• Access to wherever its DNS is managed - your registrar, Cloudflare, Route 53, whoever answers for the name. You will be adding records there, and nobody else can do that part for you.
• At least $3 of credit on the account. Both turning email on and creating a mailbox are refused below that.
• Email hosting enabled on your account, per the note above.

1. Turn email on for the domain

1. Open Domains in the console, or click Domains in the side panel.
2. Click the domain's name in the table. You land on the domain's Overview tab.
3. Find the Email card. It says "Email isn't set up for this domain". Click Set up email.
4. In the dialog, choose your server from Email server. There is normally one option, the server we assigned to your account.
5. Click Enable email.

The card switches to the server's name, and the badge under the domain name goes from Email not set up to Email active.

We generate six DNS records at that moment: MX, SPF, DKIM, DMARC and two SRV records. They are waiting on the DNS tab, which is step 2.

The Email tab has the same Set up email button on its empty state, if you land there first.

2. Publish the mail records

Nothing sends or receives until these records exist in your zone. This is the part nobody can do for you.

On the domain page, click the DNS tab. The six email records are listed there, alongside the ownership, SSL and web records the domain already had. The chip beside the name tells you which row is which:

Chip	Name	Type column	Needed	What it does
Mail	@	MX	Required	Tells other servers where to deliver your mail
SPF	@	TXT	Required	Authorises our servers to send as your domain
DKIM	a long name ending ._domainkey	TXT	Required	Signs your outbound mail
DMARC	_dmarc	TXT	Optional	Tells receivers what to do with mail that fails the other two
IMAP	_imaps._tcp	SRV	Optional	Lets mail apps find the IMAP port on their own
SMTP	_submission._tcp	SRV	Optional	The same, for the SMTP port

Only those last three are badged in the console, with an Optional chip beside the name. The required rows carry no badge of their own, so no chip means required.

Then, at your DNS provider, for each row:

1. Create a record of the type shown in the Type column. That is the type to pick from your provider's dropdown.
2. Set Name (your provider may call it Host or Record name) to the value in the Name column. @ means the domain itself, and most providers accept @ for that.
3. Set Value (or Content, or Data) to the value in the Content column. Click the copy icon next to it rather than retyping. DKIM is a very long key and one wrong character means it never verifies.
4. Set TTL to the value shown, or leave your provider's default. Either is fine.
5. Save, and give it a few minutes to propagate.

Then go back to the DNS tab and click Recheck DNS, at the top right.

If every record stays Pending even though your DNS host shows them, and the domain's page carries a red DNSSEC is broken notice, the domain itself is being refused by resolvers. See If a record never verifies: check DNSSEC.

Each row's Status goes from Pending to Verified. Once Mail, SPF and DKIM read Verified, the domain is ready for mailboxes and the Email card back on the Overview tab flips from Degraded to Healthy. That card judges those three records and nothing else, so a pending DMARC or SRV row does not drag it down.

The notice above the table tracks something wider, in three states. Amber, "DNS records require attention", while a required row is still pending. Then blue, "Everything required is verified", pointing at the Optional rows you have not published yet. Green, "All DNS records verified", only once every row on the tab has verified - and that includes the _acme-challenge row from step 4 of Custom domains & SSL, not just the mail ones.

DKIM, SPF and DMARC are all TXT records

The chip beside the name tells you what a record is for. The Type column tells you what to create, and for DKIM, SPF and DMARC that is a plain TXT record. Don't go hunting for a "DKIM" type in your provider's dropdown, there isn't one.

Providers that split the value into separate fields

Our Content column packs everything into one string, the way a zone file does. Many providers ask for the parts separately:

• MX: 10 mail.example.com is priority 10 and host mail.example.com. If there is a Priority field, put 10 there and only the host in the value.
• SRV: 0 0 993 mail.example.com is priority 0, weight 0, port 993, target mail.example.com, in that order.

Get the SRV order right. Swapping weight and port is the usual mistake: the record publishes with port 0, it never matches what we check for, and the row sits on Pending indefinitely with nothing else looking wrong. If an SRV row will not verify, check the port field before anything else.

Neither DMARC nor the SRV records are needed for mail to flow, and both are worth adding while you are already in the DNS panel.

