How to connect with SMTP
SMTP is the standard way email apps send mail through your provider’s server. You give LeadFinder your mailbox’s server settings and password, and campaign emails go out from your own address, as if you sent them from your mail app.
Settings for common providers
| Provider | SMTP server | Port and security | Username | IMAP (replies) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gmail / Google Workspace | smtp.gmail.com | 465 SSL/TLS or 587 STARTTLS | Your full Gmail address | imap.gmail.com · 993 SSL/TLS | Needs 2-Step Verification and an App Password from myaccount.google.com/apppasswords. Your normal Google password won’t work. Work accounts: your admin may have turned app passwords off. |
| Microsoft 365 (work or school) | smtp.office365.com | 587 STARTTLS | Your full work email address | Not available (turn reply detection off) | Your admin must turn on Authenticated SMTP (SMTP AUTH) for your mailbox. Microsoft is switching this off by default at the end of December 2026 (admins can turn it back on). If your organisation uses per-user MFA you may need an app password. Microsoft 365 no longer accepts passwords for IMAP, so untick “Detect replies and bounces” and mark replies by hand. |
| Outlook.com / Hotmail / Live (personal) | smtp-mail.outlook.com | 587 STARTTLS | Your full email address | outlook.office365.com · 993 SSL/TLS | Usually won’t work yet. Microsoft now requires its own sign-in (OAuth) for Outlook.com in other apps, so a password or app password is normally refused. Use a work or domain mailbox instead for now. |
| Zoho Mail | Free / personal: smtp.zoho.com · Paid with your own domain: smtppro.zoho.com · India accounts: smtp.zoho.in / smtppro.zoho.in | 465 SSL/TLS or 587 STARTTLS | Your full Zoho email address | imap.zoho.com / imappro.zoho.com (India: imap.zoho.in / imappro.zoho.in) · 993 SSL/TLS | Use an application-specific password if two-factor authentication is on. Turn on IMAP access in Zoho Mail settings for reply detection. Zoho shows your exact servers under Settings → Mail Accounts. |
| Yahoo Mail | smtp.mail.yahoo.com | 465 SSL/TLS or 587 STARTTLS | Your full Yahoo address | imap.mail.yahoo.com · 993 SSL/TLS | Generate an app password in your Yahoo account security settings and use it instead of your normal password. |
| Hostinger | smtp.hostinger.com | 465 SSL/TLS (or 587 STARTTLS) | Your full email address | imap.hostinger.com · 993 SSL/TLS | Mailbox password, or an app password if 2FA is on. |
| GoDaddy, cPanel and other web hosts | Check your host’s email settings. GoDaddy Professional / Workspace Email: smtpout.secureserver.net. cPanel hosts: often mail.yourdomain.com | Usually 465 SSL/TLS or 587 STARTTLS | Usually your full email address | GoDaddy: imap.secureserver.net · 993 SSL/TLS. cPanel: often mail.yourdomain.com · 993 | Your host’s help page or control panel lists the exact server names. Microsoft 365 bought through GoDaddy uses the Microsoft 365 row above. |
Step by step
- Get an app password if your provider needs one (Gmail, Yahoo, Zoho with 2FA). Copy it; you’ll paste it in step 5.
- On Campaigns → Sending mailboxes, click Other email (SMTP).
- Provider: pick yours to fill the servers in automatically, or choose “Other / enter manually”.
- Email address: the address you’ll send from. Sender name (optional): the name people see, like “Priya from Acme”.
- SMTP server, Port and security (port number plus SSL/TLS or STARTTLS), Username (if not the email) (leave empty if you log in with your email address) and Password or app password.
- Detect replies and bounces (IMAP, read-only): leave ticked to have replies stop follow-ups automatically, then check the IMAP server and its Port and security (usually 993, SSL/TLS). IMAP uses the same username and password unless your provider gives you separate ones. Untick it for Microsoft 365.
- Click Test and connect.
Testing the connection: “Test and connect” logs in to your SMTP server (and IMAP, if ticked) before anything is saved, and nothing is sent. If it fails, you’ll see the server’s own error message, and you can fix the details and try again. Port 465 always goes with SSL/TLS, and port 587 with STARTTLS.
Common errors
- Authentication failed (535, “Username and Password not accepted”, “Invalid credentials”): use an app password instead of your normal password; check the username is your full email address. For Microsoft 365, ask your admin to turn on SMTP AUTH for your mailbox.
- Timed out, “greeting never received”, or “wrong version number”: the port and security don’t match. Use 465 with SSL/TLS, or 587 with STARTTLS.
- “We couldn’t find …”: the server name is misspelled. Copy it from the table above or from your provider.
- Relaying disallowed / not allowed to send as this sender: the email address must be the mailbox you log in with (or an alias it is allowed to send as).
- IMAP login fails but SMTP works: turn on IMAP access in your mailbox settings (Zoho, Outlook.com), or untick reply detection.
Sending limits
Every provider limits how much one mailbox can send each day, and blocks sending for a while if you go over. For example, Google Workspace allows 2,000 messages a day through smtp.gmail.com, personal Gmail accounts allow fewer, and Microsoft 365 allows 10,000 recipients a day and 30 messages a minute. LeadFinder’s own warm-up and daily limit (in each mailbox’s Settings) keep you well below these. Check your provider’s limits before raising your daily limit.