Connect your mailbox

Campbooks is an email client, so start by adding the mailbox you actually use. You can add more than one, and each becomes its own inbox.

Add a mailbox

1. Open Settings, then Mailboxes, and choose Add a mailbox. On a computer, Shift C does the same.
2. Type the mailbox's address and choose Continue.
3. Campbooks finds how that mailbox connects:
   • Gmail or Google Workspace, and Zoho Mail: choose Connect and approve access on the provider's own page. You never type a password into Campbooks.
   • Outlook, Hotmail or Microsoft 365: these are coming soon. Campbooks tells you so and connects nothing.
   • Any other address: Campbooks asks for an app password and shows how to make one at your provider. The steps for each provider are below.
4. Campbooks starts bringing in your mail. The first pass reads back 90 days and can take a few minutes; you can keep working meanwhile.

Also use this account to sign in. For Gmail and Zoho, the connect step has this box, ticked by default. Untick it for a shared mailbox such as support@: it is still connected, but never becomes a way into Campbooks.

What an app password is

An app password is a separate password your provider makes for one app, here Campbooks. It is not your usual password, and you can remove it at your provider at any time without changing anything else. Most providers require one once two-step sign-in is on, and some require one always.

Campbooks keeps it encrypted and never shows it again. If you disconnect the mailbox, Campbooks deletes it; remove it at your provider too.

App passwords, provider by provider

Each provider names things a little differently, and their pages change. If a step doesn't match what you see, follow the provider's own help page, linked at each step and in Campbooks.

Yahoo Mail

1. Sign in to Yahoo and open Account security.
2. Under External connections, choose Create app password, name it Campbooks, then Generate password.
3. Copy the password Yahoo shows and paste it into Campbooks.

Yahoo's help: Generate and manage app passwords.

AOL Mail

1. Sign in to AOL and open Account security.
2. Choose Generate app password, then Get started. Name it Campbooks and choose Generate password.
3. Copy the password AOL shows and paste it into Campbooks.

AOL's help: Create and manage app passwords.

iCloud Mail

1. Sign in at account.apple.com and open Sign-In and Security. Two-factor authentication must be on.
2. Choose App-Specific Passwords and create one named Campbooks.
3. Copy the password Apple shows and paste it into Campbooks.

Apple's help: Sign in to apps with your Apple Account using app-specific passwords.

Fastmail

1. In Fastmail, open Settings, then Privacy & Security.
2. Under Connected apps & API tokens, choose Manage app passwords and access, then New app password.
3. Name it Campbooks, keep mail access, generate it and paste it into Campbooks.

Fastmail's help: App passwords.

GMX

1. Turn on IMAP first. In GMX's mail settings, open POP3 & IMAP and allow access.
2. Open your account's security settings and find app passwords.
3. Create one named Campbooks. GMX shows it only once.
4. Paste it into Campbooks.

GMX switches IMAP off again after long periods without use. If the mailbox later asks you to reconnect, check that setting first.

GMX's help (gmx.com; for gmx.net, gmx.de, gmx.at and gmx.ch, hilfe.gmx.net). Turning on IMAP: gmx.com, hilfe.gmx.net.

WEB.DE

1. Turn on IMAP first. In WEB.DE's mail settings, open POP3/IMAP and switch it on.
2. Open your account, then Login & security, then App passwords.
3. Create one named Campbooks. WEB.DE shows it only once.
4. Paste it into Campbooks.

Like GMX, WEB.DE switches IMAP off again after long periods without use.

WEB.DE's help: app passwords and turning on IMAP.

Yandex Mail

1. Turn on IMAP first. In Yandex Mail's settings, open Email clients, tick IMAP and App passwords and OAuth tokens, then save.
2. In Yandex ID, open Security, then App passwords, and create a mail password named Campbooks.
3. Copy it and paste it into Campbooks. Yandex shows it only once.

A new Yandex app password can take a few hours to start working. If the sign-in is refused right away, try again later.

Yandex's help: app passwords and mail clients.

Your own domain, or another provider

1. If your mail host offers app passwords, make one for Campbooks in its settings and use it.
2. Otherwise, use the mailbox's own password.
3. If Campbooks can't find the servers, open Advanced: username and servers and enter them. Your host's help pages list them: an incoming (IMAP) server, usually on port 993 with TLS, and an outgoing (SMTP) server, usually on port 465 with TLS or 587 with STARTTLS.

Advanced also holds the username, which is usually the address itself. Campbooks only connects with encryption (TLS or STARTTLS), so a server that offers neither is refused before your password is sent.

The address check

When a mailbox signs in with a username that isn't its address, Campbooks checks the address belongs to it before it lets you send from it. You don't need to do anything:

1. Campbooks sends one short message from the address to itself, through the mailbox's own outgoing server.
2. It looks for that message in the mailbox's Inbox, then removes it.
3. The mailbox shows Verified, and sending turns on.

This usually takes a minute or two, and you can close the window meanwhile. Mail arrives while it runs.

If the message isn't found within 15 minutes, the mailbox shows We couldn't verify this address: sending stays off. Reading mail still works. Choose Try again to send a new check; it may have gone to Spam the first time.

When something goes wrong

What you see	What to do
"The mail server refused the sign-in"	Check the password. Most providers need an app password, not your usual one: follow the steps above. At Yandex, a new app password can take a few hours to work.
"Campbooks couldn't find this mailbox's servers"	Enter them under Advanced. Your host's help pages list them.
"Campbooks couldn't reach the mail server"	Check the server names and ports under Advanced.
"That server doesn't offer an encrypted connection"	Use port 993 for IMAP and 465 for SMTP.
"Too many failed sign-ins to this mailbox"	Wait an hour, then try again.
A mailbox shows "Needs you to sign in again"	The password was changed or removed at the provider, or IMAP was switched off there. Make a new app password and choose Reconnect.

Disconnecting

Choose Disconnect on the mailbox in Settings, then Mailboxes. You pick whether the mail already in Campbooks is deleted or kept as read-only history. Your mail at the provider is never touched.

For Gmail and Zoho, disconnecting also revokes Campbooks' access at the provider. For a mailbox connected with an app password, Campbooks deletes the password; remove the app password at your provider too.

:::tip Running your own Campbooks? The server side, including what to set up for Gmail and Zoho and the IMAP settings, is in Connecting mailboxes and IMAP mailboxes. :::