# Email accounts and signatures
> Connect a Microsoft, Google, Yahoo or other mailbox, choose how it syncs, and set up your email signatures.
Source: https://help.clockworkcrm.com/email/accounts
Last updated: 2026-09-28
Each user connects their own mailboxes. Nobody else can see, send from or change them.
The top bar of this app has **Email Client**, **My Accounts**, **Create Account**, **Signatures** and
**Add Signature**.
## Your mailboxes
**Emails → Email Accounts** opens **My Accounts**, the mailboxes you have connected. When you have
none, it opens **Add Account** instead.
Each mailbox shows its name, its email address and **Received**, the number of messages
Clockwork CRM holds for it. It also shows **Currently fetching mail** while mail is downloading, and
**Re-authentication required** when you need to sign in to it again.
Click a mailbox to open its settings. Drag a mailbox to change the order your mailboxes are listed
in.
## Connecting a mailbox
**Create Account** offers four kinds of mailbox.
| Option | How it connects |
|---|---|
| **Add Outlook Account** | Sign in with Microsoft. Mail, folders and flags stay in step both ways |
| **Add Googlemail Account** | Sign in with Google. Labels come across as folders. This is in beta |
| **Add Yahoo Account** | Uses a Yahoo app password |
| **Add Other Account** | Any other provider, over POP3 for incoming mail and SMTP for outgoing mail. This includes Gmail over POP |
When a mailbox is connected, its settings open. **Fetch Emails** is off for a new mailbox: turn it
on and click **Save** to start receiving mail.
### Microsoft
1. Click **Add Outlook Account**.
2. Sign in with your Microsoft account and allow the permissions Clockwork CRM asks for.
3. Turn on **Fetch Emails** and click **Save**.
If Clockwork CRM reports a problem with SMTP authentication, SMTP authentication must be turned on
for the mailbox in Exchange Online. The message links to Microsoft's instructions.
### Google
1. Contact Clockwork CRM support to have your mailbox enabled. This is needed while the connection
is in beta.
2. Click **Add Googlemail Account** and sign in with Google.
3. When Google asks which permissions to allow, tick the Gmail permission. Without it the mailbox
cannot connect.
4. Turn on **Fetch Emails** and click **Save**.
### Yahoo
1. Generate an app password in your Yahoo account security settings.
2. Click **Add Yahoo Account**.
3. Fill in the form and click **Save**.
| Field | What it is |
|---|---|
| **Account Name** | The name the mailbox is shown by in Clockwork CRM |
| **Email** | Your Yahoo email address |
| **App Password** | The app password from Yahoo, not your normal password |
### Other providers
**Add Other Account** opens **Create Custom POP3 Account**. You need the server details from your
email provider. Every field is required.
| Section | Field | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| **General Settings** | **Account Name** | The name the mailbox is shown by in Clockwork CRM |
| | **Email** | The mailbox's email address |
| **Incoming POP3 Settings** | **Incoming POP Server Address** and **Incoming POP Port** | Where mail is fetched from |
| | **Username** and **Password** | Your sign-in for the incoming server |
| **Outgoing SMTP Settings** | **Outgoing SMTP Server Address** and **Outgoing SMTP Port** | Where mail is sent through |
| | **Username** and **Password** | Your sign-in for the outgoing server |
When you click **Save**, Clockwork CRM tests the incoming and the outgoing connection. If either
fails, it tells you which, and the mailbox is not saved. Clockwork CRM connects to both servers
using TLS.
## Mailbox settings
Open a mailbox from **My Accounts** to change its settings. Click **Save** to keep your changes.
### General settings
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| **Account Name** | The name the mailbox is shown by in Clockwork CRM |
| **From Name** | The sender name on email you send from this mailbox. Leave it blank to use the name on your profile |
| **Fetch Emails** | Downloads new mail. Off for a new mailbox |
| **Automatically Link Incoming Emails to Contacts** | Links each new message to the people and companies whose email addresses are on it |
| **Mark All Incoming Emails as Private** | Marks new mail as private, and starts each email you write from this mailbox as private |
A private email that is linked to a contact is shown on that contact's record only to you.
