Instructions and notes to set up Outlook 2016 and later. Rather than still trying to use Microsoft Outlook, we'd suggest using something less rubbish, for example Thunderbird.

'Add Account' method

To set up your GreenNet email account in Microsoft Outlook 2016 / Outlook for Office 365 / Outlook 2019, you can try to follow these step-by-step instructions for the so-called 'wizard' or 'Simplified Account Creation' configuration.

  1. Launch Outlook on your computer. If the Add Account screen shown here doesn't come up, click on the File tab and select Add Account. On this screen, enter your email address in the box, and then click on "Advanced Options" and select "Let me set up my account manually"
    A screenshot of Micrososft Outlook's account setup screen
    A screenshot of Micrososft Outlook's account setup screen, with "Let me set up my account manually" selected
  2. On the Advanced setup screen, click "IMAP" (or "POP", if you prefer to use that)
  3. Outlook will now ask you for your password. Leave this box blank, and click Connect. That didn't work, did it? If the 'Connect' button is 'greyed out', see the other method.
    A screenshot of Micrososft Outlook's password prompt, left blank
  4. A new box will pop up asking for your username & password - fill in this box with your account login details, and click OK. The username for your GreenNet email account is not your full email address: if you use an address ending @gn.apc.org or @greennet.org.uk then your username is normally the section of your address before the '@' symbol, otherwise if you're unsure then please check your account documentation, or contact our technical support team.
    A screenshot of Micrososft Outlook's second password prompt, filled in
  5. After a few seconds, Outlook should now say "Account successfully added". Click "Done" to go to the main Outlook window, where your messages will be starting to appear.

For Outlook for Mac

  1. go to Outlook > Preferences > Personal Settings,
  2. then  hold the Option key while clicking on Accounts.
  3. click '+' at the bottom of the accounts list
  4. select Other Email...
  5. see instructions further down

'Manage Profiles' / Mail control panel method

For Mac, see above. There are at least two ways to start the Windows 'Mail' control panel in Outlook 2016 or later:

a) Go to Start, then start the Control Panel (search if necessary). Within Control Panel, type 'mail' into the search box at the top right. and double click on Mail, which may also mention a version of Outlook. Or;

b) From within Outlook, go to File > Information > Account Settings, and then from the drop-down menu choose 'Manage Profiles'. Or:

c) (as a last resort) In Windows Explorer, navigate to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\" or similar and double-click on 'mlcfg32.cpl'.

You should then see something like this:

Screenshot of Windows Mail setup panel
Screenshot of Windows Mail setup panel

However, you may get a credential prompt if your Windows is locked down by a domain  policy, in which case you may need to enter credentials of an account with administrator privileges, contact your network IT person, or try option c) above to start the Mail control panel. Alternatively see below for a registry workaround if you cannot get hold of the administrator password.

Click on 'Email Accounts...'.  The remainder of the procedure should be similar to instructions for older versions of Outlook.

  1. On the E-mail tab, click “New...”
  2. If you are asked to “Choose e-mail service”, select “Microsoft Exchange, POP3, IMAP or HTTP” and click "Next"
  3. Tick 'Manually configure server settings or additional server types' and click Next
  4. Select 'Internet e-mail' and click 'Next'
  5. Enter the following details:
    Your name: name as you want it to appear in the 'From' line of emails you send
    E-mail address: Your domain email address
    Account type: POP3 (or IMAP if required)
    Incoming mail server: pop.gn.apc.org
    Outgoing mail server: smtp.gn.apc.org
    User name: The username that we have sent to you (if you use a @gn.apc.org email address, this will usually be the part of your email address before the @ sign.)
    Password: The password for your email account that we have sent to you
  6. Click the “More Settings…” button, then the “Outgoing server” tab, then ensure “My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication” is ticked, and “Use same settings as my incoming server” is selected.
  7. Click the "Advanced" tab.  For security, change the "Use the following type of encrypted connection" drop-down box to "STARTTLS" (or "TLS") for both the incoming and outgoing server.  In the "Outgoing server (SMTP)" box change the port number from "25" to "587", which prevents problems sending mail through some types of connection.
  8. Click OK
  9. Click the Test Account Settings button to see if your account is set up correctly.
  10. If everything works, click on the Next button.
  11. Click the Finish button.

Disable 'Simplified Account Creation'

Advanced users may well also want to turn off the 'wizard'. There is a registry setting for this. Just download the linked file, install it (only needs user privileges), and then use the more sensible method of adding an account.