Accounts

Loupe works with any mail account you can reach over IMAP and SMTP, and with JMAP servers such as Fastmail and Stalwart. You can add as many accounts as you like and read them together in All Inboxes.

Loupe keeps your mail on the server and a copy on your phone. It doesn’t support POP3, or Exchange ActiveSync and Exchange Web Services. Microsoft 365 and Outlook.com work over IMAP.

Add an account

Open Settings and tap Add Account (or tap Add Account on the Welcome screen).
Enter your Name (as people see it on your mail) and your Email address, then tap Continue.
Loupe looks up the server settings. The next screen is named after your provider and shows a Server Settings row, such as “Found via ISPDB”.
Enter the password your provider asks for and tap Sign In. The field says Password, App Password or API Token, depending on the provider (see below).
When “Your mail is syncing.” appears, choose a Description (such as Work or Personal) and a Colour, and tap Done.

The account isn’t added until the server accepts the sign-in, so a wrong password costs nothing: correct it and try again.

How Loupe finds your settings

Loupe tries, in this order:

its built-in settings for Gmail, Microsoft, iCloud, Yahoo, AOL and Fastmail;
a JMAP server at your domain;
Thunderbird’s public settings database (autoconfig.thunderbird.net), which learns your mail domain, not your address;
your mail domain’s own configuration address, over HTTPS;
common server names such as imap. and mail. on your domain, confirmed by a quick connection.

When it finds an IMAP server, Loupe also checks whether that server offers JMAP, and uses JMAP if it does.

Loupe doesn’t look up your domain’s mail servers in DNS, so that no one learns which provider you use from those lookups. As a result, a custom domain hosted by Google or Microsoft may not be recognised; enter its settings by hand (below).

If nothing is found, Loupe says “Couldn’t find settings for domain. Enter them below.” and opens the server form.

Providers

Provider	How you sign in
Gmail	Sign in with Google, when your build of Loupe has it; otherwise an app password
Outlook.com, Hotmail, Microsoft 365	Sign in with Microsoft, when your build of Loupe has it
iCloud	An app-specific password, not your Apple Account password
Yahoo and AOL	An app password, not your account password
Fastmail	An API token (Loupe uses JMAP); or an app password over IMAP
Stalwart and other JMAP servers	Your password, or an API key
Any other IMAP server	Your password

When a provider needs an app password or a token, the sign-in screen explains it and has a How to Create One link (for Gmail, How to Create an App Password).

With Sign in with Google or Sign in with Microsoft, you sign in on Google’s or Microsoft’s own page in your browser. Loupe never sees your password; it receives a permission to read and send your mail, which you can withdraw in your Google or Microsoft account at any time.

Note: These buttons only appear in builds of Loupe that have been registered with Google and Microsoft. In a build without them, Loupe says so on the sign-in screen.

Gmail then works with an app password, which needs 2-Step Verification on your Google account. Tap Use an App Password and follow How to Create an App Password.

Outlook, Hotmail and Microsoft 365 accounts can’t be added in such a build: they no longer accept passwords from mail apps.

Microsoft sign-in works for personal Outlook.com and Hotmail accounts and for work or school accounts on Microsoft 365. Some organisations must approve Loupe first; Loupe tells you when an administrator needs to grant consent.

If Google or Microsoft later stops accepting Loupe’s sign-in (for example because you withdrew the permission), a banner on Mailboxes says the account isn’t syncing. Tap Sign In Again.

JMAP accounts

JMAP is a modern mail protocol that replaces IMAP and SMTP with one connection. It is efficient on phones. Loupe supports it next to IMAP: everything in Loupe works the same on both.

Fastmail: Loupe connects over JMAP automatically. Create an API token in Fastmail (Settings › Privacy & Security › Manage API tokens, for JMAP, with access to email and sending) and paste it into API Token.
Stalwart and other servers that publish JMAP are found automatically. Sign in with your password, or with an API key.
Any JMAP server by hand: tap Server Settings, then Edit Settings, and set Protocol to JMAP. The server can be a host name or a URL such as https://mail.example.com. There are no SMTP settings: JMAP sends mail itself.

The account’s settings page shows the connection as “JMAP · host:port”.

Note: Not yet supported for JMAP: Fastmail’s browser sign-in (use an API token), importing the identities set up on the server (add them in Loupe; see Identities), and new-mail push while Loupe is in the background (background sync works as for IMAP).

Enter settings by hand

On the sign-in screen, tap Server Settings, then Edit Settings.

Field	What to enter
Protocol	IMAP or JMAP (incoming only)
Server	The server name, such as `mail.example.com`
Port	Filled in for the security you choose; change it only if your provider says so
Security	TLS, STARTTLS or None
Username	Usually your email address

The usual ports are 993 (IMAP with TLS), 143 (IMAP with STARTTLS), 465 (SMTP with TLS) and 587 (SMTP with STARTTLS).

Choosing None asks you to confirm, because your password and every message would travel as plain text. Use it only for a server on your own network.

Self-signed certificates

If the server’s certificate isn’t trusted (common on home servers), Loupe shows its SHA-256 fingerprint and a Trust This Certificate button. Compare the fingerprint with your server’s before you tap it. Loupe then trusts exactly that certificate for that server.

Import from Thunderbird

Thunderbird on your computer can hand its accounts to your phone with QR codes.

In Thunderbird, choose Tools › Export for Mobile, select your accounts, and tick the option to include the passwords if you want them copied too.
In Loupe, tap Import from Thunderbird on the Welcome screen (or on the first step of Add Account). Allow the camera.
Scan each code Thunderbird shows, in any order. Loupe counts them: “Scanned 1 of 2”.
Check the accounts Loupe found (tap one to leave it out), enter any missing passwords, and tap the button that adds them, such as Add 2 Accounts. Then tap Done.

Each account comes with its identities. An account already in Loupe is marked and left out. If your camera can’t scan, tap Paste Text Instead and paste the code’s text, one code per line.

Some Thunderbird accounts can’t be imported:

POP3 accounts, because Loupe keeps mail on the server with IMAP;
accounts that sign in with Kerberos, NTLM or a client certificate;
Microsoft accounts, in a build without Microsoft sign-in;
Google accounts that sign in through the browser in Thunderbird use Sign in with Google, or an app password in a build without it. Other accounts that sign in through the browser need an app password, if the provider offers one.

Thunderbird never exports sign-in tokens, so accounts that use Google or Microsoft sign-in sign in again in Loupe.

Account settings

Open Settings and tap an account.

Setting	What it does
Description	The account’s name in Loupe
Email	The account’s address (can’t be changed)
Colour	Marks this account’s messages in All Inboxes and other unified mailboxes
Identities	The addresses you send from, with their signatures. See Identities and signatures.
Manage Folders, Show All Folders	Which folders show and sync. See Folders.
Server	The incoming and outgoing servers and how you sign in, for reference
Sign In Again	For Google and Microsoft accounts, renews the sign-in
Remove Account	Removes the account from this phone

Server settings and passwords can’t be changed after an account is added. To change them, remove the account and add it again.

Remove an account

Tap Remove Account and confirm. The account’s mail, settings and sign-in are removed from this phone. Nothing is deleted on the server.