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Autodiscovery settings  for IMAP - Zoho Mail

Posted by Nishi on 21 January 2025

Autodiscovery:

The Autodiscovery service ensures that email accounts can easily be configured using the IMAP protocol or on mobile devices using ActiveSync. The procedure varies depending on whether you want to configure it for IMAP or ActiveSync.If Autodiscovery is configured, you will not need to enter the server details, port number etc. Just by entering your email address and password, you can configure your email accounts. User configuration and the following deployment are done easily, and it saves time for organization administrators while deploying email accounts for large organizations. 

Configuring Autodiscovery for IMAP:

To configure Autodiscovery in IMAP, there are two major steps involved.

  • Adding an SRV Record in your DNS Manager or uploading an XML file.  
  • Login using an email address in your domain.

You will not need to enter any of the server details while logging in.

Autodiscovery for Outlook:

The autodiscovery settings can easily be configured in Outlook using the IMAP protocol by manually adding an SRV record in your DNS manager or uploading an XML file.

Adding SRV Record:

  1. Login to your DNS provider.
  2. Go to the DNS Management page, to add an SRV Record.
  3. Click Add to add a new record.
  4. In the Type field, select SRV from the options listed.
  5. Enter the following details in the respective fields:Service: _autodiscoverProtocol: _tcpName: @Target: autodiscover.zoho.comPriority: 0Weight: 0Port: 443TTL: customSeconds: 3600 
  6. ​Now click Save after you have entered these details.

After adding the record, please wait for the TTL value for the record to propagate. You can check whether the record has been added properly by entering your domain name in the MX section of the TTL checker tool. 

Once the record has propagated, follow the configuration instructions for Outlook.

Instead of manually adding this record, you can also upload an XML file by following the instructions given below, and then configure in Outlook. 

Uploading XML file- Outlook:

To configure Autodiscovery for IMAP for your domain, you need to have web hosting enabled for your domain. In addition, you need to purchase an SSL certificate for your domain as well.

If the above conditions are in check, follow the below instructions for configuration:

  1. Contact your Webhosting provider.
  2. Get them to add a folder named autodiscover.
  3. In this folder, create an XML file named autodiscover.xml
  4. Click here to view the sample XML file for IMAP configuration.
  5. After creating this file, go to https://<domainname>/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml and make sure that the XML file that you added is listed.
  6. If the file is listed, you can proceed with configuring your domain's email accounts using IMAP.

Configuration in Outlook:

  1. Launch the Microsoft Outlook application in your system.
  2. Click File and select Add Account.
  3. Select the Email Account option.
  4. Enter the name of the user, the Email Address and the Password of an account from your domain.​
  5. Now click Next.
  6. Click Allow if you are asked to authorize the particular website to configure your server settings.
  7. After the configuration is done, click Finish.​

​This email address from your domain will now be configured in Outlook as an IMAP account. Similarly, you can configure other user accounts in a few simple steps.

Autodiscovery for Thunderbird

The autodiscovery service can be configured in Thunderbird using the IMAP protocol in two simple steps,

Uploading XML file -Thunderbird:

To configure Autodiscovery for IMAP for your domain, you need to have web hosting enabled for your domain. In addition, you need to purchase an SSL certificate for your domain as well.

If the above conditions are in check, follow the below instructions for configuration:

  1. Contact your Webhosting provider.
  2. Get them to add a folder named autoconfig.
  3. In this folder, create an XML file named autoconfig.xml
  4. Click here to view the sample XML file for IMAP configuration.
  5. After creating this file, go to https://autoconfig.<domain>/mail/config-v1.1.xml. and make sure that the XML file that you added is listed.
  6. If the file is listed, you can proceed with configuring your domain's email accounts using IMAP.

Note:

If you are already using autodiscovery for Outlook, you can configure Thunderbird using the same XML file.

If you want to use TLS connection instead of SSL, replace in the XML file as <port>587</port> <sockettype>STARTTLS</sockettype>. 

Configuration in Thunderbird:

  1. Launch the Mozilla Thunderbird application in your system.
  2. Select the Email option under Choose what to Set Up.
  3. Enter the name of the user, the Email Address and the Password of an account from your domain.
  4. Now click Continue to proceed.
  5. After the configuration is over, click Done.​​
  6. Click on Finish to complete your configuration.

​This email address from your domain will now be configured in Thunderbird as an IMAP account. Similarly, you can configure other user accounts in a few simple steps.

Note:

The above-mentioned configuration address in the screenshot will vary based on your data centre. The sample hostnames for different data centres are given below. You can also verify the same in the XML file before uploading.

Configuring Autodiscovery for ActiveSync:

To configure Autodiscovery for ActiveSync for your domain, you need to have web hosting enabled for your domain. In addition, you need to purchase an SSL certificate for your domain as well.

If the above conditions are in check, follow the below instructions for configuration:

  1. Contact your Webhosting provider.
  2. Get them to add a folder named autodiscover.
  3. In this folder, create an XML file named autodiscover.xml
  4. Click here to download the sample XML file for ActiveSync configuration.
  5. After creating this file, go to https://<domainname>/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml and make sure that the XML file that you added is listed.
  6. If the file is listed, you can proceed with configuring your domain's email accounts using ActiveSync.
  7. Follow the same steps as above to configure your email in Outlook.
  8. Finally, after the configuration is done, click Finish.​

Your account will now be configured in Outlook using the ActiveSync protocol. Similarly, you can configure other user accounts in a few simple steps.

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Index / Admin Guide

Zoho Mail provides extensive control panel for the administrators to manage their organization users, email accounts and policies.