3. Create a mailbox

1. Open Emails in the console, or click Emails in the side panel. You land on the Email Accounts tab.
2. Click New, at the top right. You land on the Create Email Account page.
3. Fill in the form:
   • Domain - the domain you just set up. Choose it first, because it fills in Server for you.
   • Username - the part before the @, such as hello. The hint under the field shows the full address you are about to create.
   • Password - 8 or more characters with an uppercase letter, a lowercase letter, and a digit. Anything less is rejected.
   • Storage - N GB - the quota, on a slider from 1 to 50 GB. The label updates as you drag.
   • Server - filled in and greyed out once the domain is linked to an email server. Nothing to do here.
4. Click Create Email Account.

You come back to the Email Accounts table with the mailbox in it and its Status reading ACTIVE. The mail server picks the new mailbox up within a few seconds, so give it a moment before you sign in.

4. Connect a mail client

Any standard mail app works. Every client needs the same six values, and they are all on the domain page in the console:

1. Open Domains, click the domain's name, then click the Email tab.
2. Expand Client setup. Six tiles show IMAP Server, IMAP Port, SMTP Server, SMTP Port, Username and Password. The two host names have a copy icon.

The walkthroughs below use this sample mailbox. Swap in your own address and the host name from your domain page; the ports and security settings are the same for everyone.

Setting	Sample value	Notes
Email address	hello@example.com	The mailbox you created in step 3
Username	hello@example.com	Always the full address, never just hello
Password	the mailbox password	The one you set when creating the mailbox
Incoming (IMAP) server	lime.tapps.cc	Your email server's host name, from the IMAP Server tile
Incoming port and security	993, SSL/TLS	Sometimes labelled "Implicit TLS"
Outgoing (SMTP) server	lime.tapps.cc	Same host name, from the SMTP Server tile
Outgoing port and security	587, STARTTLS	Outgoing mail needs authentication with the same username and password

Use the server's host name, not your domain

Enter the host name exactly as the tile shows it, such as lime.tapps.cc. The server's certificate is issued for that name. If you point mail.example.com at the server and type that instead, the connection still works but your client will warn about the certificate on every start.

Automatic setup

If you published the two optional SRV records on the DNS tab, Apple Mail, iOS and Thunderbird find the servers and ports on their own, and you only type the address and password. Every client also accepts the values by hand, which is what the steps below show.

Outlook

New Outlook for Windows and Mac, and Outlook on the web:

1. Click the Settings gear, then Accounts, then Email accounts, then Add account.
2. Type hello@example.com and click Continue. Outlook tries to find the settings by itself.
3. When it asks how to sign in, choose IMAP. If you only see a password prompt, click Show more first.
4. Fill in the fields:
   • IMAP incoming server lime.tapps.cc, Port 993, Secure connection type SSL / TLS
   • SMTP outgoing server lime.tapps.cc, Port 587, Secure connection type STARTTLS
   • Username hello@example.com and the mailbox password, for both servers if it asks twice
5. Click Continue. Outlook signs in and starts syncing.

Classic Outlook (Microsoft 365, Outlook 2021 and 2019 for Windows):

1. Click File, then Add Account.
2. Type hello@example.com, click Advanced options, tick Let me set up my account manually, then click Connect.
3. Choose IMAP.
4. Under Incoming mail enter Server lime.tapps.cc, Port 993, Encryption method SSL/TLS.
5. Under Outgoing mail enter Server lime.tapps.cc, Port 587, Encryption method STARTTLS.
6. Click Next, type the mailbox password, and click Connect. If Outlook asks for a username, it is hello@example.com.

Thunderbird

1. Open Account Settings, then Account Actions, then Add Mail Account.
2. Enter your name, hello@example.com and the password, then click Configure manually.
3. Under Incoming server set Protocol IMAP, Hostname lime.tapps.cc, Port 993, Connection security SSL/TLS, Authentication method Normal password, Username hello@example.com.
4. Under Outgoing server set Hostname lime.tapps.cc, Port 587, Connection security STARTTLS, Authentication method Normal password, Username hello@example.com.
5. Click Re-test. Both lines turn green. Click Done.

Apple Mail on a Mac

1. Open Mail, then Mail, then Add Account. Choose Other Mail Account and click Continue.
2. Enter your name, hello@example.com and the password, then click Sign In.
3. If Mail cannot verify the account, more fields appear. Set Account Type IMAP, Incoming Mail Server lime.tapps.cc, Outgoing Mail Server lime.tapps.cc, and User Name hello@example.com. Click Sign In again.
4. To confirm the ports, open Mail, Settings, Accounts, pick the account and click Server Settings. Untick Automatically manage connection settings for both servers: incoming Port 993 with Use TLS/SSL ticked, outgoing Port 587 with Use TLS/SSL ticked and Authentication Password.

iPhone and iPad

1. Open Settings, then Mail, then Accounts, then Add Account.
2. Choose Other, then Add Mail Account.
3. Enter your name, hello@example.com, the password and a description, then tap Next.
4. Choose IMAP. Under Incoming Mail Server enter Host Name lime.tapps.cc, User Name hello@example.com, and the password.
5. Under Outgoing Mail Server enter the same host name, user name and password. Outgoing credentials are not optional on this server.
6. Tap Next, then Save. iOS uses port 993 with SSL for incoming and 587 with STARTTLS for outgoing. If a later prompt asks, those are the values.

