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    Cannot Set Up a Custom Email Address

    November 30th, 2022

    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 the web page of your email server or by contacting your network administrator.

    When you add a custom email account, please make sure you submit the needed settings.

    Mac OSiOSAndroid
    1. Click Spark at the top left of your screen.
    2. Select Add Account.
    3. Click Set Up Account 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 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. Click Next.
    5. Enter your password.
    6. Select Additional Settings.
    7. Fill out the fields, check advanced settings (ports, protection, etc.) and click Add.
    1. Tap the menu icon   at the top left.
    2. Open Settings > Mail Accounts > Add Account.
    3. Select Set Up Account Manually.
    4. Enter your email address and password.
    5. Tap Open Advanced Settings. This menu allows you to choose ports, email server, and the type of protection for both inbox and outbox servers.
    6. Fill out the fields and tap Log In at the bottom.

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

    1. Launch the app and tap Skip or Got It on the welcome screen.
    2. Enter your email address.
    3. Tick the checkbox to agree with the Spark Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy.
    4. Tap Next.
    5. Enter your password and tap Open Advanced Settings.
    6. Fill out the fields, check advanced settings (ports, protection, etc.) and choose Log In.
    1. Tap the menu icon   at the top left.
    2. Open Settings > Mail Accounts > Add Account.
    3. Select Other.
    4. Enter your email address and password.
    5. Tap Additional Settings. This menu allows you to choose ports, email server, and the type of protection for both inbox and outbox servers.
    6. Fill out the fields and tap Sign In at the bottom.

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

    1. Launch the app and tap Skip or Got It on the welcome screen.
    2. Enter your email address.
    3. Tick the checkbox to agree with the Spark Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy.
    4. Tap Next.
    5. Enter your password and tap Additional Settings.
    6. Fill out the fields, check advanced settings (ports, protection, etc.) and choose Sign In.

    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 OSiOSAndroid
    1. Launch Spark and click Help at the top left of your screen.
    2. Select Send Feedback.
    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 email, please provide us with more details regarding your issue and let us know the email address of the test account (not your personal account), its password, and advanced settings.
    1. Tap the menu icon   at the top left.
    2. Select Settings > Support > Diagnostics.
    3. Enable the 'Detailed' and 'Connection' Logging toggles.
    4. Reproduce the issue.
    5. Open Settings > Support > Diagnostics > Send Diagnostics Information.
    6. 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.
    7. In your email, please provide us with more details regarding your issue and let us know the email address of the test account (not your personal account), its password, and advanced settings.
    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 at first. Then, try to add your primary account. If it fails to connect, contact our support team as described above.

    1. Tap the menu icon   at the top left.
    2. Select Settings > Support > Diagnostics.
    3. Enable the 'Detailed' and 'Connection' Logging toggles.
    4. Reproduce the issue.
    5. Open Settings > Support > Diagnostics > Send Diagnostics Information.
    6. 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.
    7. In your email, please provide us with more details regarding your issue and let us know the email address of the test account (not your personal account), its password, and advanced settings.
    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 at first. Then, try to add 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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