Connect your email

a) Gmail / Google Workspace via OAuth

This is the easiest and most secure path. supportif.ai uses Google's official OAuth flow, so you never type your Google password into our app and no app passwords are needed. Access can be revoked at any time from your Google account.

1. In the app, go to Settings → Mailboxes → Add mailbox and select Google / Gmail.
2. Click Sign in with Google. A Google window opens.
3. Choose the account of your support address (e.g. support@yourshop.com on Google Workspace).
4. Review the requested permissions — reading and sending mail on your behalf — and click Allow.
5. You're redirected back to supportif.ai. The mailbox appears as connected and history import begins automatically.

That's the entire setup — no IMAP settings, no ports, no app passwords. Token refresh is handled automatically in the background.

b) Outlook / Microsoft 365 via app password + IMAP

Outlook.com and Microsoft 365 mailboxes connect through the built-in Outlook preset using an app password.

1. Enable IMAP: in Outlook on the web, open Settings → Mail → Sync email (Microsoft 365 admins: verify IMAP is enabled for the mailbox in the Microsoft 365 admin center under the user's mail settings).
2. Create an app password: go to your Microsoft account's Security page → Advanced security options → App passwords → Create a new app password. (Two-step verification must be enabled to see this option.) Copy the generated password.
3. In supportif.ai, choose Add mailbox → Outlook / Microsoft 365. Host and port fields are pre-filled.
4. Enter your full email address as username and paste the app password (not your normal password).
5. Click Connect & test. Both IMAP and SMTP are verified before the mailbox is saved.

c) Generic IMAP/SMTP — any other provider

Any mailbox that speaks IMAP (for receiving) and SMTP (for sending) works. You'll need four pieces of information from your provider: the IMAP host, the SMTP host, and the ports/encryption for each. Here's what the terms mean:

• Host — the server address, e.g. imap.example.com or smtp.example.com.
• Port — the “door” on that server. Different ports imply different encryption modes.
• SSL/TLS — the connection is encrypted from the first byte. Used on IMAP 993 and SMTP 465.
• STARTTLS — the connection starts plain and upgrades to encryption immediately. Common on SMTP 587.

Typical port combinations:

1. Choose Add mailbox → Custom IMAP/SMTP.
2. Enter the IMAP host, port (usually 993) and select SSL/TLS.
3. Enter the SMTP host, port (465 with SSL/TLS, or 587 with STARTTLS).
4. Enter username (usually the full email address) and password.
5. Click Connect & test — supportif.ai verifies both connections and reports precise errors if something fails.

d) Presets: GMX, IONOS, Zoho, World4You

For these popular providers, supportif.ai pre-fills all hosts, ports and encryption settings. Just pick the preset, enter your email address and password, and connect:

e) Troubleshooting

“Authentication failed”

• Double-check that the username is the full email address, not just the local part.
• If your provider offers or requires app passwords (Outlook, Zoho with 2FA, GMX with 2FA), use one — the normal account password will be rejected.
• Some providers require IMAP to be explicitly enabled in their webmail settings before external clients can log in.

“Connection timeout”

• Verify the host name spelling — a typo like imap.gmx.de instead of imap.gmx.net causes a hang, not an error.
• Check the port/encryption pairing: SSL/TLS on 993/465, STARTTLS on 143/587. A mismatch often looks like a timeout.
• Corporate mail servers may whitelist IP ranges — ask your admin to allow connections from external clients.

“Self-signed certificate” errors

• This means your mail server presents a certificate that isn't signed by a trusted authority — common on self-hosted servers.
• The correct fix is installing a proper certificate on the server (e.g. free via Let's Encrypt).
• If that's not possible right away, contact us at support@supportif.ai — we'll help you find a safe path rather than silently disabling certificate checks.

Still stuck? Send us the exact error message shown in the connection test — it's designed to be specific enough to diagnose almost every case.