TABLE OF CONTENTS

  • Steps to Set up the custom mail server
    • Using Gmail Server
    • Using Microsoft Office 365
    • Using other Servers
      • 1. Setting up Incoming
      • 2. Setting up Outgoing 


In addition to setting up your support mailbox via email forwarding, you can also choose to use your own email servers for sending and receiving emails through Freshdesk. This functionality lets you make sure that all your email transactions are outside Freshdesk, and will be completely managed at your end.


You can use your custom mail server only for incoming or outgoing or both. Besides that, you can choose to configure with public servers like Gmail or your private servers. 


When you set up a custom mailbox, the last day's emails in the mailbox (both read and unread emails) from the Inbox will be fetched and created as tickets. 


Steps to Set up the custom mail server

  1. Log in to your Freshdesk account as an administrator.
  2. Go to the Admin tab.
  3. Click on the Email icon.
  4. Click on the Edit button next to the mailbox for which you want to use a custom server or you can create a new mailbox by clicking on the New support email button.
  5. In the Email settings page, enter the custom email address of the mailbox you want to use in the 'Your support email' text box.
  6. Click on the Use your own mail server radio button.
  7. Select the Email system to which your server belongs.
  8. You can use your mail server for both incoming and outgoing emails or just outgoing emails.



Using Gmail Server

 If you are using Gmail or AOL, the port and server details would already be pre-filled. You just have to enter your credentials and click on Save. If you have enabled MFA and have blocked less secure apps, please refer to these troubleshooting steps when you get an error while saving the settings.

 

Using Microsoft Office 365

 If you are setting up Microsoft OAuth for the first time,  go to Admin > Email > New support email > Use your own mail server.

1. You can choose to use the mail server for ‘Incoming only,’ ‘Outgoing Only,’ or ‘Both.’

2. For ‘Incoming only’ and ‘Both,’ you will be able to delete emails from the server after fetching them to Freshdesk.

3. Authenticate using OAuth2.0 using your Microsoft credentials.

4. Once the authentication is successful, you will see a confirmation message.

 

 

Note: If you are using an 'Other' or 'Gmail' server and if you wish to switch to Microsoft 365, you can
Click on it and use the 'Sign in with Microsoft' option to authenticate your server.


5. To ensure that you don't get errors during setup, log in to your support mailbox while authenticating or setup the mailbox in an incognito tab.

Click on Save once you are signed in to save the mailbox settings. 


Using other Servers

 If you are using your own servers, you can choose the option 'Other' and follow the steps below:  

1. Setting up Incoming

 

  • Enter the IMAP server name from where the incoming mails have to be fetched and port details. 
  • Click on the 'Use SSL' check box to establish a secure connection 
  • Choose your Authentication based on your server settings 
  • Enter your username and password 
  • Click on Save to start using your email server.

2. Setting up Outgoing 

  • Enter the SMTP server name using which the outgoing emails should be sent and port details
  • Click on the 'Use SSL' check box to establish a secure connection 
  • Choose your Authentication based on your server settings 
  • Enter your username and password 
  • Click on Save to start using your email server.


Please note that the authentication method varies for different email servers. For example, Gmail uses plain or CRAM-MD5 authentication. Choosing the wrong authentication method will lead to an error while saving.