The Simple Mail Transport Protocol, or SMTP, is a standard for how computers talk to each other to send email. If you're sending email using Microsoft Outlook, your computer may connect to your internet service provider or your employer's server using SMTP. You can configure which server Outlook uses and how it connects through the Outlook server settings menu.
Set an SMTP Server in Outlook
You can edit your outgoing mail server settings in Outlook. Generally you'll only want to tweak these settings if you have a specific reason to do so, like if your employer or internet provider has told you it's changed its server addresses. Have whatever documentation you've received from your email provider handy to edit your settings, since you'll need to know information about the servers you connect to in order to configure your computer appropriately.
To access your SMTP settings in Outlook, go to the "File" tab and click "Info." From there, click on "Account Settings" and click "Account Settings" again in the drop-down menu that appears.
Locate your email account in the list of addresses that pops up, or click "New" to add a new one. Your Outlook mail server settings will usually be different for every email account, since they all connect to different providers' servers and have different usernames and passwords.
On the form that appears, look for the box labeled "Outgoing mail server (SMTP)." That should have your outgoing mail server settings as provided by your employer or email provider. If you're not sure if this information is correct or what to put in this box, contact whoever assigned you your email address or read their online documentation. If you need to change your outgoing mail server setting for any reason, simply edit the server name in this box.
Encryption and Other Special Settings
If you need to configure encryption or login settings for your SMTP server, click the "More Settings" button. From there, click the "Outgoing Server" tab. This refers to the SMTP server you use to send mail. If you need to log in to your server, a common setting for security's sake, check the box that says "My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication." Most of the time, this will be the same settings as your normal username and password to retrieve email, but if it's different, click the "Log on using" button and enter the appropriate username and password.
If you've been told by your email provider to use "Secure Password Authentication," a standard for logging in to email servers, check that box.
If you need to change or verify the port settings associated with your email server, click "Advanced." Next to "Outgoing Server (SMTP)" enter the port number provided by your email provider.
Click "OK" when you're done with special settings.
If you want to test your settings, click the "Test Account Settings" button and look for Outlook's confirmation that the settings are correct. Then click "Next" to finish the configuration process. If the test fails, check to make sure you didn't make any errors in typing in your contact information and then your computer is connected to the internet. If necessary, contact your email provider for help.
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