University Computer Help Desk

Configuring Outlook 2011 with campus mail settings

Configure Outlook 2011 so you can use it to check email with your university email account. These instructions apply to your email account on the IMAP mail server.

Before You Begin

These instructions explain how to configure Outlook 2011 with your ULID email account. Follow these instructions if you plan to use Outlook primarily from on campus (with the option of using it from off campus). These instructions use IMAP mail settings.

If you plan to use Outlook primarily from off campus (or as a mobile user who will roam between on campus and off campus), refer to 1701: Configuring Outlook 2011 with MailVPN settings.

Faculty/Staff on Exchange: If you are faculty or staff and use Outlook for email, you may be on Exchange. If you are on Exchange for email, these instructions do not apply to you. Contact your department's technical support for help. For more information, refer to 1051: Configuring Outlook 2011 for Exchange.

Configure Outlook 2011

  1. Open Outlook.
  2. Do one of the following:
    • If the Welcome to Outlook for Mac window opens, click Add Account.
    • Otherwise, click Tools > Accounts....
  3. Click E-Mail Account.
  4. In the E-mail address: box, enter your email address.
    • Your email address is yourULID@ilstu.edu. 
  5. Enter your password in the Password: box.
  6. Enter your ULID in the User name: box.
  7. Make sure the Type: drop-down menu is set as IMAP.
  8. Enter mail.ilstu.edu in the Incoming mail server: box. 
  9. Enter smtp.ilstu.edu in the Outgoing mail server: box.
  10. Click Add Account.
    • You can change the name for your account in Outlook by editing the Account description: box.
    • You can change the name that people see when you send emails by editing the Full name: box.
  11. Click the red X at the top of the Accounts window to save your account settings.

You can now use Outlook to check and send email.

Off-campus users: To check your email from off campus, you need to first establish a VPN connection using either the Cisco VPN Client or Network Connect in WebVPN. If you regularly use Outlook from off campus, you can configure it with WebVPN settings, which eliminates the need for an independent VPN connection.