Outlook settings for Android (IMAP) not working

[#1]

I use Outlook extensively with no issues. But I do not use VPNs which I suspect is contributing To the issues. Note I believe I’m correct in suggesting that The certificate is set up for relay.plus.net not smtp.plus.net

[#2]

Having checked the certificate on my machine...

1. It is issues to - CN = relay.plus.net
2. It has aliases (alternate names) of...
   • DNS Name=relay.plus.net
   • DNS Name=www.relay.plus.net
   • DNS Name=relay.force9.net
   • DNS Name=relay.free-online.net
   • DNS Name=relay.metronet.co.uk
   • DNS Name=relay.pndsl.co.uk

Therefore the use of smtp.plus.net will give rise to certificate errors.

if you can run TELNET on your platform, you could try the following (over the VPN connection) to bottom out the cause of the error.  Ignore references to set-up in Win10 environments.

Test SMTP authentication

Email programs often report username / password error for issues not actually related to those being wrong, but for other connectivity issues. Such can be very frustrating when you are convinced that they are correct. Testing SMTP authentication through a command line interface can deliver a more precise error message. The following describes how to do this using TELNET.

This is not difficult, but you need the following resources which might be unfamiliar...

1. TELNET - this might need installing as an additional option, for Windows see enabling TELNET.
2. A code64 encoder / decoder such as this.

You can use TELNET to communicate direct with the SMTP server as follows...

Open the code64 encoder in a web browser and leave ready for use in the following steps.

Launch a windows command line window (DOS window) - press windows-key+R - type CMD into the run box - click OK

Enter...

telnet relay.plus.net 587

Press enter. Note if you use one of the other brand email services, use the appropriate SMTP server name for that brand. In response to SMTP server I'm here message, say 'HELLO'...

EHLO relay.plus.net

The SMTP server will then report what it can do after which tell the server you wish to authenticate...

AUTH login

The server should return the following, which is a base64 encoded string that requires your username:

334 VXNlcm5hbWU6

Use the code64 encoder to encode your username and paste it into the telnet window and press enter. For example:

bXl1c2VybmFtZQ==

The server should return the following, which is a base64 encoded string that requires your password:

334 UGFzc3dvcmQ6

Paste the base64 encoded password for the username. For example:

bXlwYXNzd29yZA==

The server will then report success or failure, any failure message should clearly indicate the reason for the failure. If the reason for the failure is not clear, please report back the message.

Close the SMTP / TELNET session by entering

quit

The session should look something similar to the below wherein your input is in bold...

220 avasout03 smtp relay.plus.net
EHLO relay.plus.net
250-avasout03 hello [your IP address], pleased to meet you
250-HELP
250-AUTH LOGIN PLAIN
250-SIZE 104857600
250-PIPELINING
250-8BITMIME
250-STARTTLS
250 OK
AUTH LOGIN
334 VXNlcm5hbWU6
bXl1c2VybmFtZQ==
334 UGFzc3dvcmQ6
bXlwYXNzd29yZA==
235 ... authentication succeeded
quit
221 avasout03 smtp closing connection
Connection to host lost.

Here are some examples of failure responses...

535 ...authentication rejected [as username / password is wrong]
535 ...authentication rejected as source IP has a poor reputation

[#3]

I've given up.  Tried many of the suggested fixes, but it just keeps coming back.  It wouldn't be so bad if the error message remained consistent, but it varies depending on...well, I can't find a pattern!  Add to that the teeth-grinding frustration of trying to discuss issues via the Outlook for Android in-app "support", plus that fact that the Android app resembles the Windows version in name only, and I wonder why I've kept on with it for so long.

I have set up GMail to handle my three email accounts and shall monitor how that performs.  It's working at present, which is a step forward from what I was getting with Outlook.

[#4]

Remind me - is this connecting over 3/4G or Wi-Fi?

[#5]

In my case, both WiFi/broadband and 4g.

[#6]

I'm just connecting over my Plusnet connection or O2 when I'm out & about.
I did try Gmail but I seem to keep having synch problems with that eg. I'll go in & check my mail, delete some stuff, move some around but the next time I refresh Gmail all my changes are undone & this can cycle a good few times.
I'll try using port 587 for outgoing mail next time it happens although the Outlook app (for Android) doesn't let you select your chosen encryption method. It only lets you specify a port by putting :<port number> on the end of the server address.
Will check out K9 too.

[#7]

This  is still a huge problem. What is annoying is that apart from the plusnet community, neither Plusnet ng anotr Microsoft seem to be taking any real interest. Just when I seem to have found  solution, it goes weird again.  Now, December, mine has gone bonkers again for the third time this year. What's worse, cannot even get it completely off the phone - try everything, and then when I think it's all off, app, cache, clean up, no trace. I try to reinstall outlook app and it just goes - Ah Update, and bang, all my previous (screwed) login data is there. It's haunting me with tenacity on one hand and bloody mindedness on the other. Why is it so difficult to have an email app that works. Please, I beg you - tried everything in this column.  Is there anything else I can  try?

[#8]

Please define "bonkers" and exactly what you have done?

