Other email providers and your own server

Besides Gmail, Microsoft and iCloud Mail, Stow can archive mail from other providers and from your own server over IMAP, signing in with a password.

Updated 3 November 2026

In development. Support for other providers is not released yet. These notes describe how it is designed to work. Provider settings were checked against each provider's own help pages on 3 November 2026.

Before you start

Pick your provider and Stow fills in the server for you. You only type your address and password.
Use an app password where your provider offers one. It is a separate password just for Stow, and you can cancel it without changing your account password. Several providers no longer accept your account password in mail apps at all.
Your password stays on this Mac. Stow keeps it in this Mac's Keychain, marked so it never syncs to iCloud Keychain, sends it only to the server you chose over an encrypted connection, and never shows it again.
Stow only reads. It never changes, moves or deletes anything in your mailbox, and it archives every folder except Junk.

Server settings

Every provider below uses port 993 with SSL/TLS, and your full email address as the username.

IMAP servers for the providers Stow knows, checked on 3 November 2026.
Provider	IMAP server	What you need first
Fastmail	`imap.fastmail.com`	An app password, and a plan above Basic
Yahoo Mail	`imap.mail.yahoo.com`	An app password
AOL Mail	`imap.aol.com`	An app password
GMX (gmx.com, gmx.co.uk, gmx.fr, gmx.es)	`imap.gmx.com`	IMAP turned on, and an app password
GMX (gmx.de, gmx.net, gmx.at, gmx.ch)	`imap.gmx.net`	IMAP turned on, and an app password
WEB.DE	`imap.web.de`	IMAP turned on, and an app password
mail.com	`imap.mail.com`	mail.com Premium, and IMAP turned on
mailbox.org	`imap.mailbox.org`	An app password if you use two-step verification
Posteo	`posteo.de`	An app password (recommended by Posteo)
BT Mail	`mail.btinternet.com`	Nothing: your BT email password
Orange	`imap.orange.fr`	Nothing: your mailbox password
Libero	`imapmail.libero.it`	Nothing: your Libero password

Provider by provider

Menu names are as each provider's help pages gave them on 3 November 2026. Providers change their settings pages; if a step does not match, follow the provider's own page, linked in each section.

Fastmail

Fastmail does not accept your account password in mail apps. In Fastmail, open Settings, then Privacy & Security, then Connected apps & API tokens, and choose Manage app passwords and access. Make a New app password with access to Mail, Contacts & Calendars, and paste it into Stow.

IMAP is not included in Fastmail's Basic plan, so a Basic account cannot be archived. See Fastmail's App passwords page.

Yahoo Mail and AOL Mail

Both need an app password. Go to your Yahoo or AOL Account Security page, choose Generate app password, name it Stow and choose Generate password.

Yahoo and AOL only let you make one in a browser where you have been signed in for several days, and not in a private window. If it is refused, try again later in your usual browser. See Yahoo's and AOL's app password pages.

Yahoo empties Trash after 7 days and Spam after 30, so mail you delete there is gone from Yahoo within a week. Stow keeps whatever it archived before then.

GMX and WEB.DE

Two steps, both in your GMX or WEB.DE account:

Turn IMAP on. On gmx.com: Email, Settings, POP3 & IMAP, then tick Enable access to this account via POP3 and IMAP. On gmx.net and web.de: your initials, E-Mail-Einstellungen, E-Mail empfangen, POP3/IMAP, then POP3- und IMAP-Zugriff erlauben.
Make an app password. On gmx.com: your profile icon, Security Options, Manage application-specific passwords. On gmx.net and web.de: your initials, Account verwalten, Login & Sicherheit, App-Passwörter.

GMX and WEB.DE turn IMAP off again if no app uses it for a long time. If your Mac has not synced for months and Stow says it cannot sign in, turn IMAP on again. See GMX, GMX Deutschland and WEB.DE.

mail.com

IMAP is a mail.com Premium feature. With Premium, turn it on under Email, Settings, POP3 & IMAP. Like GMX, mail.com turns it off again after a long time without use. See mail.com's page.

mailbox.org

Your mailbox.org password works unless you use two-step verification. Either way, an app password is the better choice: All settings, Security, Email app-passwords, and choose IMAP. See mailbox.org's page.

