You can connect your business email account to BoldDesk using IMAP. Once configured, emails sent to your support mailbox are automatically converted into tickets, enabling your team to manage customer requests from a single platform.

Follow the steps below to configure a custom email account using IMAP.

Check out this video tutorial for more details.

Configure a Custom Email Account

Follow the steps below to configure a custom email account.

Step 1. Open the Email Configuration Page

1. Navigate to Admin → Emails.
2. Under the Support Emails tab, click Add Email.
   
   
   
   
   

Step 2. Configure the Basic Settings

On the Basic page:

1. Select the Brand to which incoming tickets should be assigned.

2. Optionally, select a Category to automatically assign tickets created from emails to a specific category.

3. Under Email Setup Type, select Connect a support email account.

4. Under Email Usage Type, choose how the email account will be used:

   • Incoming and outgoing emails
   • Incoming emails only
   • Outgoing emails only (if applicable)

5. Under Email Provider, select Custom.

6. Click Next.
   

   
   
   

Step 3. Configure the Server Settings

On the Server page, provide the details for your custom email account.

General Information

1. Enter the Display Name that will appear on emails sent from BoldDesk.
2. Enter the Email Address that customers use to contact your support team.

Configure Incoming Emails (IMAP)

1. Under Incoming Emails, ensure the Email Provider is set to Custom.
2. Provide the following IMAP settings:
   • Server Name
   • Port Number
   • Authentication Type
   • Username
   • Password
3. Select Use SSL if required by your email provider.
4. Configure the email synchronization option:
   • Fetch emails from the last 24 hours – imports emails received within the previous 24 hours.
   • Ignore previous emails – synchronizes only new emails received after configuration.

Configure Outgoing Emails (SMTP)

1. Under Outgoing Emails, ensure the Email Provider is set to Custom.
2. Provide the following SMTP settings:
   • Server Name
   • Port Number
   • Authentication Type
   • Username
   • Password
3. Select Use SSL if required by your email provider.

Step 4. Save the Configuration

1. Review the entered information.

2. Click Add.

3. BoldDesk validates the configuration and adds the email account.

4. Once the verification is successful, the email address appears under the Support Emails list.
   

   
   
   

Shared Mailbox Authentication Requirements

To configure a mailbox for ticket retrieval via IMAP or a custom mail server, BoldDesk requires valid authentication credentials (such as a username/password or OAuth access) to establish the connection.

If the mailbox is a shared mailbox without its own login credentials, BoldDesk cannot connect to it directly using IMAP.

To enable mailbox integration, provide one of the following:

• A dedicated mailbox with IMAP enabled and valid login credentials
• A Microsoft 365 user account that has access to the shared mailbox and can be used for authentication
• Custom mail server connection details along with the required authentication credentials

Troubleshooting (IMAP configuration and ticket creation)

Email account cannot be added (validation fails)

Check the following items with the email service provider’s documented settings:

• IMAP and SMTP server names are correct.
• IMAP and SMTP port numbers match the provider’s requirements.
• Use SSL matches the provider’s SSL/TLS requirement.
• The username/password are valid.
• If MFA is enabled, the password entered is an app password (not the normal mailbox password).

If validation continues to fail, contact the email administrator or BoldDesk Support.

New emails are not appearing as tickets immediately

• BoldDesk synchronizes connected mailboxes on a schedule.
• Wait a few minutes and retry after the next synchronization cycle.

Emails are being marked as read

BoldDesk marks emails as read after processing to prevent duplicate synchronization and duplicate ticket creation.

Initial sync is taking longer than expected

Selecting Fetch emails from the last 24 hours can increase initial synchronization time, especially for large mailboxes.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What happens after I connect an IMAP mailbox to BoldDesk?
   BoldDesk periodically fetches incoming emails from the mailbox via IMAP and creates tickets from those emails. If SMTP is configured, BoldDesk can also send outgoing replies using that mailbox configuration.

2. What should I do if the email account cannot be added?
   Verify IMAP/SMTP server names, ports, SSL selection, authentication type, and credentials. If MFA is enabled, use an app password.

3. Why are new emails not appearing immediately in BoldDesk?
   The mailbox synchronizer runs periodically, so newly received emails can take a few minutes to appear as tickets.

4. Why does BoldDesk mark emails as read after synchronization?
   BoldDesk marks emails as read after processing to prevent reprocessing the same messages and creating duplicate tickets.

5. Can I import emails that were received before configuration?
   Yes. During setup, select Fetch emails from the last 24 hours to import emails received within the previous 24 hours.

6. Can BoldDesk connect to a shared mailbox using IMAP without credentials?
   No. If a shared mailbox does not have its own login credentials, BoldDesk cannot connect to it directly via IMAP. Use a dedicated mailbox or authenticate using a Microsoft 365 user account with access to the shared mailbox.

7. Which ports are commonly used for IMAP and SMTP?
   Common ports include:

   Protocol	SSL/TLS	Standard
   IMAP	993	143
   SMTP	465 or 587	25

   Use the email provider’s documentation for the required ports and security settings.

Related Articles

1. Configuring Support Email using IMAP with Microsoft OAuth in BoldDesk
2. Troubleshooting Email Errors: Enabling IMAP and SMTP Access in Office 365