Accounts

An account is one mailbox you have connected to Nixt Mail. This page covers every way to connect one, how to manage several, what happens when a connection drops, and how to remove an account.

Supported accounts

Addresses Nixt Mail recognises

When you type your address, Nixt Mail picks the provider from its domain:

For any other domain — including a company domain hosted by Google or Microsoft, and aol.com — Nixt Mail asks you to pick the provider. If your work address is on Google Workspace, pick Gmail; if it is on Microsoft 365, pick Outlook.

Add an account

You can start adding an account from four places:

• The first-run setup (see Getting started).
• File › Add Account… in the menu bar.
• The account row at the foot of the sidebar: click it, then choose Add account.
• Settings › Accounts › Add account.

Then:

1. Type your address in Email address. A line under the field names the provider when the domain is recognised, such as Signing in with Outlook. For other domains it says We’ll ask who hosts this address next.
2. Press Return or choose Continue.
3. If the domain was not recognised, pick your provider from the list.
4. Complete the sign-in for that provider, described in the sections below.

When the account connects, the form closes, a snack bar says Connected followed by the address, and Nixt Mail switches to the new account.

To go back a step at any point, use the back arrow at the top left of the form.

Sign in with Google or Microsoft

Gmail and Outlook accounts sign in on Google’s or Microsoft’s own page in your browser. Nixt Mail never sees your password; it receives a secure token instead.

1. On the Connect Gmail or Connect Outlook screen, choose Continue with Gmail or Continue with Outlook.
2. Your browser opens the provider’s sign-in page, already on the address you typed.
3. Sign in, and approve access. Leave the mail permission ticked — without it Nixt Mail cannot open your mailbox.
4. The browser tab shows Signed in to Nixt Mail — You can close this tab and return to Nixt Mail.
5. Return to Nixt Mail. The account connects.

While Nixt Mail waits, the button reads Waiting for browser… and a Cancel button appears under it. Use Cancel if you closed the browser tab, or if the provider’s page showed an error instead of returning you to Nixt Mail. The wait ends by itself after 5 minutes.

If a sign-in fails, the reason appears in a red box on the same screen. Every message is listed under Account error messages.

Sign in with an app password

An app password is a separate password your provider creates for one app. iCloud and Yahoo accounts always use one. Gmail accounts can use one instead of browser sign-in — it needs no browser step and does not expire.

1. Open the form:

   • Gmail: on the Connect Gmail screen, choose Use an app password instead. The form is headed App password — Gmail.
   • iCloud or Yahoo: the form opens straight away, headed Connect iCloud or Connect Yahoo.

2. Read the tinted box under the password field. It starts Don’t use your normal password. and says where your provider keeps app passwords:

   Provider	Where to find it, as the app says
   Gmail	Google → Security → App passwords (needs 2-Step Verification on).
   iCloud	Apple ID → Sign-In & Security → App-Specific Passwords.
   Yahoo	Yahoo → Account security → Generate app password.

3. Choose Get an app password in that box to open your provider’s page in the browser, and create one there.

4. Back in Nixt Mail, check Email.

5. Paste the app password into App password.

6. Optionally, type your name in Name. If you leave it empty, Nixt Mail makes one from your address.

7. Choose Connect. The button reads Connecting… while it works.

The server names for Gmail, iCloud and Yahoo are filled in for you. You can see or change them under Server settings.

Set up Outlook manually

If you cannot use browser sign-in for an Outlook account:

1. On the Connect Outlook screen, choose Set up manually. The form is headed Manual setup — Outlook.
2. Fill in Email, Password and, optionally, Name.
3. Choose Connect.

Other IMAP and SMTP accounts

Choose IMAP / SMTP for any provider not listed. The form is headed Connect IMAP / SMTP.

Server settings found for you

When you pick IMAP / SMTP after typing your address, Nixt Mail checks whether your domain publishes its mail settings: it fetches them only from your domain’s own web server, only over HTTPS, and looks up your domain’s DNS records. No other settings service is asked, and Nixt Mail never connects to your mail server until you choose Connect.

If your domain publishes settings, Server settings opens with the servers filled in and a line saying where they came from:

• Settings published by your domain (autoconfig over HTTPS).
• Settings from your domain’s DNS (SRV records).

Check the server names before you continue. Anything you have already typed is never overwritten.

Fill in the form

1. Fill in Email and Password.
2. Optionally, fill in Name.
3. Open Server settings if it is not already open.
4. Fill in IMAP server and its Port, and SMTP server and its Port. Empty ports start at 993 for IMAP and 465 for SMTP.
5. Choose Connect.

Nixt Mail never sets up an account that sends your password without encryption.

Sign in to a JMAP server

JMAP is a newer way for mail apps to talk to servers. Nixt Server offers it. With JMAP you sign in on the server’s own page in your browser, so no password is typed into Nixt Mail.