Android

1. Open Gmail, tap your picture, then Add another account, then Other.
2. Enter hello@example.com and tap Manual setup, then choose Personal (IMAP).
3. Enter the password. Under Incoming server settings set Username hello@example.com, Server lime.tapps.cc, Port 993, Security type SSL/TLS.
4. Under Outgoing server settings tick Require sign-in, and set Username hello@example.com, SMTP server lime.tapps.cc, Port 587, Security type STARTTLS.
5. Tap Next. Gmail checks both servers and finishes the setup. Samsung Email and other apps use the same values under the same labels.

If a client refuses the settings

• Authentication failed - the username is the full address, hello@example.com, not hello. If the password is right and it still fails, open the mailbox in the console and set a new one under Access, Change.
• Certificate warning - the server name in the client is not the host name from the tile. Change it to the exact value shown, such as lime.tapps.cc.
• Cannot connect on port 465 - the server does not offer SMTP over implicit SSL. Use port 587 with STARTTLS.
• Receives but cannot send - the outgoing server is missing authentication. Tick the option to sign in to the outgoing server and give it the same username and password.
• Setup succeeds but no mail arrives - the domain's MX record is still pending on the DNS tab. Until it verifies, other servers cannot find your mail server.

Managing a mailbox

Open Emails and click the address in the Email column. You land on the mailbox's Overview tab, where all of this lives.

• Resize storage - on the Mailbox card, click Resize storage, pick a Storage size and click Apply. The sizes offered here are 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 GB.
• Catch-all - under Routing, click Enable on the Catch-all row. Mail sent to any address on the domain that doesn't exist lands in this mailbox. The button then reads Disable. One mailbox per domain.
• Forwarding - under Routing, click Set up on the Forwarding row, type the destination in Forward incoming mail to, and click Save. A copy of every incoming message goes there, and the original still lands here. The buttons afterwards are Edit and Remove.
• Change the password - under Access, click Change, type it in New password, click Set password.
• Pause a mailbox - under Access, click Suspend and confirm. It stops sending and receiving, and its status shows DISABLED. The same button then reads Resume. No need to delete and recreate.
• Delete - the trash icon at the top right of the mailbox page. You have to type the full address to confirm. It is irreversible and drops mail in transit.

To see only one domain's mailboxes, use the domain dropdown above the Email Accounts table; it lists each domain with its mailbox count. Clicking a name in the Domain column opens that domain's own mailbox page instead.

Regenerating DNS records

Need to rotate keys? On the domain's DNS tab, Regenerate Records wipes the domain's DNS records and builds a fresh set, including a new DKIM key and a new ownership token. Confirm with Wipe & Regenerate.

MX, SPF, DMARC and the SRV records normally keep the same values, so if they were already published they re-verify on their own. The three you have to go and update at your provider are the Ownership TXT, the DKIM TXT, and the _acme-challenge CNAME.

Update your CNAME after regenerating

Regenerating also rotates the SSL validation label, so the _acme-challenge CNAME changes. Update that record at your DNS provider afterwards, or your next certificate renewal will fail. The certificate you already have keeps serving until it expires, then quietly stops.

Metrics and unsubscribes

Each mailbox shows sent / received / bounced counts on its Activity tab, over whatever range you pick. The same three numbers roll up per domain and account-wide: the Analytics tab on the Emails page covers the whole account, with a daily chart.

Outgoing mail carries a one-click unsubscribe link. Anyone who unsubscribes lands on your domain's suppression list and we stop mailing them. Review the list, or remove an address to resume sending to it, on the domain's Email tab under Unsubscribes.

Turning email off again

On the domain's Email tab, click Remove Setup and confirm. The email DNS records are deleted and the email server is unlinked. Ownership, SSL and web records are kept, so the domain keeps serving its site. Delete the domain's mailboxes first, or the removal is refused.

API

The same flow is available via the emails API.

Once mail is flowing, read the email deliverability guide - the authentication plumbing is handled for you, but what you send and who you send it to is what decides the inbox.