Email hosting setup

Zoho Mail Suite provides enterprise features for email hosting to satisfy the needs of organizations of all types and sizes. Zoho Mail provides custom domain-based email address for all members of your organization in no time.

Troubleshooting Domain Verification

When you register the domain with one provider, but point the Nameservers to another provider, then the CNAME/ TXT/ MX/ SPF records added in your Domain Registrar is not considered valid.

Zoho Mail plugin for cPanel

cPanel provides a control panel for domain owners to manage the different aspects of web hosting. Zoho Mail Plugin for cPanel helps you sign up for email hosting with Zoho Mail from within cPanel. This plugin is available under the Email section.

Zoho Mail for Plesk

Plesk is a web hosting platform with a control panel that allows domain owners to manage the different aspects of web hosting. Zoho Mail Plugin for Plesk helps you sign up for email hosting with Zoho Mail from within Plesk. 

Searching Admin Console

Zoho Mail Admin Console provides a centralized interface from where you can manage critical aspects of an organization - the different domains, users, groups, organizational spam control, email policies, to name a few. However, this wealth of information might make navigating through the Admin Console slightly challenging.

Dashboard

The Admin Console Dashboard is the first thing you will see as soon as you login to the Zoho Mail Admin Console. It is a culmination of important data your admin might need at their disposal. You can enable or disable widgets in your dashboard including data on your organization's Email Traffic Stats.

Users

The user details section, provides the list of users already added to the organization. When you click on each user, you can have a detailed view about the particular user. The Admin can also perform a set of actions on the user. The primary email address of the users are listed in the section.

Roles and Privileges

The roles available in Zoho Mail are Super Administrator, Administrator, and User roles. The members of the organizations can assume different roles in Zoho Mail, based on the requirement. The Super Administrator can provide Administrator privileges to other users.

Groups

Groups or Distribution Lists are common email addresses, shared by a set of users for a specific purpose. When an email is sent to the group account, a copy of the email gets delivered to the mailbox of all the members of the Group.

Organization Settings

The administrator can control organization-wide parameters under the Organization section. Settings for the entire organization such as the org name, logo, templates for the welcome email and signature, format for the display name and email address.

Domain Options

Zoho Mail allows organizations to add domains to their organization accounts or even buy domains through Zoho. Your organization members will further be able to send and receive emails using their custom domain-based email addresses in Zoho.

Autodiscovery Settings

The Autodiscovery service ensures that email accounts can easily be configured using the IMAP protocol or on mobile devices using ActiveSync. The procedure varies depending on whether you want to configure it for IMAP or ActiveSync.

Email Policies/ Rules

Email Policies help the administrators control the organization's email sending and receiving parameters. In Zoho Mail, you can define multiple email policies and apply them to various sets of users and groups. 

Advanced Delivery Options

With Zoho Mail, you can redirect or send a copy of an email automatically by configuring Email Routing. Email Routing is helpful in many situations like if you want to automatically send a copy of one user's email to another. 

Security and Compliance Dashboard

The security and compliance dashboard in the Zoho Mail Admin console provides an overview of all the recommended security configurations. It displays the overall compliance score.

Organization Security

Organization accounts hold a lot of sensitive data and there's a need for certain security rules to make sure your data stays safe and is not compromised. The administrator can protect their user and organization data with the help of email security features.

Organization Spam Control

Zoho Mail is a secure email service with a spam control system that provides multiple options to customize the settings such that they suit your organization's needs. 

Zoho Mail Outlook Add-in

Zoho Mail users can now experience enhanced email security and have better control over their preferences with the new Outlook Add-in while using their email client. 

Export User Accounts

The Zoho Mail Admin Console provide options to export or backup users' emails, recover any deleted emails and also retry sending of emails that have failed delivery. 

Data Subject Requests

Organizations deal with an enormous amount of confidential data on a daily basis. So, organizations might receive data subject requests to check for some legal or compliance issues.  

Migration to Zoho Mail

Zoho Mail offers a very simple solution to migrate data from your previous email provider to the respective user accounts in Zoho Mail directly. These user accounts need to be created in Zoho Mail before adding the migration. 

Zoho Exchange Migration Wizard

Zoho user and email migration wizard can be used to discover users and migrate their emails from the Active Directory/ Exchange environment to their accounts in their Zoho Mail organization accounts. 

Application Settings

The administrator can control the settings for other Zoho apps and third-party applications and integrations from the Other App Settings section in the Zoho Mail Admin Console.

Email Retention and eDiscovery

Email retention is the process of retaining emails in an organization for a specific period in an organized manner based on the policies of the organization. 

Email Backup and Recovery

Email backup processes and stores emails in a safe, centralized location that can be retrieved at any point in time. It helps prevent data loss by enabling users to restore email content that has been accidentally deleted or lost.

Reports & Statistics

Zoho Mail has a separate Admin Reports section which comprises of statistics on various aspects of your organization's emailing experience. As an administrator, these reports will help you gain information on all aspects of your organization.

Zoho Toolkit

Zoho Mail provides easy-to-use diagnostic tools to troubleshoot some services. There are options to check the domain and registry details. You can run some basic DNS configuration checks for a specific domain, and analyze message headers.

Subscription

Zoho Mail offers different plans to accommodate different users. One can choose the subscription that would suit their organization from the array of available plans. You can also opt for the mix and match plan to have a tailor-made subscription.

Firewall settings

Configure your firewall settings and allow your organization members to access Zoho Mail without any restrictions. All of the below-mentioned domains have to be whitelisted even if you don't see activity at those addresses.

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