---
title: "Setting Up Email in Thunderbird"
source: "https://docs.nexcess.com/hosting/email/mail-clients/setting-up-email-in-mozilla-thunderbird/"
description: "Set up your email in Mozilla Thunderbird with ease. Learn how to find your cPanel or Plesk settings and manually configure your IMAP/POP3 and SSL ports."
vertical: "Hosting"
date: "2024-03-04"
last_modified: "2026-08-04"
---

# Setting Up Email in Thunderbird

Desktop email clients, like Mozilla Thunderbird, retrieve your email from your server so you can read email without opening a web browser. You don’t have to use a desktop client, but many people find it convenient.

This article will walk you through setting up email on Mozilla Thunderbird. These instructions should be fairly consistent with all recent versions of Thunderbird.

Before you can set up your email client, you’ll need to find your email configuration settings:

- [Finding Your Email Client Configuration in cPanel](https://docs.nexcess.com/hosting/control-panel/whm/cpanel/email-management/finding-your-email-client-configuration-in-cpanel/)
- [Finding Your Email Client Configuration in Plesk](https://www.liquidweb.com/help-docs/finding-your-email-client-configuration-in-plesk/)

Once you’ve done that, you’re all ready to set up your account in Thunderbird.

## Configuring Thunderbird

1. Open the **File** menu, then click on **New** and **Existing Mail Account…**.
2. Enter **Your name** as you want it to appear in emails that you send.
3. Enter your **Email address** and **Password**.
4. Click **Continue**. Thunderbird now will attempt to discover the settings for your account automatically. You can then use manual configuration to check these settings.  
    ![automatic email settings](https://docs.nexcess.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/help.liquidweb.com_a4T1JQ.gif)
5. If Thunderbird hasn’t found settings for your account, the manual configuration will appear. Or, click the **Manual config** button.
6. This is where you’ll choose your settings based on the Manual Settings from cPanel. 
    - Choose **IMAP** or **POP3** for your incoming mail server
    - Then, type in your incoming **Server hostname** and the **Port**. Choosing the correct port will autopopulate **SSL**.
    - Now, fill in the same fields for the **Outgoing** server, making sure to use the settings from your cPanel Manual Settings.
    - Click **Re-test** to retry the email connection.
    
    ![manual email settings](https://docs.nexcess.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/help.liquidweb.com_kpEtlz.gif)
    
    | ### **Tip:** |
    |---|
    | You may receive a warning about your SSL certificate when you set up your mail client. This is because you probably have a self-signed SSL certificate instead of a certificate signed by a recognized certificate authority. Your email will still be encrypted even if you have a self-signed SSL certificate. To see if a SSL certificate signed by a certificate authority is right for you, read [What Is an SSL Certificate?](https://docs.nexcess.com/hosting/security/ssl/what-is-an-ssl-certificate/) Click Yes to accept the certificate and continue testing your connection. |
7. Once your connection has been confirmed, click **Done.** You’re ready to start using your email in Thunderbird.