How to Send Emails Using Outlook with SendGrid SMTP

Objective

Product

Twilio SendGrid - SMTP

 

User Account Permission/Role(s) Required 

A SendGrid API Key with Mail Send access permissions.

Procedure 

1. Launch the Outlook Desktop Client on your Mac.
2. In the top-left corner, click "Outlook", then select "Settings" from the dropdown menu.

3. On the next screen, click on "Accounts" to proceed.

4. Next, click on "Add Account" to continue.

 

5.   On the next screen, select IMAP/POP*

Pro Tip: Outlook on Mac may not show this option immediately. If that happens, try entering a placeholder email like abc@example.com, and a new pop-up window should appear.

If you don’t have a Microsoft 365 account, click "I don’t have a Microsoft 365 account", then choose IMAP and select "Sync Directly with IMAP" to proceed to the next step.

 

 

 

Disclaimer: Twilio SendGrid Support will not be able to provide any support regarding IMAP/POP servers, but feel free to reach out to your mailbox provider for further questions.

6.  On the next screen, enter the following details:

• Email Address: Enter your email address.
• IMAP Username: This is the same as your email address.
• IMAP Password: Use an app password, which you can generate here (for G Suite/Paid Gmail accounts).
• IMAP Incoming Server: Enter the incoming server details for your domain along with the default port number.
• SMTP Username: Always use "apikey".
• SMTP Password: Enter the complete API key, which you can generate in your SendGrid account. For detailed setup instructions, check out the SendGrid SMTP integration guide.
• Outgoing Server Host: Use smtp.sendgrid.net.
• Port: Set to 587, with None for SSL settings.
• Once you've entered all the details, click "Add Account" to complete the setup.

Once the setup is complete, you’re all set to send emails using Outlook Client via SendGrid SMTP. Congratulations! 😊

 

Additional information   

1. In this setup, we used a generic Gmail address (e.g., abc@gmail.com) that was verified under Single Sender in our SendGrid account. The API key associated with this account was used to send emails. However, this approach is not recommended because emails sent from generic domains (such as gmail.com, outlook.com, etc.) without DNS access are likely to be blocked or marked as spam. For better deliverability and compliance, it’s always best to use a custom domain where you can configure proper DNS records.

   You may encounter a block with the following message if you try to send emails from a non-authenticated domain:

    

   "550 5.7.26 Unauthenticated email from domain.com is not accepted due to the domain's DMARC policy. Please contact the administrator of domain.com if this was a legitimate email. For more information about the DMARC initiative, visit Google's DMARC support page."

    

    

   The reason for this is that, according to industry standard sender requirements (which you can read here), the sending domain must have valid SPF and DKIM records in place for email delivery. You can create and update these records through the domain authentication process.

2. We used a G Suite Gmail account in this setup, but you can also use a personal paid Gmail account. However, we recommend using an email address from a domain that is authenticated under Sender Authentication in your SendGrid account, and that has a valid inbox for verification. This will help avoid potential issues with email delivery.
3. This configuration may differ depending on the email client you're using or if you're using a legacy version of Outlook. For detailed instructions, refer to this article: Configure Outgoing Server for Outlook 2016.
4. For more information on SMTP configuration, please refer to this guide: Getting Started with SMTP.