Exchange - Configure your email account on Thunderbird for macOS
Objective
Exchange accounts can be configured on various compatible email clients. This allows you to use your email address from your preferred device. Thunderbird is a free and open-source email client.
This guide explains how to configure your Exchange email address on Thunderbird for macOS.
Requirements
- A Hosted Exchange or Private Exchange email account
- The Thunderbird software installed on your Windows device
- The credentials for the email account you want to configure
Information regarding the administration and configuration of OVHcloud services
This guide will show you how to use OVHcloud solutions with external tools, and the changes you need to make in specific contexts. You may need to adapt the instructions according to your situation.
If you experience any difficulties carrying out these operations, we recommend that you contact a specialist service provider or discuss the issue with our community. OVHcloud cannot provide you with technical support in this regard. You can find more information in the Go further section of this guide.
Instructions
Add the account
-
On the first launch of the application: a configuration wizard appears and prompts you to enter your email address.
-
If an account is already configured on the application:
- Click on the
☰menu in the top horizontal bar. - Click on
New Account. - Click on
Email Address.
- Click on the

Follow the configuration steps by clicking successively on the 5 tabs below:
In the window that appears, enter the following two pieces of information:
- Your full name (display name).
- The email address to configure.
Click on Continue to complete the settings.

When Thunderbird detects an OVHcloud domain name, an automatic configuration related to the MX Plan offer is proposed. Click on MODIFY THE CONFIGURATION.

Incoming server settings:
- Protocol: IMAP
- Hostname: ex.mail.ovh.ca
- Port: 993
- Connection security: SSL/TLS
- Authentication method: Normal password
- Username: Your full email address

Outgoing server settings:
- Protocol: SMTP
- Hostname: ex.mail.ovh.ca
- Port: 587
- Connection security: STARTTLS
- Authentication method: Normal password
- Username: Your full email address
1. Click on Test to verify the entered settings.
2. Click on Continue to validate these settings.

Enter the password associated with the email account, then click on Continue to finalize the configuration.

POP configuration
If you want a POP configuration for your email address, replace the settings in Step 3 with the following:
Incoming server settings:
- Protocol: POP3
- Hostname: ex.mail.ovh.ca
- Port: 995
- Connection security: SSL/TLS
- Authentication method: Normal password
- Username: Your full email address
Use the email address
Once your email address is configured, you can start using it! You can now send and receive emails.
OVHcloud also offers a web application to access your email account from a browser. To access the OVHcloud Webmail, click on this link. You can log in using your email account credentials.
Retrieve a backup of your email account
If you need to perform an operation that could result in the loss of your email account data, we recommend making a backup of the affected email account beforehand. To do this, refer to the "Export" section in the "Thunderbird" part of our guide "Manually Migrate Your Email Address".
Modify existing settings
If your email account is already configured and you need to access the account settings to modify them:
- Click on the
☰menu in the top horizontal bar. - Click on
Account Settings.

- To modify settings related to the reception of your emails, click on
Server Settingsin the left column under your email address.

- To modify settings related to the sending of your emails, click on
Outgoing Server (SMTP)at the bottom of the left column. - Click on the relevant email address in the list, then click on
Edit.

Go further
For more information on configuring an email address from the Thunderbird email client, consult Mozilla's help center.
Getting started with Hosted Exchange
Getting started with Private Exchange
For specialised services (SEO, development, etc.), contact OVHcloud partners.
If you would like assistance using and configuring your OVHcloud solutions, please refer to our support offers.
Join our community of users.