Setting up a custom mailbox in Freshservice

Modified on: Thu, 19 Mar, 2026 at 3:47 PM

Your service desk sends and receives a ton of emails every day. And Freshservice’s email servers have you covered for all your incoming and outgoing mail. That said, should you want to use your own mail servers, you can do that too.

To set up a custom mailbox in Freshservice:

1. Log in to your Freshservice account as an administrator and go to Admin > Channels > Email > Email Settings and Mailboxes. If your account has more than one workspace, go to Admin > {Workspace name} > Channels > Email > Email Settings and Mailboxes.

2. This page will display your current support email (the default one looks like support@yourcompany.freshservice.com). If you’d like to change this, click the email address to edit it. Otherwise, click Add mailbox. If your account has more than one workspace, refer to the solution article on managing multiple workspaces to understand how email settings and mailboxes would work.

3. Enter your mailbox name, email address, and select the default agent group for tickets coming in through this email. If you’re a managed service provider (MSP), you may also see a drop-down for company too.

4. If you select the Default Mail server, you can use the Freshworks email service. To know more about how forwarding addresses work, see Setting up your support email address.

5. If you select Your mail server, you can choose between three options:

Google
Microsoft
Other (this lets you configure the IMAP and SMTP addresses for your server)

Setting up a Microsoft mail server

Click Microsoft Outlook if you want to use the Microsoft email service.
Select one of the following authentication method:
Microsoft Graph API authentication
General OAuth authentication
Select the Microsoft account you want to use.
Click Accept to provide the permissions required by Freshservice to set up the Helpdesk email.
You can now view the configuration for your Incoming and Outgoing Mail servers. Once done, click Save.

An activation email is sent to your helpdesk email to verify your account. Once verified, your custom mailbox is set up using Microsoft.

Setting up Google Mail server:

Click Sign in with Google to use Google Mail service.
Select the Google account you want to use.
Allow the permissions required by Freshservice to set up the Helpdesk email.
You can now view the configuration for your Incoming and Outgoing Mail servers. Once done, click Save.
Once you save your email settings, an activation email is sent to your helpdesk email to verify your account.
Once verified, your custom mailbox is set up using Google.

Setting up other mail servers:

Setting up the Incoming Mail Server:

Enter the IMAP Server Name and Port of your Email server.
If your email service uses SSL/TLS authentication, enable the checkbox
You can choose either Plain or Login authentication.
Enter the Email address and Password of your Email Server.
Once done, click Save.

Setting up the Outgoing Mail Server:

Enter the SMTP Server Name and Port of your Email server.
If your email service uses SSL/TLS authentication, enable the checkbox
You can choose either Plain or Login authentication.
Enter the Email address and Password of your Email Server.
Once done, click Save.

FAQ

1. How to resolve SMTP/IMAP errors or authentication issues for a Microsoft mailbox?

If you encounter errors while configuring your Microsoft mailbox, ensure that the appropriate settings are enabled in the Microsoft 365 admin center and that you are not being automatically redirected by Single Sign-On (SSO).

Step 1: Verify mailbox application settings

Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center using administrator credentials.
Go to Users > Active users, and then select the email address for which the custom mailbox is configured.
In the user details pane, select Mail > Manage email apps.
Verify that IMAP, Authenticated SMTP, and all other required protocols are enabled.
Select Save changes.

Step 2: Resolve authentication issues caused by SSO

If Single Sign-On (SSO) redirection prevents you from selecting the correct account during the Microsoft authentication process, follow these steps:

Sign in to the Neo Admin Center as an administrator.
Navigate to Login / Authentication Settings.
Temporarily enable Freshworks Login.
Temporarily disable SSO Login.
Select Save to update the configuration.
Open a new browser or private/incognito window.
Sign in to Freshservice using the mailbox account credentials.
Select Your mail server as the service desk email type.
Select Sign in with Microsoft as the email system.
Complete the Microsoft authorization using the mailbox account.
Verify that the mailbox is successfully connected and set as the service desk email.
Return to the Neo Admin Center.
Re-enable SSO Login.
Disable Freshworks Login if it is no longer required.