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About this page

This page should help you to setup the e-mail client Thunderbird as a client for the main university e-mail servers.

Before you Proceed

This what you need to know to configure e-mail client software:

• Your user name and password
• Your incoming server settings
• Your outgoing server settings

If you do not have the information listed above then go to this page.

About Thunderbird and this document

Mozilla Thunderbird is a free, open source, cross-platform e-mail, RSS and newsgroup client developed by the Mozilla Foundation. Thunderbird aims to be a simple e-mail, newsgroup and RSS news feed client. The vanilla version is not a personal information manager (PIM). Although, with the Mozilla Lightning extension, a big part of a PIM's functionality can be added. Additional features, if needed, are often available via other extensions. Thunderbird can manage multiple e-mail and newsgroup accounts and supports multiple identities within accounts. Features like quick search, saved search folders (virtual folders), advanced message filtering, message grouping, and labels can help manage and find messages. On Linux-based systems, system mail (movemail) accounts are supported. Thunderbird runs on a wide variety of platforms. Releases available on the primary distribution site support Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.

This document was created on Thunderbird version 2.0.0.6 running on Mac OS X 10.4. But, because this application is supported on multiple platforms the instructions here should be equally valid for Windows and Linux installations of Thunderbird, with some possible small differences.

Getting started

If you have not already done so install and launch Thunderbird. You can use the account setup wizard which comes up when you launch Thunderbird. This guide is designed with the assumption that you do not do this:

Configuring Thunderbird for University Mail 

1. You manage accounts in Thunderbird by selecting the Account Settings item in the Tools menu. When you open this an unnamed box for entering account settings opens. We will call this the "Unnamed Box." In this "Unnamed Box" click on the Add Account button.
2. When prompted to select the type of account you want, click the radio button for "Email account," then select "Continue."
3. Your identity is the basic information people who receive e-mail from you will see. The "Identity" box is where you enter your name as you wish people to see it, and the e-mail address you have on the e-mail system. For the sake of this guide we are going to create an account for the mythical person, Jane Doe, whom is using the University E-mail (Lotus Notes) system. Your information will differ. This mythical person would enter her e-mail address "jane.doe@sjsu.edu" (without the quotation marks,) then select "Continue."
4. The next box should be the "Server Information" box. As noted in the "Before You Proceed" section of this document you must have the server information before following this process. Select IMAP as a protocol. Then enter the incoming and outgoing server information here, then select "Continue."
5. The "Identity" box should be next. Enter the user name you have previously recorded here. The outgoing user name also can be entered here, (it may be different if you are using an ISP provided account.) For the SJSU wired network see the "But Wait" section below, then select "Continue."
6. Account name is a name to remind you what account this is if you have more than one account configured on your system. It can be anything, including "SJSU e-mail" (without the quotation marks,) then select "Continue."
7. You should now see a "Congratulations" box. Check the information you entered. If it is wrong you can go back and change it. If it is right, click "Done." Beware, despite the fact you just clicked a button named "done", you are probably not done!

But wait!

There is more...

By default Thunderbird often configures SMTP settings to try to authenticate when sending e-mail. Since our e-mail system does NOT require authentication when sending e-mail this may actually cause the sending of e-mail to fail. You may have to turn this feature off in Thunderbird. In other words:

You are probably not done!

When do I need to change my SMTP server settings?

You probably will have to change these settings most of the time when you setup Thunderbird or move to a new location. The SJSU wired network does not use authentication. Having Thunderbird configured to authenticate can cause e-mail sending to fail. If you are using SJSU e-mail from home, you may also have to change these settings to match the ones given to you by your ISP.

Configuring Thunderbird to NOT Authenticate on Mail Sending

1. Go under the "Tools" Menu and select "Account Settings..."
2. When the "Unnamed Box" again box opens enter your new e-mail account should be able to be seen now in this box. Click the account, and the "Outgoing Server" item and click on "Edit."
3. This brings up the "Settings" box. Be sure the "user name and password" check box is not selected and give this SMTP setting a Description that lets you know where it should be used. Then click on OK. This brings back the "Unnamed Box."
4. You can click on "OK"  and select "Get new messages" and everything should work.

Need more information?

If you did not find what you are looking for on this site the SJSU Help Desk can help you.

Errors and Broken Links?

We try to keep this and every page in our Web site up to date. If you find an error or a broken link on this page we apologize. Please let us know so we can fix it. It would be most helpful if you could copy the URL of the page with the mistake or broken link, provide information about where the mistake or broken link is in the page and send that in an e-mail to the SJSU Help Desk at helpdesk@sjsu.edu or call us at (408) 924-2377.