Creating and configuring your e-mail addresses

An address on your own domain inspires more trust than a generic one, and it belongs to you: you keep it even if you change mail provider.

How do I create an e-mail address at my own domain name?

Open Plesk from the client area, go to Mail, then Create Email Address, and set the mailbox name, its password and its size.

1. From the client area, click Automatic connection to open Plesk.
2. Open Mail, then Create Email Address.
3. Enter the left-hand part of the address, for example contact.
4. Set a long, unique password. A compromised mailbox is used to send spam in your name within hours.
5. Choose the mailbox size, bearing in mind it counts towards your Disk quota.
6. Confirm.

You can also create an alias — an extra address delivered into an existing mailbox — or a forward to an external address. An alias uses no space, which often makes it the right choice for billing@ or support@.

Why does no mail arrive without an MX record?

Creating the mailbox is not enough: the world needs to know which server receives mail for your domain. That is what the MX record in your DNS zone is for.

When By-Hoster registers a domain for you, the zone it creates contains an A record and a www record, but deliberately no MX: nothing should presume where you want to receive your mail.

To use your hosting's mail service, open the DNS zone tab of your domain and apply the Web and mail hosting template: in one click it creates the A record for the domain, www, mail, the MX pointing at mail, and a basic SPF record. Details are in the DNS zone guide.

If you prefer a third-party service, two other templates are offered: Google Workspace and Microsoft 365.

Which IMAP and SMTP settings do I enter in my mail client?

Use mail.yourdomain.tld as the server, port 993 for IMAP and port 465 or 587 for SMTP, with your full e-mail address as the user name.

The settings are the same on Thunderbird, Outlook, Apple Mail, Android and iOS.

Incoming (IMAP, recommended)

• Server: mail.yourdomain.tld
• Port: 993
• Security: SSL/TLS
• User name: the full e-mail address
• Password: the one you set in Plesk

Outgoing (SMTP)

• Server: mail.yourdomain.tld
• Port: 465 with SSL/TLS, or 587 with STARTTLS
• Authentication: required, with the same credentials

Prefer IMAP over POP3: your messages stay on the server and look identical on your computer, your phone and webmail. POP3 downloads and deletes, leaving you a single copy on a single device.

A webmail is available from the Mail page in Plesk: handy when travelling, or to confirm a message really reached the server before blaming your local client.

What decides whether my e-mails land in the inbox or in the spam folder?

Three DNS records decide the fate of your messages. They are created in the DNS zone tab.

• SPF: a TXT record at the apex listing the servers allowed to send for your domain. The Hébergement web et mail template publishes v=spf1 a mx -all.
• DKIM: a cryptographic signature on your messages. Enable it in Plesk under Mail > Mail Settings, then publish the TXT record it gives you.
• DMARC: the policy to apply when SPF or DKIM fail. The DMARC protection template in the Zone DNS tab creates a cautious starting record.

Publish only one SPF record per domain: two SPF records invalidate the check, and your messages go to spam.

What should I do if an e-mail does not arrive?

Check webmail first to see whether the message reached the server, then look in the Junk folder and check your domain's MX record.

1. Check webmail first: if the message is there, the problem is in your local client.
2. Look in the Junk folder.
3. Confirm your MX points at the right server.
4. Read the bounce message the sender received: it almost always states the exact cause.
5. Check that the mailbox is not full and that your disk quota is not saturated.