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    Home Troubleshooting Cannot Set Up a Custom Email Address

    Cannot Set Up a Custom Email Address

    When you add an account to Spark, you may not see your email provider on the list. You can add a custom email address manually. To make sure it connects successfully, please follow the steps below.

    1. Check the settings of your email server

    Make sure your email server meets the following requirements:

    • It supports IMAP protocol — Spark works with IMAP accounts and doesn’t support POP3 protocol.
    • It supports a secure connection — Spark allows only SSL or STARTTLS protection.
    • It successfully performs SMTP authorization — Spark doesn’t set up an account when either the incoming or outgoing connection fails the authentication test.

    You can check these settings on your email server's web page or by contacting your network administrator.

    Mac Windows Android iOS

    Here are the instructions for Mac:

    1. Open Spark Settings.
    2. Select Accounts > Add Account.
    3. Enter your email address and password.
    4. Select Additional Settings. This menu allows you to choose ports, email server, and the type of protection for both the inbox and outbox servers.
    5. Fill out the fields and click Add.

    If your custom account is the first one you add to Spark:

    1. Launch the app and click Start Using Spark.
    2. Enter your email address.
    3. Tick the checkbox to agree with Spark Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy.
    4. Click Next.
    5. Enter your password.
    6. Select Additional Settings.
    7. Fill out the fields, check advanced settings (ports, protection, etc.), and click Add.

    Here are the instructions for Windows:

    1. Open Spark Settings.
    2. Select Accounts > Add Account.
    3. Enter your email address and password.
    4. Select Additional Settings. This menu allows you to choose ports, email server, and the type of protection for both the inbox and outbox servers.
    5. Fill out the fields and click Add.

    If your custom account is the first one you add to Spark:

    1. Launch the app and click Start Using Spark.
    2. Enter your email address.
    3. Tick the checkbox to agree with Spark Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy.
    4. Click Next.
    5. Enter your password.
    6. Select Additional Settings.
    7. Fill out the fields, check advanced settings (ports, protection, etc.), and click Add.

    Here are the instructions for Android:

    1. Tap the menu icon   at the top left.
    2. Tap Settings  .
    3. Choose Email Accounts > Add Account > Private email account > Set up manually.
    4. Enter your email address and password.
    5. Select Additional Settings. This menu allows you to choose ports, email server, and the type of protection for both the inbox and outbox servers.
    6. Fill out the fields and click Add.

    If your custom account is the first one you add to Spark:

    1. Launch the app and click Start Using Spark.
    2. Enter your email address.
    3. Tick the checkbox to agree with Spark Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy.
    4. Tap Next.
    5. Enter your password.
    6. Select Additional Settings.
    7. Fill out the fields, check additional settings (ports, protection, etc.), and tap Add.

    Here are the instructions for iOS:

    1. Tap the menu icon   at the top left.
    2. Open Settings.
    3. Tap Email Accounts > Add Account > Private Email Account > Set up manually.
    4. Enter your email address and password.
    5. Select Advanced Settings. This menu allows you to choose ports, email server, and the type of protection for both the inbox and outbox servers.
    6. Fill out the fields and click Add.

    If your custom account is the first one you add to Spark:

    1. Launch the app and click Start Using Spark.
    2. Enter your email address.
    3. Tick the checkbox to agree with Spark Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy.
    4. Tap Next.
    5. Enter your password.
    6. Select Advanced Settings.
    7. Fill out the fields, check advanced settings (ports, protection, etc.), and tap Add.

    2. Check the network connection

    Some organizations enable a firewall to prevent access to certain websites from their networks. Ask the administrator if access to Spark (as the third-party email application) or Google (Spark uses its servers) is allowed.

    Alternatively, you can try to connect your account using a different network.

    If you use a VPN, we can’t guarantee Spark will work properly. The quality of the performance via VPN solely relies on the servers of the VPN network. For this reason, we recommend you turn the VPN off.

    3. Contact our support team

    If your account meets all the requirements, but it still fails to connect to Spark, we are happy to help you personally. Our developers need a test account on your server to help you as soon as possible.

    Please set up a test email address (e.g., spark_test@XXX) on your email server or ask your IT administrator to do it. Our developers use this email address to investigate and fix your issue.

    The test account mustn’t contain any personal information. We assure you this account will be used solely for testing purposes.

    Follow the steps below to provide our support team with a test account. 

    Mac Windows Android iOS

    Here are the instructions for Mac:

    1. Open Spark Settings.
    2. Select Support and click Send next to Diagnostics information.
    3. A new email window will appear. In the Subject: line, write "Cannot add a custom IMAP account". We need this email subject to provide you with a quick, personal reply.
    4. In your message, write the email address you’re trying to log in to and attach a screenshot with the error message appearing when you try to add an account.
    5. Send an email, and our support team will get in touch to solve your problem.

    If the email account you cannot connect to is your first account you try to add, please use this guide:

    1. Open Finder.
    2. Hold the Option key and press the Go menu at the top of the screen.
    3. Select Library in the list of folders.
    4. Find and open Logs folder.
    5. There should be Spark Desktop folder that contains all the application logs. Please compress them into one archive.
    6. Send it to us in any convenient way. If it's going to be a separate email, please change the subject line to "Cannot add a custom IMAP account".

    Here are the instructions for Windows:

    1. Open Spark Settings.
    2. Select Support and click Send next to Diagnostics information.
    3. A new email window will appear. In the Subject: line, write "Cannot add a custom IMAP account". We need this email subject to provide you with a quick, personal reply.
    4. In your message, write the email address you’re trying to log in to and attach a screenshot with the error message appearing when you try to add an account.
    5. Send an email, and our support team will get in touch to solve your problem.

    6. If the email account you cannot connect to is your first account you try to add, please use this guide:

      Open C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Spark Desktop (Beta)\logs > Archive the “logs” folder (using Winrar, for instance) > Send it to us in any convenient way > Change the subject line to "Cannot add a custom IMAP account".

    Here are the instructions for Android:

    1. Tap the menu icon   at the top left.
    2. Open Settings > Support > Diagnostics > Send Diagnostics Information.
    3. A new email window will appear. In the Subject: line, write "Cannot add a custom IMAP account". We need this email subject to provide you with a quick, personal reply.
    4. In your message, write the email address you’re trying to log in to and attach a screenshot with the error message appearing when you try to add an account.
    5. Send the email, and our support team will get in touch to solve your problem.
    Note: There is no possibility to access Spark and contact us if the email account you can’t connect to Spark is the first account you try to add.

    In this case, please add any other email account to Spark first. Then try adding your primary account. If it fails to connect, contact our support team as described above.

    Here are the instructions for iOS:

    1. Tap the menu icon   at the top left.
    2. Open Settings > Support > Diagnostics > Send Diagnostics Information.
    3. A new email window will appear. In the Subject: line, write "Cannot add a custom IMAP account". We need this email subject to provide you with a quick, personal reply.
    4. In your message, write the email address you’re trying to log in to and attach a screenshot with the error message appearing when you try to add an account.
    5. Send the email, and our support team will get in touch to solve your problem.
    Note: There is no possibility to access Spark and contact us if the email account you can’t connect to Spark is the first account you try to add.

    In this case, please add any other email account to Spark first. Then try adding your primary account. If it fails to connect, contact our support team as described above.

    Spark automatically attaches a .zip file with the application logs to your email. We need the logs for our investigation. This file may contain some sensitive personal data, and we assure you we’ll treat it as confidential information.

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