What is SMPT username?

[Hazel74]

I am trying to set up my Plusnet email through Outlook and having no success. It asks for an SMPT username. What is this? Thanks.

[markhawkin]

Your SMTP username is mailboxname@accountname.plus.com

More generally, have a read of this thread:

https://community.plus.net/t5/Email/How-to-setup-Plusnet-emails-via-Outlook-2021/td-p/1844211

[Hazel74]

I wonder if that is just the same as my Username?

[markhawkin]

the accountname is the same as the Member Centre sign in name

Imagine that I had an account called "myfamily" and my name was Fred.

I would log in to the Plusnet webmail with

Username myfamily

password xxxxxxx

and I would see my Plusnet email.

Plusnet email me at "postmaster@myfamily.plus.com", however I have a mailbox called fred@myfamily.plus.com.

That's what Outlook will want as your SMTP username (fred@myfamily.plus.com).

[Hazel74]

Thank you.  Mine isn't actually!  Anyway I don't know what I eventually did but my email is now working through the new Outlook.  I sort if did it as an experiment to try it out, so far it repels me, I prefer my 2007 edition!

[Townman]

There are many things called "Outlook".

Outlook 2007 and anything with a year number or 365 are "proper" Outlook.

Anything which is free is effectively a "cheap Chinese" knock-off devoid of functionality and configurability.  "New Outlook" refers to the replacement for the mail application which shipped with Win 8 / 10 / 11 and is nothing like as good as its "proper" cousins.

It is most certainly a pig to configure: it presumes that user names are the same as the email address, which is not necessarily true, especially with the right flexibility of the Plusnet email service.  Though one might have a personal domain name - say fred@flintstones.me.uk - the user name would be that of the Plusnet account if fred@ was the primary email address; if it were a secondary, it would be accountname+fred ... which 'New Outlook' does not facilitate configuring.

[Hazel74]

Ha ha, yes I would agree it is a pig.  This is the version that appears to be free with my One Drive subscription of £5.99 a month:

Microsoft Outlook Version 1.2024.911.200 (Production).  The lack of ribbon fuctions and drop down menus compared to my Outlook 2007 make it utterly unappealing to me.  I maybe yet have to find some functions though.  Maybe its thought making it clean and sleaker improves it, but to be it looks poor.

Thank you for your help

[Townman]

---

@Hazel74 wrote:

This is the version that appears to be free with my One Drive subscription of £5.99 a month:

---

From Jan 2023 standalone OneDrive accounts no longer exist - they are Microsoft 365 accounts.  At that price I would conclude that you are on Microsoft 365 Personal ... which includes all of the latest DESKTOP versions of the Office products, including proper Outlook.  See Cloud Storage Pricing and Plans – Microsoft OneDrive

[Hazel74]

Thank you, nice it see that in £ as I had only seen it in $.  That's really helpful.  I can't remember when I upgraded from £1.99 a month to £5.99, I was running out of space.  I had no idea until yesterday that it had reactivated the Office apps on my laptop

[markhawkin]

There are probably a couple of other points to think about.

While I quite liked the Outlook in the 2007 generation of Office, it had stopped working with most of my email accounts as they wanted newer methods of authentication (not a problem with the Plusnet account). Personally I upgraded to Office 2021 (not subscription based) largely to get a newer version of Outlook.

You will have some form of Microsoft email address most likely with your Microsoft account. If you have (or even if you haven't) it might be worth using a Microsoft email account with Outlook as the way it works between multiple devices is good.

Although you seem to have the right to use the Microsoft 365 applications with your subscription, if you want to use them on your computer you will need to download the applications. This will probably overwrite the Office 2007 installation (which also may or may not be what you want to do).

There is a bit to think about really.

[Hazel74]

The Apps are on the machine, they were on the machine when I got it.  They have just reactivated.  They didn't over right Office 2007.  It is Office Enterprise 2007 I have and a good one.  The only problem now with Outlook is that it cannot index anymore, so has no search functionality.  This is a total pain, and one of the reasons I was keen to try and hook up into Outlook 365.  I have my hotmail account on it too.

I did search far and wide for some sort of fix for Outlook 2007 and indexing but alas don't think it is possible.

[Hazel74]

In relation to this, new Outlook has stopped working   I have done everything, even deleted the account and readded it.  I can send, but not received anything since last Friday 25/10.  I wonder if anything has changed?  Would I need to update a port number or anything?  New Outlook automatically configured to imap and the port number which I put into overight the pre-populated rubbish is 993.

[Townman]

Are you looking at “new” outlook of Microsoft 365 Outlook. They are not the same.

Have you downloaded Microsoft 365? You might consider running Microsoft 365 repair. See settings / installed apps.

[Hazel74]

Thanks its the 'new' Outlook version as described above.  I've downloaded nothing, it was on the machine when I got it and it updated recently, it reactivated when I started paying for One Drive. I have tried to repair it to no avail, have both repaired and reset it.  No emails have come in since last Friday 25/10.

Have never clicked on the Microsoft 365 button.....not sure if that is access to a worse browser verison of what is on the laptop

[Townman]

Sorry typo in the previous post - it should have read “New” Outlook OR Microsoft 365.

“New” Outlook is a bag of worms. It updating has nothing to do with paying for OneDrive.

You are paying for Microsoft 365 which is the proper office suite. Try installing that and use proper Outlook.