IMAP FAQ
Common questions about IMAP email integration with Missive.
Do you support ProtonMail account?
Unfortunately, you cannot connect ProtonMail accounts to Missive.
As explained on this page, the way to use ProtonMail with desktop email apps is by installing the ProtonMail Bridge. This bridge is an application that must be installed on the same computer as the email app used to read and send emails (Outlook, Thunderbird, Apple Mail, etc).
In our case, Missive is a cloud application that runs on servers. Thus, it’s not possible for us to install and run the ProtonMail Bridge on our servers.
Do you support Zoho email account?
Yes, you need to select the IMAP option after clicking to add your account in the Accounts section of Missive's preferences.
See this page for the IMAP / SMTP connection details you need to enter in Missive.
How can I connect an AOL email account?
To connect an AOL account to Missive, you need to select the IMAP option when adding an account and use AOL’s IMAP and SMTP details.
Also, you may be required to enable two-step verification on your AOL account and generate a third-party app password for Missive (instead of using your main AOL password).
How can I fix the 'Mailboxes not configured' error?
The owner of the email account must open their Missive settings on the Accounts tab, select the account, select the Mailboxes tab and make sure there is a mailbox selected for each mailbox type (Archive, Sent, Trash and Spam). You may need to create a new mailbox if none are available.
Why is my IMAP email account disconnected from Missive?
Missive disconnects your email account(s) if it cannot connect to your server for 30 consecutive minutes. If this is a temporary issue, you just needs to click Reconnect on the yellow banners to open the Credentials settings panel, then click Reconnect. This will attempt to reconnect your accounts.
I get an invalid SSL / TLS certificate error when trying to add my email account, what should I do?
If you receive this error when adding your email account:
Your SSL / TLS certificate is invalid, so Missive can’t establish a secure IMAP connection. If this is not a concern to you, choose “none” under Encryption.
It means you probably have an expired certificate or a self-signed certificate. You can contact support@missiveapp.com to know why your certificate is invalid.
Expired certificate
If your server’s SSL/TLS certificate is expired you should contact your certificate authority to get a new one.
Self-signed certificate
Missive currently refuses to connect to IMAP servers with a self-signed certificate, because if we allowed it, it would mean our connections to users’ IMAP servers wouldn’t actually be secure. A self-signed certificate can be generated by anyone, so if our algorithm accepted any self-signed certificate, it means our connection to your server could be intercepted by a hacker who could swap your certificate for theirs, and Missive wouldn’t notice because it accepts anybody’s self-signed certificate. Simply put: someone could read your email data over our connection to your server, and neither us or you would notice.
If a server’s SSL/TLS certificate is self-signed, it is not signed by a recognized certificate authority. This is often the case on default server installations.
However, people using a self-signed certificate and not planning on purchasing an authority-signed one for their IMAP server is something common. To remain secure by default while supporting this setup, what email applications usually do when people connect an IMAP account is:
First, refuse to accept a self-signed certificate
Show a warning to the user
Offer the user a checkbox that says “Allow the use of my self-signed certificate”
If checked, the setting will be remembered for this user only
The procedure above is exactly what we plan to do. We have no ETA yet, but we will offer support for self-signed certificates at some point.
Note that if the above isn’t a concern to you, you should be able to successfully import your IMAP account by choosing “none” as the Encryption method. Same for SMTP.
Last updated