Q. What happened to Microsoft Outlook's mail settings? I can no longer find where to set up or edit my POP3 mail account settings.
A. Like you, I was taken aback last year when Microsoft removed Outlook's POP3 mail account settings. Fortunately, I have good news and more good news. To start, the POP3 mail account settings are still there, but they have been relocated to a nonintuitive menu location. To find these settings in Outlook, you must now select File, Account Settings, Account Settings (yes, again) as you normally would, but instead of selecting the Change button, select the Repair button, as circled below.
Next, select the Advanced options and check the box labeled Let me repair my account manually, and then click Repair. This action will launch the familiar dialog box (pictured below), where you can then manually adjust your account's incoming and outgoing mail settings.
The even better news is that you no longer need to adjust these settings manually because Microsoft's latest edition of Outlook detects and sets up POP3 mail account settings automatically. Previously, the Microsoft Outlook application could auto-detect and set up popular mail accounts such as Gmail, Hotmail, and Outlook, but the product frequently fell short when attempting to set up other third-party POP3 mail accounts. While long overdue, this feature enhancement that automatically applies the correct POP3 account settings was sorely needed and is a much-welcomed addition to the product.
About the author
J. Carlton Collins, CPA, (carlton@asaresearch.com) is a technology consultant, a conference presenter, and a JofA contributing editor.
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