You can access your BT email online from anywhere at any time. You can also access it through an email program or via a smartphone or tablet. Find out more...
Webmail
Webmail or Web-based email means that you look at your email on a website from any computer or device connected to the internet. To do this, just go to www.bt.com/email >
Using an email client
You can also set up your email to be used with an email client. This is an email program or application on your computer or device, like Apple Mail, Outlook or Windows Mail.
Email client applications store your downloaded emails locally on your device. This means you can still read them even if your computer is not connected to the internet.
IMAP and POP3 are the protocols or technologies that enable you to download your email messages to your computer or device. We recommend you use IMAP with SSL enabled as this will ensure copies of your messages are kept on the email server.
SMTP is the technology that enables you to send email, so whether you're using IMAP or POP3, you'll need to enable SMTP. It's easy - you usually switch it on by ticking a box called 'My server requires authentication' in your email program's settings.
If you don't set up SMTP authentication, you'll get an error 530 failure message when trying to send email messages.
Getting set up on an email client
To set up your email on your computer, laptop or mobile device, you’ll need to know:
- Your BT email address or username
- The password for it
- What device you have (an iPhone 6 or a Samsung 7 for example)
- What application you’re using (Apple Mail or Outlook for example)
- You’ll also need the incoming and outgoing server settings (also known as the IMAP/POP3 and SMTP settings) for the BT Email service
To protect our email server from abuse by spammers, we require all emails sent through our email service to have SMTP authentication.
Help with specific computer and mobile devices
We're aware of some issues with Apple devices and applications. We have some steps for you to try if you experience any problems while setting up BT Email on your Apple device or Apple Mail.
Help with specific email client applications
The email client that comes with Windows 8 won’t work with BT Email as it only supports Microsoft's own email addresses. These end in @outlook.com, @live.com or @hotmail.com. You'll need to download one of the email client applications listed above.
Don’t forget, you can also access your email through your web browser. Just go to www.bt.com and log in securely via the 'Email' link at the top.