Posteo

The server is posteo.de whatever your address ends in. Sign in with your main Posteo address, not an alias. Posteo recommends an app password, made under Settings, Password and security; it is required if you turned on Posteo's extra account protection there. See Posteo's page.

BT Mail

Sign in with your BT email address and password; BT has no app passwords. If no mail app has signed in for 12 months, BT may switch app access off; resetting your BT email password turns it back on. After leaving BT Broadband, a free Basic email account may not work in mail apps. See BT's page.

Orange and Libero

Both use your normal mailbox password. Orange turns POP and IMAP on by default; if it has been turned off, it is in Mail Orange's settings under Sécurité, Protocoles POP ou IMAP. Libero needs nothing turned on. See Libero's page.

Any other server

Choose Other server and enter your provider's IMAP server name, the port and your username. Your provider's help pages give these, usually under "IMAP settings" or "mail app settings". Stow needs:

IMAP over SSL/TLS, usually on port 993. Servers that only offer port 143 with STARTTLS are not supported.
A certificate this Mac trusts. Stow has no "trust anyway" button. If you run your own server, give it a certificate from a public authority; Let's Encrypt is free.
Password sign-in, by AUTHENTICATE PLAIN or LOGIN.

Stow never looks your server up elsewhere: your password goes only to the server you typed.

Providers that do not work with Stow

Stow can only archive a mailbox it can reach over IMAP. These providers do not offer that, or only on some plans. Checked on each provider's own pages on 3 November 2026.

Providers and plans Stow cannot archive, and why.
Provider	Why not	What you can do
Proton Mail	No IMAP server. Paid plans reach IMAP only through Proton Mail Bridge, an app on your Mac with its own certificate, which Stow does not support yet. Free plans have no Bridge.	Proton's Export Tool, free on every plan, saves your mail as files.
Tuta (Tutanota)	No IMAP on any plan. Tuta says its end-to-end encryption cannot work over IMAP.	Tuta's desktop app can export your mailbox.
HEY	No IMAP. HEY works only in its own apps.	HEY can export your mail as an MBOX file.
Zoho Mail, Forever Free	The free plan does not include IMAP.	Paid Zoho plans work with Other server, using the IMAP server shown in Zoho's settings. It depends on your region.
Fastmail Basic	The Basic plan has no IMAP and no app passwords.	Any plan above Basic works.
mail.com, free	IMAP is a mail.com Premium feature.	mail.com Premium works.
Mailfence, Free and Base	These plans have no IMAP.	Entry and higher plans include IMAP; use Other server.
Servers with STARTTLS only	Stow connects with encryption from the first byte, usually on port 993. Port 143 with STARTTLS is not supported.	Ask your provider whether it offers IMAP on port 993.
Servers with a self-signed certificate	Stow only trusts certificates this Mac trusts, and has no way to skip the check.	Give the server a certificate from a public authority, such as Let's Encrypt.
Skiff Mail	Closed in August 2024.	Nothing left to archive.

Providers that are changing

Virgin Media Mail is moving to Junara, a paid service. Until Junara publishes its settings, use Other server with imap.virginmedia.com and a Virgin Media Mail app password, made in the My Virgin Media app.
Comcast and Xfinity mailboxes are moving to Yahoo. Once yours has moved, use the Yahoo Mail settings above with a Yahoo app password.

Not sure about your provider? Look in its help pages for "IMAP". If it gives an IMAP server and port 993, Stow can most likely archive it with Other server.

If the password is refused

Check that the username is your full address, then check what your provider needs first: most want an app password rather than your account password, and GMX, WEB.DE and mail.com need IMAP turned on. Stow saves nothing until the server accepts the password, and does not keep retrying a refused one. Your archived mail stays safe and searchable.