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Cannot add IMAP account on Android Outlook - because the account was gmail, but is now hosted elsewhere

capsicum 101 Reputation points
2026-06-03T08:52:31.8066667+00:00

I have an email account that was originally a gmail account.

For various reasons, it is now hosted on my own email server on my own domain.

When trying to add this account to Outlook, the app is so clever that it assumes it is google-hosted, and tries to log in using the google account.
I can see a button that says something like "NOT GOOGLE?" for about 120ms. No way I am fast enough to hit that.
The app is so 'clever' that it 'knows' what to do.

How can I just manually set up an IMAP account? This is infuriating..

Outlook | Outlook for mobile | Outlook for Android | For business
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  1. Gabriel-N 18,380 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-06-03T10:28:33.9866667+00:00

    Hello @capsicum

    I would like to first clarify that this is a user-to-user support forum, and we are not Microsoft support. Moderators here do not have backend access and cannot directly intervene in Microsoft products or perform escalations. We can only provide technical guidance and best-practice recommendations based on reported issues.

    Have you tried the following workaround?

    1. Enter a random email address (for example: ******@xyz.com)
    2. Tap Continue
    3. Let Outlook fail auto-detection, which should bring up the manual setup screen
    4. Choose IMAP
    5. Then replace it with your real email and server settings

    Many users have reported that this method works in similar situations. Please give it a try and let me know how it goes

    Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

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