How do I set up my TalkTalk email in Windows Mail?

If you've already created a TalkTalk email address and you'd like to use Windows Mail to send, receive and manage your TalkTalk emails, this guide will help you.

What is Windows Mail?

Windows Mail is a free email application that's included as standard with the Windows Vista operating system. It can also be installed on other operating systems. Windows Mail has been superseded by Windows Live Mail. Please check which version you have, as the instructions and screens you see will differ depending on your version.

If you have Windows Live Mail, please see: How do I set up my TalkTalk email in Windows Live Mail? for instructions on setting up your TalkTalk email.

Before you start

Before you start setting up your TalkTalk email in Windows Mail, please ensure that you:

• Have a TalkTalk email address - if you don't, please see: How do I create a TalkTalk email address?
• Have Windows Mail installed on your computer
• Are connected to the internet

Setting up your TalkTalk email in Windows Mail

If this is your first time using Windows Mail, it will automatically run through the steps to set up an email account.

Note: If this is not your first time using Windows Mail, you'll need to navigate to the account configuration screens yourself. Please see the steps at the end of this page to find out how to do this.

If this is your first time using Windows Mail, follow these steps to set up your TalkTalk email account:

1. Click the Start globe and then select All Programs and Windows Mail. Wait for Windows Mail to start the setup process.
2. Enter a name into the Display name box and click Next. 
   Note: The display name is the name that the recipient will see when you send them an email.
   
   
3. Enter your TalkTalk email address in the E-mail address box and then click Next.
   Note: Your TalkTalk email address ends with @talktalk.net, for example,emailaddress@talktalk.net. Please ensure that you don't enter any spaces and that the email address is exactly as you created it.
   
   
4. Select POP3 from the Incoming e-mail server type drop-down list.
5. Enter mail.talktalk.net into the Incoming mail (POP3 or IMAP) server box.
6. Enter smtp.talktalk.net into the Outgoing e-mail server (SMTP) name box and click Next.
   
   
7. In the E-mail username box, type your full TalkTalk email address in lowercase.
   Note: This is the same email address that you entered in step 3 above. Please ensure that you don't enter any spaces and that the email address is exactly as you created it.
8. Type your password into the Password box, remembering that it is case-sensitive.
9. Tick the Remember password box to save your password and then click Next.
   Note: If this option is not ticked, Windows Mail will ask for the password when it tries to download your email.
   
   
10. Click Finish.
    
    
11. You may see the following screen. Notice that your TalkTalk email account is in the Mail section. This should be the default email account. Click Close.
    
    

Your email account is now set up. To test it, send an email to your TalkTalk email address and check if Windows Mail receives it.

For further information on setting up Windows Mail, please see: Windows Mail: Setting up an account from start to finish.

It's not my first time using Windows Mail

If you've used Windows Mail before, the application won't automatically run through the steps to set up your email account. You'll need to navigate to the account configuration screens yourself. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open Windows Mail and select the Tools menu at the top of the screen. Then selectAccounts.
   
   
2. Click the Add... button.
   
   
3. Select E-mail Account and then click Next. This will initiate the account configuration screens and you can follow the steps above to add your TalkTalk email account.
   
   

You can get further help on this and other topics at the TalkTalk Absolute Beginners forum.