One of the most common support requests I get from clients after we’ve set up their hosting and business email is: ‘How do I get this working on my phone?’ It’s a quick process once you know the steps, but the number of settings screens involved can be confusing if you’ve never done it before.

Here’s a clean walkthrough. This covers both the Gmail app (the most common choice) and the default Android mail app.

What You’ll Need Before You Start

• Your full business email address — e.g. yourname@yourbusiness.co.za
• Your email password
• Your IMAP and SMTP server details — these come from your hosting provider. For most South African cPanel hosts it’s mail.yourdomain.co.za for both incoming and outgoing.

If you’re not sure what your server details are, log into your hosting control panel or check your welcome email from your host. If we set up your hosting, you can also just send us a message — we keep these on file for our clients.

Option A: Using the Gmail App (Recommended)

1. Open the Gmail app on your Android device
2. Tap the menu icon (three horizontal lines, top left) and go to Settings
3. Tap Add account, then select Other
4. Enter your full business email address and tap Next
5. Select Personal (IMAP) when asked about account type
6. Enter your email password and tap Next
7. On the Incoming server screen, confirm: Server is mail.yourdomain.co.za, Port is 993, Security type is SSL/TLS
8. Tap Next, then on the Outgoing server screen: Server is mail.yourdomain.co.za, Port is 465 or 587, Security type is SSL/TLS
9. Tap Next, set your sync preferences, then give the account a name

Your business email will now appear alongside your Gmail account in the app. You can switch between them using the profile icon in the top right corner.

Option B: Using the Default Android Mail App

1. Open the Email or Mail app on your device
2. Tap Add account
3. Choose IMAP (not POP — see below)
4. Enter your email address and password, then tap Manual Setup
5. On the Incoming settings screen: Server is mail.yourdomain.co.za, Port 993, SSL/TLS
6. On the Outgoing settings screen: Server is mail.yourdomain.co.za, Port 465 or 587, SSL/TLS
7. Set your sync frequency and tap Next to finish

💡 Always choose IMAP, not POP. IMAP keeps your emails synced across all your devices. POP downloads emails to a single device which causes them to disappear from everywhere else.

Common Problems and Fixes

‘Authentication failed’ error

Double-check that your username is your full email address including the domain, not just the part before the @. Also confirm your password is correct by logging into your webmail through a browser first.

‘Cannot connect to server’ error

Try switching between port 465 and 587 for outgoing mail. Some mobile networks and ISPs in South Africa block certain ports. If neither works, contact your hosting provider to confirm the correct settings for your specific server.

Emails arrive on the phone but not on the desktop (or vice versa)

This usually means POP was selected somewhere instead of IMAP. Check all your devices and make sure they’re all configured with IMAP.

A Note on Google Workspace

If your business email is running through Google Workspace rather than your hosting provider, the setup is slightly different — you’d use imap.gmail.com and smtp.gmail.com as the server addresses, both on port 993 and 465/587 respectively. The process in the Gmail app is even simpler because it will often detect Workspace accounts automatically.

If you get stuck, send us a message. Setting up business email on devices is something we help clients with regularly and it’s usually sorted in a few minutes.