My email has stopped working

Setting up your email on Mac and iPhone

A properly configured address means the same mailbox, up to date, on every device. A badly configured one means a message read on the phone that turns up unread on the Mac — and a password prompt every ten minutes.

What is actually going on

It all hinges on one invisible setting: the protocol. With IMAP, your messages live at the provider and every device looks at the same mailbox. With POP, the first device to collect them takes them away and the others see nothing. Most older setups are still on POP.

In Geneva, Bluewin and Swisscom addresses also require a dedicated mail password, separate from your customer account password. That is the number one cause of endless password prompts — and nobody guesses it unaided.

What we do

  • Set up each address properlyBluewin, Swisscom, Gmail, Infomaniak, Exchange or a work mailbox: each has its own settings, and we get them right.
  • Move your old mailboxes to IMAPWithout losing the messages already downloaded under the old setup. That is the delicate part, and we do it carefully.
  • Line up Mac, iPhone and iPadThe same folders, the same messages, the same filing everywhere.
  • Sort the signature and the sending addressIncluding which address goes out by default when you have several.

Before we arrive

What helps

  • Have the full address and the mailbox password to hand.
  • Tell us if older messages exist on one device only: we protect those first.

What is better avoided

  • Deleting a badly configured account from the Mac: under POP, messages that exist only there vanish with it.
  • Running several mail apps — one, properly set up, is enough and avoids duplicates.

Your questions

Can I keep my Bluewin address if I change provider?

Often yes, with an option from Swisscom. We check with you before touching anything, because the day that address goes, everything attached to it goes too.

Why does my mail keep asking for the password?

Almost always because the password it wants is not your customer account password but a dedicated mail password. Five minutes to fix.

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