Nixt Mail offers JMAP in two ways:

• Automatically. If your domain says its mail is available over JMAP, the IMAP / SMTP form switches to JMAP by itself, with the server filled in and a line such as example.com says its mail is at mail.example.com over JMAP.
• By choice. On the Connect IMAP / SMTP form, choose Sign in with JMAP instead.

Then:

1. On the Connect with JMAP form, check Email.
2. Fill in JMAP server, for example mail.example.com.
3. Choose Sign in with followed by the server name. The button reads Sign in until a server is entered.
4. Your browser opens the server’s sign-in page. Sign in and approve Nixt Mail.
5. Return to Nixt Mail. The account connects.

While Nixt Mail waits, the button reads Waiting for browser… and a line says Finish signing in in the browser tab that just opened. If you closed it, cancel and try again. Use Cancel to stop.

On a phone or tablet, the server may show a code instead:

1. The form says On the server’s name**, sign in and approve Nixt Mail. If the page asks for a code, it is:** followed by the code.
2. The sign-in page opens in your browser. If it did not, choose Open the sign-in page.
3. Approve Nixt Mail on that page, typing the code if asked.
4. The button reads Waiting for approval… until you approve.

To go back to a password sign-in, choose Use a password over IMAP instead.

The account is named after the address the server says you signed in as, which may differ from what you typed.

Certificates

When a server presents a certificate this computer does not already trust — common for a server your organisation runs itself — Nixt Mail does not connect. It shows a prompt at the foot of the form instead.

The prompt shows:

• A sentence about the certificate. For a self-signed one: … signed its own certificate, as a server your organisation runs often does. Trust it only if this fingerprint matches the one your administrator gives you.
• SHA-256 fingerprint — compare this, character by character, with the fingerprint your administrator gives you.
• Issued to — who the certificate names.
• Issued by — who signed it, or Itself (self-signed).
• Valid — its start and end dates, with — expired if it has run out.

Choose Trust and connect only if the fingerprint matches. Nixt Mail trusts that one certificate, for that server, and connects. It remembers your decision for the account, and also uses it for the account’s out-of-office reply. Choose Cancel to go back without connecting.

To trust a new certificate on an account you already have, see A server’s certificate changed.

Several accounts

You can connect as many accounts as you like, of any kind.

Switch between accounts

1. Click the account row at the foot of the sidebar — your name, address and a small provider badge.
2. The Accounts list opens above it. The account you are in has a tick; the others show their unread count.
3. Click an account to switch to it.

The sidebar, message list and title bar change to that account. Nixt Mail keeps your other inboxes fetched in the background, so switching is quick.

All inboxes

Once more than one account is connected, the sidebar shows EVERYTHING with All inboxes above your folders.

• All inboxes is one list of every connected account’s inbox, newest first (or oldest first, if you chose that order).
• Each row carries a small tag with the part of the address before the @, so you can tell which account it came to. If you gave the account a colour, a dot in that colour sits in the tag.
• The count in the list header adds up every account’s unread mail. If any account cannot answer, no count is shown rather than a number that is too low.
• Searching while All inboxes is open searches every account’s inbox.
• The list is flat: it is not grouped.

To leave an account out of All inboxes, open Settings › Accounts and untick it under Using several accounts › Accounts in All inboxes. It stays in the sidebar on its own.

Which account mail comes from

• Replies and forwards always go out from the account the message arrived at, even when you are looking at All inboxes or at a different account.
• New messages go out from the account selected in the sidebar, unless you choose one in Settings › Composing › Send new mail from.

The compose window’s From line shows which account will send.

Send-from addresses

An account can send as other addresses your provider lets it use: an alias, a shared address, a domain of your own.

1. Open Settings › Accounts.
2. Under Sending and replies › Send-from addresses, find the account’s address.
3. Type the address under Another address, and, if you like, a name under Name shown with it. Without a name, the account’s own name is used.
4. Click Add, or press Return.

The address appears above the fields with × to remove it. It is then offered on the From line of a new message, and a reply to mail sent to it goes from it. See Send from another address.

Nixt Mail cannot ask your provider which addresses it allows. If it does not allow one, the message is refused when you send it, and Nixt Mail says so. Something that is not an address, or the account’s own address, is not added, and a line under the fields says why.

Where replies go

To have replies to an account’s mail sent to another address — a shared inbox, an assistant, a support address:

1. Open Settings › Accounts.
2. Under Sending and replies › Replies go to, find the field named with the account’s address and type one email address.
3. Press Return, or click anywhere else. It is kept as soon as you leave the field.

Mail from that account, new messages and replies alike, then asks for replies at that address. Empty the field for replies to come back to the account itself. Something that is not one email address is not kept, and a line under the field says so.

New mail on any account

New mail is announced for every connected account, not only the one selected in the sidebar: the banner, the system notification and the Dock badge cover all of them, and rules run on whichever account the mail arrived at. A paused account is not listened to.

To keep an account connected but stop it interrupting you — a newsletters address, say — turn it off in Settings › Notifications › Accounts that announce new mail. Its mail still arrives, its rules still run and it stays in All inboxes; only the banner, the notification, the sound and the Dock number are left out.