If you are referring to problems sending email, knowing how you are connected to the internet is important.  If the problem is sending emails, then it is likely that the issue relates to your IP address - which may well change each time you reconnect to the inter net - hence appearing to be very variable.

[#9]

That 'something is bonkers' is an expression of my frustration and clearly a shared frustration with others, that it is impossible to consistently use the android phone version of Outlook to handle Plusnet IMAP email. And when in the past it has been possible, it has been unpredictable and stopped - as now.  I'm having to use Gmail app for IMAP. It seems to be the only one that will accept IMAP without SSL security.   I can get it to work sometimes with POP but I'm not happy with that - chiefly because it messes with which emails have been read where. 

I know that Microsoft can be a pain and there are issues with it's android app that are awkward - like putting port numbers in differently to other apps. But to be honest, the Outlook app on my phone handles my hotmail, outlook and gmail email comfortably and reliably. It's Plusnet IMAP it cannot handle and that is usually down to the SSL issue which appears will never be solved - or rather, implemented - as other posts here testify.

The problem is not sending emails, or receiving them.  The problem now is that I cannot set up the IMAP account within the mobile outlook app. at all.   I even got the MS help people to solve problems incorporating my IMAP account onto the online Web version of Outlook. I have a 365 account, . I then put a link on my home page of my mobile to go that way instead but it was awkward and lagged on email arrivals and the calendar was a pain. 

It is annoying to find the 'setting up email on android' in Plusnet's help pages has something that looks like it's a decade out of date - and so far as I can see - nothing at all on using plusnet IMAP with MS's Outlook Mobile app. 

If someone can post here a straightforward guide to setting up Plusnet IMAP on android outlook - I'd be very happy indeed, but I suspect they can't because of the SSL problem - and again, to be honest, I'm not happy for years on end clicking the No Security SSL option. My work requires a level of security and this is increasingly on my mind. 

[#10]

@ANTAR  SSL is available. It's introduction was not widely publicised but it is available. It uses the normal ssl ports for imap and pop. For smtp , if you want to 'force' ssl you must use port 465, port 587 is used for STARTTLS. Note that port 465 is deprecated and shouldn't really be used but if Outlook insists then that may be used.

[#11]

@ANTAR 

Clarification that this is related to SSL settings has been most helpful in delivering the appropriate advice.

[#12]

I'll have another try to set up Outlook Mobile today - for PC, Outlook is fine Townman -are you using Outlook Mobile? TBH I am quite sceptical though.  Have used variations of these ports before, and so have others if you look back in this thread. Should anybody be reading this, who has Office Mobile on Android phones reliably working Plusnet IMAP, can they please set out the steps clearly as to how to set up the Imap account as by trial and error I cannot get it to work. 

[#13]

Outlook on any platform can be a beast as MICROSOFT have deliberately hidden the configuration details so as to (in their eyes) make things simpler - invariably it makes them more complex.

Automatic set up for fred@blogs.plus.com will result in...

1. Username fred@blogs.plus.com
2. IMAP imap.blogs.plus.com
3. SMTP smtp.blogs.plus.com
4. Who knows what SSL settings after multiple failures

From a general point of view, using the above example email address...

1. At the very beginning select manual set up otherwise OL will do its own thing and invariably get things wrong
2. Email address: fred@blogs.plus.com
3. User name: if this is the primary mail box blogs - if a secondary mailbox blogs+fred
4. Password: if the primary mailbox, use the account password - if a secondary mailbox, use the mailbox's password
5. IMAP server: - imap.plus.net (note not .com) port 993 encryption SSL/TLS
6. SMTP server: - relay.plus.net (note not smtp. and not .com) port 587 encryption STARTTLS

Precise details might vary depending on version and platform.  If you find that it all appears to work (no errors reported, but one or more of the folders remain empty (having allowed time for things to sync) set the ROOT FOLDER in the advanced settings to inbox

[#14]

---

@MisterW wrote:

That's really awful on the part of Outlook then. Port 465 was used to force SSL but it's use is now deprecated. The correct way is to use port 587 with STARTTLS, this allows the use of SSL if available. See here https://pepipost.com/blog/smtp-port-465/

---

Not sure if relevant or not, but received this fromour company IT department today:

"as a reminder, from 11/01/2021 Microsoft will disable TLS 1.0 and TLS 1.1... there are still many emails sent from ********* using old TLS protocols:"

[#15]

I'm with ANTAR on this.  Today I reinstalled Outlook for Android on my spare phone, and attempted to follow Townman's instructions for setting up.  No option for specifying SSL/TLS is presented.  I have received multiple prompts to input the password for IMAP access to the account, and at present, several hours after setting up, am still looking at a screen that reads "Downloading your messages..." and waiting for test messages from my Plusnet account to arrive in another inbox.

I emphasise that I, too, have no issues with Outlook running on my Windows 10 PCs, and the Android version appears to be interacting OK with my Outlook.com and Exchange accounts.  So for me, it's the Android version and Plusnet IMAP that are giving the problem.

I'd quite like a solution to this, because GMail is also annoying me with its refusal to accept display settings that switch off "Conversation" mode - a problem I have seen described in other forums.  Let's not get into that here...