Adding accounts

Add accounts from the add account screen on first launch, or later from Settings → Accounts.

GmailCopy Anchor Link

1. Click Sign in with Google.
2. Your browser opens Google's sign-in page. Choose the account and review the permissions.
3. Google returns you to OpenMail, which stores the refresh token in the macOS Keychain.

Google may show a warning that the app is unverified. See the FAQ.

New Gmail accounts grant two permissions: read and modify mail (gmail.modify) and send mail (gmail.send). Contacts, Calendar and Gmail settings are optional and are requested only when you connect them. See Optional services.

OutlookCopy Anchor Link

1. Click Sign in with Microsoft.
2. Your browser opens Microsoft's sign-in page for personal accounts. Sign in and approve the permissions.

OpenMail supports personal Microsoft accounts: outlook.com, hotmail.com and live.com. Work and school Microsoft 365 accounts need an administrator to approve the app for the organization, and OpenMail does not support them.

New Outlook accounts request Mail.ReadWrite, Mail.Send, User.Read, offline_access and MailboxSettings.ReadWrite. The last one is needed to list and manage Outlook categories.

IMAP and SMTPCopy Anchor Link

OpenMail has presets for iCloud, Yahoo, QQ Mail, 163 Mail and Fastmail, plus a custom option for any other server.

1. Choose the preset, or Other IMAP and enter the IMAP and SMTP host names.
2. Enter your address and an app-specific password. Most providers require one when two-factor authentication is on. Create it in the provider's account security settings:
   • iCloud: Apple Account, Sign-In and Security, App-Specific Passwords.
   • Yahoo: Account Security, generate app password.
   • Fastmail: Settings, Privacy & Security, new app password with IMAP and SMTP access.
   • QQ Mail and 163 Mail: turn on IMAP/SMTP in webmail settings, then generate an authorization code.
3. Optionally enter a sender name. It appears next to your address in the From line of mail you send. It defaults to the part of the address before @, and you can change it later in Settings → Accounts.
4. OpenMail stores the password in the macOS Keychain.

OpenMail connects to IMAP and SMTP only over TLS. New mail arrives through IMAP IDLE, with polling as a fallback.

SpacesCopy Anchor Link

A space is a named group of accounts, such as Work or Personal. Each account is in at most one space. Accounts in no space show under Ungrouped accounts in Settings.

When you have two or more accounts, OpenMail offers once to create a Personal and a Work space. You can skip it and make your own.

Create, edit and deleteCopy Anchor Link

1. Open Settings → Spaces and click New space. In the sidebar, the plus button at the right end of the switcher does the same.
2. Enter a name, pick an icon and a color, and check the accounts to include. Checking an account that is in another space moves it out of that one.
3. Click Create.

To change a space, click Edit next to it in Settings → Spaces, or right-click its icon in the sidebar and choose Edit space. Delete space is in the same dialog. Deleting a space does not delete its accounts or mail. The accounts become ungrouped.

A name cannot be blank, contain line breaks or tabs, repeat another space's name, or be none. You can also drag an account to another space in Settings → Accounts.

Switch spacesCopy Anchor Link

The switcher is the row of icons at the bottom of the sidebar. Click a space to open it. Two entries come first:

• Overview shows every space on one screen, with unread counts, sync status for each account and the newest unread conversations.
• All accounts shows mail from all accounts together.

When the window is too narrow for the full sidebar but wide enough for two panes (roughly 800 to 960 px), the sidebar becomes a column of icons. The same entries sit at the bottom of that column, each with an unread badge. In an even narrower window, open the sidebar from its button to reach the switcher.

Shortcuts:

In both sets, ⌃3 to ⌃9 also open the first seven spaces. See Keyboard shortcuts.

The Go menu in the menu bar lists the same targets: Overview, All accounts and each space, with its shortcut. It follows changes to your spaces.

Notifications by spaceCopy Anchor Link

Each space has its own active hours in Settings → Notifications → Active hours by space. Outside a space's active hours, OpenMail holds its notifications and leaves its unread mail out of the Dock badge. When active hours start again, you get one summary of the unread mail that arrived. Ungrouped accounts have their own schedule too.

Optional servicesCopy Anchor Link

Each Gmail and Outlook account can connect extra services in Settings → Accounts → Optional services. Connecting one opens the provider's consent page again for that permission.

Turning a service off stops OpenMail from using it. It does not revoke the permission at Google or Microsoft. To revoke access completely, remove OpenMail at myaccount.google.com/permissions or account.live.com/consent/Manage.

Permanent delete in GmailCopy Anchor Link

The gmail.modify permission cannot permanently delete mail. When you first permanently delete a message or empty Trash, OpenMail asks you to sign in again and grant full Gmail access (https://mail.google.com/). Normal sign-in never requests it.

Removing an accountCopy Anchor Link

Remove an account in Settings → Accounts. OpenMail deletes the account's local mail, drafts, contacts, reminders, queued sends, activity log entries and AI summaries, and its Keychain entry. It also deletes the copies of the account's attachments you opened in other apps and did not change. Copies you edited stay until you clear them in Settings → Local cache. Your mail on the server is not touched.

What happens at the provider:

• Gmail. OpenMail asks Google to revoke its access before it deletes the token, so OpenMail disappears from myaccount.google.com/permissions. If Google doesn't confirm within 5 seconds, the account is still removed; check that page and remove OpenMail there.
• Outlook. Microsoft offers no way for an app like OpenMail to revoke its own access. OpenMail deletes the token on your Mac. To end the permission at Microsoft, remove OpenMail at account.live.com/consent/Manage.
• IMAP. OpenMail deletes the saved password. Nothing changes at the server. If you used an app-specific password, you can revoke it in your provider's account settings.

If the Keychain is locked or refuses the deletion, OpenMail still removes the account and says so in Settings. Open Keychain Access, search for openmail, and delete the item for that account.