How to use Hushmail with your favorite email app

We’re all creatures of habit, right? Just because you now have an encrypted Hushmail account doesn’t mean you’re ready to totally change how you send and receive email. If you’ve gotten used to using Apple Mail, Outlook, or any of the other popular email apps that you can use on your computer or phone, you don’t have to stop using it just because you now use Hushmail. With just a little bit of setup, you can send and receive emails with encryption while holding on to the familiarity of your email application. This post will explain how you can encrypt your emails in an email app and what you need to do to make this happen.

How encryption works when using an email app 

You can use your favorite email app and get the benefits of Hushmail encryption at the same time. However, encryption works a little differently in an app than it does in webmail. It’s important to note when this encryption occurs by default and what you can do to tailor these settings to make sure you’re getting the encryption you need. Email sent from an email app is encrypted in the following scenarios:

• When you’re sending to another Hushmail account
• When you’re sending to a recipient who has already set up a password to use the secure message center. When you send an encrypted email for the first time (from webmail) to someone who doesn’t have a Hushmail account, they’ll be asked to set up a passphrase so they can read your email in our private message center. Once they do this, the emails you send them in the future from your email app will automatically be encrypted.
• You add a keyword to an email’s subject line to trigger encryption. This allows you to manually enable encryption when you need it. You can set this up by sending an encrypted email to support@hushmail.com with your request. 
• You’ve had Customer Care configure your account to always send encrypted email. If you know that you want all of your emails to be encrypted all of the time, then send an encrypted email to support@hushmail.com to set this up.

How to set up Hushmail with your favorite email app

You’ll have to configure some settings to make Hushmail work with Apple Mail (sometimes referred to as Mac Mail), Outlook, or any other email app. Don’t worry; we’ll walk you through it. POP, IMAP, and SMTP might sound like a foreign language, but all you need to know is that these are email protocols that determine how you receive incoming email (POP and IMAP) and how you send outgoing email (SMTP). 

Incoming mail

IMAP is the protocol we recommend for receiving your email. This is because it allows your email activities to sync across your devices and email apps. Here are the settings for IMAP:

• Server hostname: imap.hushmail.com
• Port number: 993
• SSL: Enabled

The most common issue that people have when configuring IMAP is that the SSL option has not been selected. Check that you have enabled the SSL option in your email app and that you have entered port number 993.

POP is another option to receive email, but we don’t recommend it. POP only allows you to download your email to one device before erasing it from the email server. That means your email doesn’t sync, and once downloaded, it’s unavailable on any other device or email app. If you still want to go with POP, you can find the settings in our help article POP, IMAP and SMTP server hostnames and ports.

Outgoing mail

SMTP is the standard protocol for your outgoing mail. Here are the settings for SMTP:

• Server hostname: smtp.hushmail.com
• Port: 465
• SSL: Enabled

If you find you’re having trouble sending email, try again with these alternate settings:

• Server hostname: smtp.hushmail.com
• Port: 587
• SSL: Enabled

Resources in case you get stuck

If you’re someone who learns best by seeing the steps in action, the following help articles provide screenshots of how to set up Hushmail on Apple Mail and Outlook. You’ll see exactly where to enter the settings.

• Apple Mail (IMAP)
• Outlook 2010 and 2013 (IMAP)

Username and password

As you set up Hushmail on your email application, you’ll likely be prompted to enter in a username and password. Your username is your full Hushmail email address, and the password is your Hushmail passphrase. Unless you have two-step verification set up. Read on for more about this important security measure.

An important note about two-step verification

We advise that everyone set up two-step verification on their account to stop cybercriminals from breaking into your account with a stolen password. Two-step verification thwarts hacking attempts by requiring a second form of verification other than your passphrase. You can read more about how two-step verification works and why it’s so important in our blog post Why you should turn two-step verification on today. 

The bottom line is, we advise you to turn it on. And when you turn it on, there’s a small adjustment you’ll need to make when signing in to your email app involving a security code. Our help article Sign in to desktop and mobile email applications with two-step verification security code will explain where to find this code and how to use it.  

And there you have it. Now you can keep using your favorite email app while also benefiting from Hushmail encryption. Don’t forget, if you run into any trouble, you can always contact Customer Care for assistance. 

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