# Setting up Mail for Mac OS X.2 **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 24, 2003, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/setting-up-mail-for-mac-os-x-2/209330 "2003-10-24T15:04:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2003, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/setting-up-mail-for-mac-os-x-2/209330/1 "2003-10-24T15:04:57Z")
I’m being asked to identify my incoming and outgoing mail servers. How the hell do I know? I’m planning on using my Yahoo! mail ID if that makes any difference. ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2003, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/setting-up-mail-for-mac-os-x-2/209330/2 "2003-10-24T15:15:30Z")
If you have the basic, free yahoo mail account, you can’t use Mail to check it. This isn’t a limitation of Mail, but of Yahoo… they offer a paid upgrade that, among other things, will allow you to use external programs to check your mail. If you _do_ already have this upgraded account, your **incoming server** is ‘[pop.mail.yahoo.com](http://pop.mail.yahoo.com)’ and your **outgoing** is ‘[smtp.mail.yahoo.com](http://smtp.mail.yahoo.com)’. ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2003, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/setting-up-mail-for-mac-os-x-2/209330/3 "2003-10-24T15:23:24Z")
Sorry, should have included a link with more info. [Here it is](http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/mail/pop/pop-15.html). That’s a link to setting it up with Outlook Express, but it’s the same basic info. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2003, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/setting-up-mail-for-mac-os-x-2/209330/4 "2003-10-24T16:35:02Z")
Well, I’m not going to spend money on a Yahoo email account so I guess I’ll set up a junk email address on my home DSL account for when I use this thing. Would I have to call my DSL provider to find out about the incoming/outgoing servers or is there something I can look at on my system or through Apple or _somewhere_ that’ll just list it? ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2003, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/setting-up-mail-for-mac-os-x-2/209330/5 "2003-10-24T16:57:59Z")
Your DSL provider may have mail info on its website (mine does) Brian ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2003, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/setting-up-mail-for-mac-os-x-2/209330/6 "2003-10-24T16:59:18Z")
I don’t blame you for not wanting to spend money on a Yahoo account. Your ISP should have a support page that lists them. A good incoming and outgoing mail server to try if you’re not sure is ‘mail._yourisp_.net’. For example, I’m with Earthlink, and mine is [mail.earthlink.net](http://mail.earthlink.net) for both incoming and outgoing. If that doesn’t work, check out you ISPs support page, and there should be something for setting up email programs, which will include this info. You _can_ use Mail to check a free Hotmail account, but you need to install a freeware application that you can get [here](http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/18189). It’s pretty easy to install, and works, in my experience.