Set Up Thunderbird for IMAP

Obtaining Thunderbird

You can get a free download of Thunderbird from the Mozilla website. Follow the instructions on the site for installing Thunderbird.

Before you start

If you haven't already done so, do the following before setting up Thunderbird for use with your Stanford Google Mail account.

• Create a Google Apps password.
• Enable IMAP in  your Stanford Google Mail account. and save your changes.

Configuring Thunderbird for use with Google Apps

1. Open Thunderbird.
2. If you've not used Thunderbird before, the Mail Account Setup Wizard should start on its own. Otherwise, go to the Tools menu and click Accounts Settings.
3. In the left pane of the Account Settings dialog box, click Account Actions and then click Add Mail Account.
4. Enter your name as you want it to appear in the From field in outgoing mail and your @stanford email address. Then, click Continue.
   
   
5. Thunderbird will attempt to automatically configure your account settings. This will fail and a message saying "Thunderbird failed to find the settings for your email account" will display. Enter the following settings:
   Incoming:
   • IMAP
   • Server hostname: imap.gmail.com
   • Port: 993
   • SSL: SSL/TLS
   • Authentication: Normal password
   Outgoing:
   • Server hostname: smtp.stanford.edu
   • Port: 465
   • SSL: SSL/TLS
   • Authentication: Normal password
   Username: your sunetid@stanford.edu
   
   
6. Click Advanced config.
7. In the left pane of the Account Settings dialog box, click Outgoing Server (SMTP). Select the entry for your sunetid@stanford.edu - smtp.stanford.edu and click Edit.
   
   
8. Change the User Name to your SUNet ID (not sunetid@stanford.edu).
   
   
9. Click OK to close the Account Settings dialog box.