Windows 8 and Windows RT include a built-in email app named
Mail (also referred to as
Windows 8 Mail or the
Windows 8 Mail app). The Windows 8 Mail app includes support for
IMAP and Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) accounts.
This article includes some key technical details of the Windows 8 Mail app. Use the information to help you support the use of Windows 8 Mail app in your organization. Read this article start to finish, or jump to the topic that interests you. Use the reference links throughout the article for more information.
NOTE Mail, Calendar, People, Calendar, and Messaging are apps that are built in to Windows 8 and Windows RT. Although this article discusses the Windows 8 Mail app, please note that much of the information in this article also applies to the Calendar, People, and Messaging apps. This is because, when connected to a server that supports Exchange ActiveSync, the Calendar, and People apps may also display data that was downloaded over the Exchange ActiveSync connection.
Protocol Support
The Windows 8 Mail app lets users connect to any service provider that supports either of the following two protocols:
- Exchange ActiveSync
- IMAP/SMTP
POP is not currently supported.
Exchange ActiveSync
Exchange ActiveSync can be used to sync data for email, contacts, and calendar. The Windows 8 Mail app supports
EAS versions 2.5, 12.0, 12.1, and 14.0. For detailed protocol documentation, see
Exchange Sever Protocol Documents on MSDN.
NOTE All Windows Communications apps (Mail, Calendar, and People) can use the data that is synchronized with Exchange ActiveSync. After a user connects to their account in the Windows 8 Mail app, their contacts and calendar data are available in the other Windows Communications Apps and vice versa.
IMAP/SMTP
The Windows 8 Mail app supports the following IMAP and SMTP standards:
IMAP/SMTP can be used to send and receive email only. Contacts data and calendar data is not synchronized when IMAP/SMTP is used. Microsoft Exchange does not support Public Folders via IMAP. For more details about IMAP support in Exchange, see
POP3 and IMAP4 (for Exchange 2010, see
Understanding POP3 and IMAP4).
Sync Configuration
The Windows 8 Mail app can be configured to synchronize data at different times as follows:
- Push email (default)
- Polling at fixed intervals
- Manually
If a push email connection can’t be established, it will automatically switch to poll at fixed intervals.
Push Email
Push email requires that accounts are either Exchange ActiveSync (which all support Push) or IMAP with the IDLE extension. Not all IMAP servers support IDLE, and it is supported only for the Inbox folder.
When a push connection can’t be established, Mail will change to polling on 30 minute intervals. Push email on Exchange ActiveSync requires that HTTP connections must be maintained for up to 60 minutes, and IMAP IDLE requires TCP connections to be maintained for up to 30 minutes.
Account Setup Features
Windows 8 and Windows RT users can add email accounts to the Windows 8 Mail app using the Settings charm. The Settings charm is always available on the right side of the Windows 8 and Windows RT screen.
NOTE This section provides an overview of Windows 8 Mail app account setup. For step-by-step procedures for setting up an account in the Windows 8 Mail app, see
What else do I need to know? at the end of this guide.
To make it as easy as possible to add accounts, account setup only prompts the user to enter the email address and password for the account they want to set up. From that data, Mail attempts to automatically configure the account as follows:
- The domain portion of the email address is matched against a database of well-known service providers. If it’s a match, its settings are automatically configured.
- The domain portion of the email address is used to execute Exchange ActiveSync Autodiscover processes. For detailed information, see Autodiscover HTTP Service Protocol Specification on MSDN.
- If still not configured, the user is prompted to provide detailed settings for their server.