Looking to set up Outlook.com (or Hotmail) email in your favorite email program? Want an email service to interact with your account and emails? Find out here how to enable POP and IMAP access for Outlook.com so any email program can connect to it.
First, Adjectives from the Third Floor
Georges Clemenceau was, legend has it, merciless as the publisher of the newspaper L’Aurore, exacting stringent editorial standards. One favorite target of his unforgiving ire were superfluous, decorative and plain worthless adjectives.
If we believe a favorite (and, chances are, apocryphal) anecdote, he told his editors and writers:
Before you jot down an adjective, come see me in the third floor to ask if it is really necessary.
The editors were placed on the ground floor, of course, of the publishing building that was, I fathom, not equipped with elevators.
With that in mind, let’s install an elevator to Outlook.com for all the necessary emails (and the superfluous ones as well):
How to Enable POP and IMAP Access for Outlook.com
Time needed: 4 minutes
To turn on access via POP and IMAP from email programs and services to an Outlook.com account:
- Click the settings gear icon in the Outlook.com web interface.
- Open the Mail category.
- Go to Forwarding and IMAP.
- Click Sign in and confirm your authentication.
No “Sign in”: If you have recently signed in, you may not be required to complete this step.
- Enable Let devices and apps use POP to turn on POP3 access.
- Turn on Let devices and apps use IMAP to enable IMAP access.
Which is which: IMAP allows access to online folders (like Outlook.com on the web and the Outlook apps); POP offers a simple way to download incoming emails and handle them offline.
- Choose what happens when an email program using POP3 deletes an email from the server.
Always safe: Choose Don’t allow devices and apps to delete messages from Outlook to have Outlook.com save emails to a special folder when a POP email program deletes them.
Don’t archive: Select Let apps and devices delete messages from Outlook instead to have Outlook.com respect deletion from email programs. - Click Save.
Now this: Set up the Outlook.com account in your email program using POP or via IMAP.
For use in older email programs with Outlook.com POP and IMAP: How to Create an App Password for Outlook.com
How to Enable POP and IMAP Access for Outlook.com: FAQ
What happens when an email is deleted using POP?
Outlook.com acts on messages that are deleted via POP depending on your setting for Devices and apps that use POP can be set to delete messages from Outlook after download.:
- Don’t allow devices and apps to delete messages from Outlook: When the POP email program deletes an email, it is moved to the POP folder inside Deleted Items. Emails in this folder are not removed automatically.
- Let apps and devices delete messages from Outlook: With this setting, emails are immediately deleted from Outlook.com. This is similar to an email being purged from the Deleted Items folder after 30 days.
Can I recover an email deleted via POP?
Yes.
If you want to preserve a specific email in the Outlook.com account, not just a POP email program:
- Open the Deleted Items folder in Outlook.com in a browser.
- Select Recover items deleted from this folder.
- Check the email you want to recover.
- Click Restore.
Where it goes: The email will return to the Outlook.com inbox.
Can I turn on POP or IMAP selectively?
Yes.
You can and should turn on only the protocol your email programs or services will use.
(How to enable POP and IMAP access for Outlook.com first published September 2024, last updated March 2025)