This post is intended for a friend in particular that didn’t knew that it is possible to collect AOL account via an application like Apple Mail or Thunderbird for free.

What is IMAP?
IMAP is an email protocol that stores email on the remote mail server. You can download these mails of course.

First, here is the how to configure an IMAP account:

1. Go to Mail Preferences
2. On the Accounts tab, click the [+] at the bottom left to start the account setup process
3. Change the Account Type to IMAP and fill in your details
4. Set the Incoming Mail Server and Outgoing Mail Server detail

How to configure an AOL account after the jump

The AOL IMAP and SMTP server addresses are:

imap.aol.com (port 143)
smtp.aol.com (port 587)

If you want Apple Mail to download your IMAP folders from AOL, you have to uncheck all the boxes in the Mail Behaviors settings of your AOL account on Apple Mail:

Posted in Apple Mail, Macintosh Tips & Help