MobileMe: Setting up MobileMe email on your Mac

Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard

Follow these steps to ensure all Mail functionality works as expected with MobileMe.

1. Quit Mail if it's running.
2. Download and install the Mac OS X 10.5.4 Update or later (if you have not).
3. After updating and restarting, choose System Preferences from the Apple menu.
4. Click .Mac. A dialog appears stating:
   

   ".Mac is now MobileMe
   Complete your system update by going to Software Update and installing the Mac OS X Update for MobileMe.
   You can use your existing .Mac member name and password to sign in to MobileMe."

   Note: If you do not see this message, try again in about 24 hours.

5. Click the "Software Update..." button.
6. Download and install the "Mac OS X Update for MobileMe". This will install everything you need to get Leopard ready for MobileMe.
7. Open Mail.

If you were an existing .Mac member who was upgraded to MobileMe

When you now compose a new message in Mail, in the "From" drop-down sheet you should see your membername@me.com and membername@mac.com addresses, as well as any aliases you may have set up.

If you are a new MobileMe member

When you now compose a new message in Mail application, in the "From" drop-down you should see your membername@me.com as well as any aliases you set up on me.com/mail. If you were not an active .Mac member at the time MobileMe became available, you will not see @mac.com email address.

Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger

Follow these steps to ensure all Mail functionality works as expected with MobileMe.

Note: All MobileMe features will appear as ".Mac" in Tiger, even if you are a new MobileMe member.

1. Quit Mail if it's running.
2. Download and install the Mac OS X 10.4.11 Update (if you have not).

If you were an existing .Mac member and simply want to keep sending and receiving using your membername@mac.com address, you don't have to do anything.  Any aliases you previously created on webmail.mac.com will continue to show up in the From drop-down sheet, and successfully send and receive.

If you are a new MobileMe member, or you were an existing .Mac member and want to also use your membername@me.com email address

1. Open Mail.
2. Choose Preferences from the Mail menu.
3. If you have an existing .Mac account, select it and click the minus button.  This will not delete any of your messages from the email server.  Make sure the Account Type of the account you're about to delete does not say POP; if it does then skip to step 5.
4. Add a new IMAP account with the following settings.  
   • In the email address field, enter the primary email address you want to use to send email from, either membername@me.com or membername@mac.com. Note: If you were not previously a .Mac member, you will be unable to send email from membername@mac.com.
   • Incoming Mail Server:  mail.me.com
   • Outgoing Mail Server:  smtp.me.com  (make sure to use authentication with your outgoing mail server)
5. After creating the account, you can add additional addresses in the Email Address field in the preferences for your account.  Separate additional addresses with a comma.  For example, membername@me.com, alias1@me.com, alias1@mac.com.  When configured this way, Mail will not use aliases from MobileMe, and additional email addresses added in Mail will not show up in Webmail.

Note: When creating a new alias on me.com/mail, the alias may show up in Webmail as alias@me.com as well as alias@mac.com in the drop-down sheet.  The alias@mac.com is not a valid email address.