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How to Add Email Accounts to Mail in Windows 8.1

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Microsoft has included desktop email clients in its Windows operating system for years. Early clients like Outlook Express offered an experience that felt more like a less sophisticated experience than what was available to users in Microsoft’s expensive Outlook application. However, future versions, like Windows Live Mail, gave users a free and useful way of syncing email accounts to their PCs. By syncing emails locally, users are able to read and respond to emails even when they aren’t near an internet connection.

Users upgrading to Windows 8.1 don’t have access to Windows Mail natively. Instead Microsoft’s latest operating system comes with a new Windows Store application called Mail. Here’s how to add email accounts to Mail in Windows 8.1.

Go to the Start Screen.

How to Add Email Accounts to Mail in Windows 8 (1)

Open the Mail app by tapping or clicking on it. It’s represented by the blue live tile with a white envelope on it. You can also open the mail application by clicking or tapping the arrow at the bottom of your screen then tapping Mail or clicking mail from the list of applications that are installed on your Windows 8.1 device.

How to Add Email Accounts to Mail in Windows 8 (2)

If you created or used a Microsoft Account when setting up your device initially, that account will have already been added to the Mail app. To add another, swipe from left to right on your touch display or move your mouse cursor to the top-right corner of your display to open the Charms Bar. Click or tap Settings.

How to Add Email Accounts to Mail in Windows 8 (3)

Click or tap Accounts from the menu.

How to Add Email Accounts to Mail in Windows 8 (4)

Click or tap Add an Account.

How to Add Email Accounts to Mail in Windows 8 (7)

Tap or click on the name of the type of account you’d like to create. The Mail app supports adding accounts for Outlook.com, an Exchange sever, AOL, Gmail and Yahoo. If your account isn’t one of those you’ll need to know a lot more about how your email service is set up. If you don’t know what your service’s mail settings are, it’s a good idea to consult with your email service provider about your account settings before trying to add the account using the Other option.

Add your account information then click or tap Connect.

How to Add Email Accounts to Mail in Windows 8 (9)

You’ve just added your online email account to Mail on Windows 8.1. Since Mail automatically checks for new emails, you don’t have to keep the app open to be notified of new emails, they’ll simply surface on the Mail live tile as they arrive.

22 Comments

22 Comments

  1. Monique

    04/16/2014 at 9:02 pm

    Thanks, I tried everything, and your article really helped!

  2. Cathy

    05/13/2014 at 8:17 am

    Thanks Travis. That advice was better than built in help.

  3. John

    05/19/2014 at 9:29 am

    None the options worked for me but I heard about Thunderbird which I downloaded and it works great.

  4. Sean

    06/28/2014 at 11:40 am

    Greatly appreciated this tutorial!
    I had “0” issues while setting up 2 additional accounts.
    The pictures help immensely!

  5. [email protected]

    08/11/2014 at 1:52 am

    I love to be seeing my inbox messagees

  6. [email protected]

    08/11/2014 at 1:52 am

    I love to be seeing my inbox messages

  7. ed

    09/20/2014 at 4:01 pm

    AT LONG LAST . Thank you for such a simple and clear step by step tutorial
    I at last can use my mail in windows 8.1

  8. Ed

    10/20/2014 at 4:36 pm

    It would be nice if in addition to receiving mail one could actually send mail with attachments.

  9. Barbara J. Service

    01/02/2015 at 5:40 pm

    what if you don’t know the passwords to your accounts? there isn’t an option to reset

  10. John

    01/13/2015 at 7:03 pm

    I only have the email I set up with and it is telling me that I have added all the accounts allowed and will not let me add more than the one.

  11. Wes

    06/22/2015 at 12:42 am

    Thanks for this clear reply. I have two email accounts that I want to keep separate and access separately – is there any way of doing this?

  12. Anita

    06/25/2015 at 2:03 pm

    worked well, thanks

  13. John

    07/04/2015 at 1:27 am

    What was wrong with the email system I’ve been using all these years? Simple to set up and a doddle to set up on each new PC I’ve bought – except this one!
    I bought a new PC to take advantage of the speed – startup 12 seconds after pressing the power button and great for working with video files.
    However, to setup emails I have to have a Microsoft account & when I set this up, I now have to sign on when I turn on my PC – and having to type in a long password seems to defeat the object of having blisteringly fast SSDs.

  14. Stecven

    07/06/2015 at 10:30 pm

    THANK YOU !!
    Microsoft and other help is useless for adding another account to the Mail App.. especially for those of us w/o touch screens.. finally someone that gets it :)

    Thanks Again !!

  15. michael a. woloszyk sr.

    09/05/2015 at 8:20 am

    i want to add my sbcglobal.net account to my ne account @att.net
    van this be done?

  16. john ruester

    12/15/2015 at 12:15 pm

    Why have you made it so difficult to set up various e-mail accounts that I have? Couldn’t you just have transferred over all the windows live mail accounts?

  17. Emahni Herring

    02/05/2016 at 8:24 am

    Remove me. Philadelphia pa.

  18. William Pigford

    08/25/2016 at 3:09 pm

    Nope. Didn’t work. My settings menu does not list accounts. My Windows mail shows both email addresses but only lists emails for the att/yahoo account. the gmail account is show but the page is empty.

  19. manui

    09/25/2016 at 7:48 am

    Thanks, it was usefull for me…..

  20. syedvkax

    11/08/2016 at 10:10 pm

    what if accounts option is not showing in settings sidebar?

  21. faraz

    03/11/2017 at 9:20 pm

    Thanks a lot . You did a wonderful job.

  22. Actually when someone doesn’t be aware of after that its up to other users that
    they will help, so here it occurs.

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