Thunderbird:Help Documentation:Obsolete:Adding Multiple SMTP Servers

Adding multiple SMTP servers in Thunderbird

In this section:

  <a href="#what_is_an_smtp_server">What is an SMTP server, anyway?</a>

  <a href="#how_do_i_add_multiple_smtp_servers">How do I add multiple SMTP servers?</a>

What is an SMTP server, anyway?

An SMTP server is the server responsible for sending your e-mail. SMTP stands for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol.
You usually have a POP (Post Office Protocol) or IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) server set up to recieve your mail.

How do I add multiple SMTP servers?

When you first set up a mail account in Thunderbird, you had to specify two servers: an SMTP server and a POP (or IMAP) server.
When you add another account, you may specify a new incoming mail server, but the SMTP from your first account is used.

Adding More Servers

To add another SMTP server to Thunderbird:

1. Go to the Tools menu
2. Click Account Settings
3. Select Outgoing Server (SMTP) in the resulting dialog.

This "Outgoing Server (SMTP)" choice will be a the very bottom of your list of Accounts. If you have several Accounts and they are all "+'ed" you won't,

at first, be able to see the important item to select.

You should see the current server's address, and your login information.
Next click the Advanced button. This will open a small dialog. To add a new server, click the Add button.

Setting Up Your Account To Use A Different SMTP Server

To make a certain account use a different SMTP server, do the following:

1. Go to Tools > Account Settings.
2. Select the account that you wish to modify:
Click the plus sign (+) or arrow on the left to drop down a list below the account.
3. Select Server Settings.
4. Click the Adanced button.
5. Select the desired SMTP server from the drop down list.
6. Apply the changes, and you're good to go!

My version 1.5.0.7 WILL NOT ALLOW adding or editing of OUTGOING smtp server. This is a MAJOR PROBLEM as I am changing ramp provider in a couple of days. I hope the programmers at Mozilla will FIX this very soon...... Cosmos

Observations:
1) With my version 1.5.0.4, I'm unable to get past step 4 above. When I click the Advanced button, the window that pops up asks me to select a folder for new mail. There's no drop-down list in which to select an SMTP server.
2) There is a drop-down list for Outgoing Server (SMTP) in the screen that appears when you click the account name. However, it only allows you to select from existing servers, not add a new one.

Help!!

qw

You can add a new SMTP server by clicking on "Outgoing Server", listed right beneath "news", in Account Settings. Then click the "add" button on the right and enter the relevant info.

Then, once you've done all that, and added it to the master list of servers, you can go into the account(s) you want to associate with this new outgoing mail server (With the + if it's not already expanded) and can follow the directions above (Server Settings->Advanced->SMTP from the drop down list->apply) to make that the SMTP server for that account.

I am on 1.5.0.5 and there is no 'news' beneat accounts settings. only 'options'. This is a real pain...

can somebody help please?

JB

When you click on the mail address itself, in the resulting menu there is a drop down menu at the very bottom to choose which SMTP server you wish to associate that email address with. All you have to do then is to create the SMTP server at the bottom SMTP section

Feromors

Yes, I'm a newbie who just wasted half the night looking for that "Outgoing server (SMTP)" link to set up a different outgoing server than the default. With 1.5.0.5 it is elusive, especially if you are reading the help page from Thunderbird. It seems to not be where it should be, or where it used to be. You click on the mail address itself, as Feromors says, and then look in the leftmost pane of what pops up. The elusive button may not be visible because you have to scroll down to see it. Whew! that was a waste of an evening. Perhaps the documentation could be updated. PLEASE edit this mercilessly, since I am a newb to this Wiki. Charleskiddell 21:44, 7 September 2006 (PDT)

I am on 1.5.0.7 and can confirm that the way to select one of two or more SMTP links is as described immediately above, that is :-

1. Go to Tools > Account Settings.
2. Select the account that you wish to modify
3. On the right, see the entry for "Outgoing Server (SMTP)"
4. Select the desired SMTP server from the drop down list.
5. Apply the changes, and you're good to go!