Creating an email mailbox in cPanel.

A mailbox at you@yourdomain.com is one of the perks of having your own hosting. Here's how to set one up.

Create the mailbox

1. cPanel → Email Accounts

2. Create

3. Fill in:

   • Username — the local part (hello, support, you, etc.)
   • Domain — pick from the dropdown if you have multiple
   • Password — strong, save it in a password manager
   • Storage Space — start with 5 GB; raise later if it fills

4. Create

The mailbox is live in 5 seconds.

Test via webmail

cPanel → Email Accounts → click Check Email next to your address.

Roundcube opens. Send a test email to/from another address (your Gmail, etc.). If both work, the mailbox is functional.

Set up in a desktop client

In any client (Apple Mail, Outlook, Thunderbird), Add Account with these settings:

Incoming (IMAP):
  Server:   mail.yourdomain.com
  Port:     993
  Security: SSL/TLS
  Username: you@yourdomain.com
  Password: your password
 
Outgoing (SMTP):
  Server:   mail.yourdomain.com
  Port:     465
  Security: SSL/TLS
  Authentication: same as incoming

The cPanel Email Accounts → Connect Devices page also gives you these settings pre-filled, plus configuration profile downloads for iOS / macOS.

Pop3 vs IMAP

Use IMAP. Always.

• IMAP keeps mail on the server, syncs across devices
• POP3 downloads mail and deletes from server (or doesn't sync deletions across devices)

POP3 is a 1996 protocol. Don't use it.

Forwarders (one mailbox, multiple addresses)

Want info@yourdomain.com AND support@yourdomain.com AND hello@yourdomain.com all going to the same inbox? Don't create three mailboxes. Create one and add forwarders.

cPanel → Forwarders → Add Forwarder:

• Address: support@yourdomain.com
• Forward to: hello@yourdomain.com

Repeat for each alias. Free, no quota impact. Reply-as in your mail client (or Gmail's "Send mail as") lets you reply from the alias.

Common problems

"Can't send emails." Outgoing port 465 (or 587) blocked by your network. Try the other port. If you're on a corporate network, port 25 is usually blocked but 465 isn't.

"Login failed." Username must include the full domain: you@yourdomain.com, not just you.

"SSL certificate warning." Your client connected before SSL was issued. Wait 30 minutes after creating the account, then retry.

"Emails go to spam at the other side." Your domain doesn't have SPF/DKIM/DMARC set up. See Setup SPF DKIM DMARC.

Quotas

Default quota per mailbox is whatever you set at creation. To change:

cPanel → Email Accounts → next to the mailbox → Manage → Allocated Storage Space.

Set higher if user is hitting limits. Set lower if you want to enforce cleanup.

Deleting a mailbox

cPanel → Email Accounts → next to the mailbox → Delete Email Account.

This deletes all stored emails permanently. Backup what you want to keep first (in IMAP client → Save All as .mbox, or via webmail → Settings → Folders → Download).