### POP behaviour
For POP3 mailboxes, including Yahoo and other providers, **Email Retention** sets what happens to
mail on the server once Clockwork CRM has downloaded it:
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| **Leave messages indefinitely** | Leaves every message on the server |
| **Leave messages for...** | Leaves messages on the server for the number of days in **Leave on server for days** |
| **Delete messages from the server on download** | Removes each message from the server once it is downloaded |
### IMAP behaviour
For IMAP mailboxes, **Sync Behaviour** sets how Clockwork CRM keeps in step with the server:
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| **Full 2-way sync** | Downloads your mail, and keeps reads, flags, deletions and folders in step with the server and your other email programs |
| **No Synchronisation** | Downloads your mail, but changes are not synced to or from Clockwork CRM |
With **Full 2-way sync**, **Sync for a maximum of: (days)** sets how many days back changes are
synced, from 1 to 90. It is 30 unless you change it.
Full 2-way sync is the slower of the two.
### Microsoft and Google mailboxes
A mailbox connected through **Add Outlook Account** or **Add Googlemail Account** has no sync
settings. Your whole mailbox history is downloaded on the first sync. After that, email, folders or
labels, reads, flags or stars, and deletions are synced both ways.
An older Microsoft mailbox that syncs over IMAP shows **Upgrade to direct Microsoft 365 sync**.
**Upgrade** asks you to sign in to Microsoft once. The mailbox then connects directly to Microsoft
365. Your existing emails and folders stay in place and are not downloaded again. The first full sync
can take a few minutes.
### Signature and fonts
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| **Email Signature** | The signature added to emails you write, reply to or forward from this mailbox. **None** adds no signature |
| **Default Font** | The font your emails start in. Choose one from the list or type a font name. Separate several fonts with commas, e.g. **My Custom Font, Arial, Times New Roman**, so the recipient's device uses the next one when it does not have the first |
| **Default Font Size** | The size your emails start in, from 8px to 98px |
| **Import Font** | An HTML import statement for a font that is not installed on most devices. Include the `` tags |
An example **Import Font** statement:
```html
```
Some email programs, such as the web version of Gmail, do not show custom fonts.
## Re-authenticating a mailbox
When a mailbox shows **Re-authentication required**, no mail is fetched for it until you sign in
again.
1. Open the mailbox from **My Accounts**.
2. Click **Re-authenticate Account**.
3. Sign in to Microsoft or Google, or enter your details again for Yahoo and other providers.
Clockwork CRM shows **Successfully re-authenticated your account!** when it has worked.
## Deleting a mailbox
1. Open the mailbox from **My Accounts**.
2. Click **Delete Account** and confirm.
The mailbox is removed from Clockwork CRM, with all the email downloaded from it, including email
linked to contacts and companies.
## Signatures
**Emails → Email Signatures** opens **My Signatures**, with the name of each signature and the date
it was created. Signatures belong to you. Click one to edit it.
To add a signature:
1. Click **Add Signature**.
2. Enter a **Signature Name**.
3. Write the **Signature Content**.
4. Click **Save**.
**Signature Content** has two modes:
| Mode | What it does |
|---|---|
| **Visual** | A formatted text editor |
| **HTML** | Write or paste the signature's HTML. **Preview** shows how it looks |
Switching from **HTML** to **Visual** asks you to confirm, because the visual editor reformats the
HTML. Switching from **Visual** to **HTML** keeps the content as it is.
A signature needs a name and content before it can be saved.
To use a signature, choose it as the **Email Signature** in a mailbox's settings.
**Delete Signature** deletes a signature after you confirm. A signature that a mailbox is using
cannot be deleted: choose a different signature for that mailbox first.
## Related
- [The email client](https://help.clockworkcrm.com/email/email-client)
- [Email rulesets](https://help.clockworkcrm.com/email/rulesets)