Closed Beta Phase (IMAP users only)

Please read all of this page before you make any changes. There are important notes on how changing your settings will affect your email client.

Only the people registered for the Closed Beta Phase can use the server details below; access requires us to add your username to a database. Please do not share the server name with others as it will only lead to them not being able to access their email.

If you require help during the Closed Beta Phase, please contact https://support.runbox.com

What you need to do

To make use of our new IMAP servers during the Closed Beta Phase, you will need to make some changes to your Runbox account settings in your email client or smart phone/table mail app.

Apple Mail on OS X: In the latest versions of Apple Mail you may need to deactivate the setting on the Advanced tab that reads “Automatically detect and maintain account settings” as otherwise you may not be able to change the server. You will need to turn this off, exit the account settings so the setting is saved and then go back in to change the server name.

  • Incoming Server: dovecot.runbox.com
  • Port: 993
  • Encryption: SSL/TLS On
  • You will also need to remove the IMAP Path Prefix: INBOX that we previously recommended you set in our instructions
  • Re-assign special folders such as Sent, Trash, Templates and Archive as appropriate

Note: The outgoing server settings remain unchanged (i.e. should still be secure.runbox.com)

The links to the instructions below show where the INBOX setting was originally added, and therefore where it can be removed. For some clients they also show were the special folders need to be set.

Apple Mail: Step 5

Thunderbird: Step 6

Outlook 2013: Configure Account Settings, 2nd graphic

Outlook 2011: Configure Account Settings

Windows Live Mail: Configure Account Settings, 3rd graphic

iPhone and iPad

  1. Open the settings for your Runbox account by going to Settings => Mail, Contacts, Calendars => Runbox => Account (your email address).
  2. Change Host Name from secure.runbox.com to dovecot.runbox.com (don’t worry, communication is still secure and encrypted).
  3. Tap Advanced at the bottom of the screen.
  4. Make sure Use SSL is ON (SSL = encryption).
  5. Remove INBOX from IMAP Path Prefix (if present).
  6. Tap Account at the top of the screen to go back, and then tap Done. Your phone/tablet will now verify the new settings.

What will I notice is different?

When you change your IMAP server name it is very likely that your email client will behave in one or more of the following ways:

  • All of your email will be downloaded again
  • If you only show subscribed folders in your email clients, you may need to subscribe to those folders again
  • If previously folders appeared as sub-folders of Inbox, they may now appear as siblings of the Inbox instead

We expect that users of Apple products will see the most benefit from our new servers. Problems we believe will be resolved are:

  • Read/Unread synchronisation
  • Moving messages from one folder to another resulted in a copy in the new and old locations
  • Error messages of the kind “Cannot connect to server”
  • On iOS the mailbox in the native Mail app would fail to update

Note: For users of Apple Mail on OS X you may notice that when deleting or moving a message in Apple Mail it may show up in the Rubox webmail with a line crossed through it. This shows the message has been marked for deletion, but has not been deleted yet. Apple Mail deletes these when you quit the program, or if you right click on the Inbox and choose “Erase Deleted Items…”.

Would it be easier if I just re-install my account?

Deleting your account on your device (i.e. locally) and reinstalling is completely safe as your mail is stored on our servers.

In many ways installing your account again would be the best option as it gives your device a fresh start with the new settings. There should be no reason why you shouldn’t do this. However, if you have our “no back up” feature activated, you should ensure you have a backup of your account (just in case!).

After the Closed Beta Phase

After this phase we will gradually transition all customers to the new servers, but the server name will change from dovecot.runbox.com to a new public server name. You will not need to change you setting immediately, and will have a significant amount of time to make the final change to the new public server name.