University Computer Help Desk

Before You Begin

If you have an email alias, you can configure Apple Mail to use that email address as the reply-to address when sending email.

Example of When to Send From an Email Alias

Reggie Redbird's department has the email alias, illinoisathletes@ilstu.edu. Reggie receives email sent to illinoisathletes@ilstu.edu in his regular rrredbi@ilstu.edu account. When he replies to those emails, he wants the messages to come from illinoisathletes@ilstu.edu instead of from his personal email account. Apple Mail can be configured to do this for Reggie.

Email Alias and the Sent Folder

When you send from an email alias in Apple Mail, the messages you send are not stored in the Sent folder on the mail server like regular sent messages. Instead, they are stored in a local Sent folder and can only be accessed on that computer. If you check your email on more than one computer or device, you will be unable to view those emails which were sent from an email alias in Apple Mail except when using the same computer from which you originally sent the emails.

Configure Apple Mail with an Email Alias

To configure Apple Mail so you can send from an email alias, do the following:

1. Launch Apple Mail.
2. Click File > Add Account...
3. Complete the Add Account page as follows:
   
   • Full Name: Type a name for the email alias. This name will appear when you send email using the alias.
   • E-mail Address: Type the email address for the email alias.
   • Password: Leave this box blank.
4. Click Continue. Complete the Incoming Mail Server page as follows:
   • Account Type: Select IMAP.
   • Incoming Mail Server: Type mail.ilstu.edu
   • User Name: Type the first part of the email address before the @ symbol.
   • Password: Leave this box blank, and remove the check mark next to Remember password.
5. Click Continue. When Checking connection to mail server "mail.ilstu.edu"... appears, click Cancel.
6. Click Continue.
7. For the Outgoing Mail Server, type smtp.ilstu.edu.
8. Click Continue. When Checking connection to mail server "smtp.ilstu.edu"... appears, click Cancel.
9. The box labeled Use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) should be unchecked. Authentication should be None.
10. Click Continue.
11. Click Create.
12. Select your email alias under Accounts. Then click Advanced.
13. Remove the check mark next to Include when automatically checking for new mail.
14. Remove the check mark next to Use SSL.
15. Close the Accounts window.
16. Click Save.

It may take a few moments for Apple Mail to finish setting up your email alias.  An alert icon will appear on the Inbox for your email alias, which indicates the account is offline. This is normal (since the email alias not actually a real email account).

You can now use Apple Mail to send from an email alias.

Send Email Using an Email Alias

To send email using the email alias address, do the following:

1. Click New Message to compose a new email message.
2. Click the From: drop-down menu and select the email alias address.
3. Compose a message and send it.
   
   • Send the test email to yourself or to a coworker to confirm it is working as expected.