Mozilla Thunderbird

This document will guide you through configuring Mozilla Thunderbird to access your Brandeis email account.

Getting and Installing Thunderbird

Thunderbird is a free email program developed by the Mozilla Project that runs on Windows, Macintosh and Linux computers. You can download it from the Mozilla website. If you're not sure how to install it, look at the detailed instructions at the beginning of this article. You can stop reading that article when you get to the Configuration section, and read on below for Brandeis-specific directions.

Configuring Thunderbird

Step 1

• The screen captures in this document are from a Windows computer, but the steps are all the same on Mac OS and Linux.
• Before you begin, it is important that you have the latest version of Thunderbird installed on your computer. Visit the Thunderbird site to check which is the most recent version.

Step 2

• The first time you run Thunderbird, it will ask you to set up a new account.
• If you do not see a window titled Account Wizard, open the File menu, click New, then click Account from the list that appears.
• Click Brandeis UNet account. If that's not an option, click Email account.
• Click the Next button.

Step 3

• Next to Your Name, enter your name as you would like it to appear on messages you send.
• Next to Email Address, enter your UNet username followed by @brandeis.edu. If you chose Brandeis UNet Account in the previous step, the @brandeis.edu part is already filled in for you and you do not need to enter it again.
• Click the Next button.

Step 4

• If you chose Brandeis UNet Account in step 3, you will not see this screen. Instead, click Finish and then skip to step 10.
• Under Select the type of incoming server you are using, click IMAP.
• Next to Incoming Server, enter imap.brandeis.edu.
• Next to Outgoing Server, enter mail.brandeis.edu.
• If instead of a field for Outgoing Server, you see Your SMTP server settings will be used, don't worry. You will be able to correct this in step 9.
• Click the Next button.

Step 5

• Your UNet username should already be filled in next to both Incoming User Name and Outgoing User Name. If not, enter it yourself. Be sure not to include @brandeis.edu at the end.
• Click the Next button.

Step 6

• Your email address as you entered it in step 3 should already filled in next to Account Name. If not, enter it yourself.
• Click the Next button.

Step 7

• Click the Finish button.
• You are not really finished yet! Please read on.
• If you are prompted for your password, click Cancel instead.

Step 8

• Open the Tools menu and click Account Settings.
• Find your email address as you entered it in step 3 on the left side of the window. Click Server Settings right below it.
• Check the box next to Use secure connection (SSL)..

Step 9

• Click Outgoing Server.
• Click the EDIT button on the right and the following window will open.

• Important: If you were not prompted to enter mail.brandeis.edu in step 4, enter it now next to Server Name.
• Next to Port, enter 465.
• Under Use secure connection, click SSL.
• Click the OK button.

Step 10

• Click the Get Mail button at the top left corner of the window.
• Enter your UNet password in the window that appears.
• Click the OK button.

Step 11

• A list of messages appears on the top right side of the window.
• Click the name of a message.
• The message text appears on the bottom right side of the window.

Brandeis Directory and Thunderbird

If you are using a computer from on campus, you can configure Thunderbird to use the Brandeis Directory. The directory is currently not supported for off campus users.

Using Thunderbird

Detailed instructions on how to use Thunderbird are beyond the scope of this document. Please refer to this article for more information.

This page was last modified on: Mar 03, 2008