Manage accounts in Settings

Open Settings › Accounts. Every account is listed with its avatar in the account’s colour, its name and address, and a line naming its provider and how it is: Connected, Connecting…, Paused, Not connected, or the reason it could not connect, in red.

When you choose Edit:

1. Change Name to rename the account.
2. For an account that signs in with a password, correct IMAP server, Port, SMTP server and Port if needed.
   • For a Gmail or Outlook account signed in through the browser, the form says Signed in with Gmail, which sets the servers.
   • For a JMAP account, it says Connected over JMAP to the server*. Everything else comes from that server. To use a different one, remove this account and add it again.*
3. For an account that signs in with a password, enter a new one in New password if it has changed. See Change an account’s password.
4. Under Colour, pick one of six colours, or the swatch with a cross for none. The colour appears on the account’s avatar in the sidebar and as a dot on its rows in All inboxes. It applies as soon as you pick it.
5. Choose Save and reconnect (password accounts) or Save (other accounts).

Nixt Mail shows Saved, and reconnected with the new settings. or Saved. A password account reconnects straight away with the new servers.

Remove this account…, beside the save button, removes the account. See Remove an account.

Change an account’s password

When you change your password at your provider, or replace an app password, give Nixt Mail the new one here. There is no need to remove the account.

1. Open Settings › Accounts and choose Edit on the account.
2. Enter the new password in New password. Gmail, iCloud and Yahoo accounts call it New app password. Leave it empty to keep the password already saved.
3. Choose Save and reconnect. The button says Checking… while Nixt Mail signs in with the new password.

Nixt Mail tries the new password on your server before saving it:

• Accepted: it replaces the saved password and the account connects with it straight away. Nixt Mail shows Saved. The server accepted the new password, and the account is connected with it. A paused account stays paused.
• Refused: the saved password and server settings are kept, and the editor says The server did not accept that password, so the saved one was kept. What you typed stays in the fields so you can correct it.

Server names and ports you changed at the same time are saved with the new password, and only once it has been accepted.

Staying signed in

When Nixt Mail starts, it reads your account list and each account’s saved sign-in from the keychain and reconnects without asking you anything. A Gmail or Outlook token that is close to running out is renewed quietly.

If this device will not store a sign-in, Nixt Mail says so when you connect: Connected followed by the address, then — but this device would not store the sign-in, so it will be asked for again next launch.

While this device will not store a sign-in, Settings › Accounts also says so under your accounts, on a Secure storage line. While sign-ins are saved, that line is not shown.

When the connection drops

Nixt Mail reconnects by itself. After a failed attempt it waits before trying again — a couple of seconds at first, doubling each time, up to 5 minutes. This protects your account: many providers lock an account that fails to sign in too often.

While it connects, the message list says Connecting to and your address. If it cannot connect, the list shows Connection issue with a sentence saying why, and one of two buttons:

• Reconnect — tries again now, without waiting. Offered when trying again could work, such as when the server could not be reached.
• Sign in again — offered when the saved sign-in can no longer work, such as when your provider withdrew access. It opens the sign-in for that account.

If you keep mail offline, the list shows the kept mail instead, with a line such as Offline. Showing mail saved 20 minutes ago. and a Reconnect button. See Offline mail.

Sign in again

1. Choose Sign in again in the message list.
2. Complete the sign-in for the provider:
   • Gmail or Outlook: choose Continue with and sign in in the browser. The existing account is updated.
   • JMAP: choose Sign in with JMAP instead, enter the same server, and sign in. The existing account is updated.
   • Password accounts: fill in the form again and choose Connect. The existing account is updated. You can also enter the new password in Settings › Accounts instead — see Change an account’s password.

Signing in again updates the account’s sign-in and nothing else: it keeps its name, colour, Replies go to address and place in the list.

What is stored, and where

Nothing about an account is sent anywhere except to that account’s own mail server. See Privacy and security for the full list.

Remove an account

Removing an account deletes its saved sign-in from this device, along with any mail kept offline for it and its offline mail choices. Your mail on the server is not touched, and you can add the account again at any time.

1. Click the account row at the foot of the sidebar.
2. In the Accounts list, find the account you want to remove.
3. Choose the trash icon beside it (tooltip Remove account). Or open Settings › Accounts, choose Edit on the account, and choose Remove this account….
4. Read the dialog, Remove followed by the address and a question mark: Nixt Mail will forget this account and delete its saved sign-in from this device. Your mail on the server is not touched, and you can add the account again at any time.
5. Choose Remove, or Cancel to keep it.

The trash icon and Remove this account… appear when you have more than one account. To remove your only account, use Settings › Privacy and security › Erase everything on this device, which removes every account, setting and kept mail. See Privacy and security.

Account error messages

While adding an account

JMAP servers

In the message list, after an account was added

These appear under Connection issue in the message list.

For sending, drafts and other errors, see Troubleshooting.