How to Add Amazon WorkMail to Outlook 2024? Complete Guide
Published: July 9th, 2026 • 10 Min Read
Adding Amazon WorkMail to Outlook does not require much time. To perform the operation, one must start Outlook, select Add Account, and enter the email address that is associated with WorkMail: at that moment, Outlook will take care of all configurations including your email, contacts, and calendar through AutoDiscover. In case the given technique does not work, you can use the manual option with the help of IMAP and the settings provided below. This article presents both methods described in detail for Windows, Mac, and mobile devices, providing information on opportunities to save data during the discontinuation of the application in the date of 2027.
Table of Contents
- Why Connect Amazon WorkMail to Outlook?
- What You’ll Need Before You Start
- Amazon WorkMail Server Settings
- AutoDiscover vs. Manual IMAP: Which Should You Use?
- How to Add WorkMail to Outlook on Windows
- How to Add WorkMail to Outlook on Mac
- How to Add WorkMail to Outlook on the Web
- How to Add WorkMail to Outlook Mobile (iOS & Android)
- Troubleshooting Common Errors
- How to Migrate Your WorkMail Data Before the 2027 Shutdown
- FAQ
Why Add Amazon WorkMail to Outlook?
Connecting Amazon WorkMail with Microsoft Outlook makes your email experience much more comprehensive and familiar. Some of the main benefits are the following:
- One Inbox: Keep all your accounts gathered in a single place instead of moving from one program to another.
- Work Offline: Read emails and compose new messages even when there is no internet connection.
- Syncing Calendars and Contacts: When connected, your calendars and contacts work along with your email.
- Smart Organization: Using Outlook, you can use various methods of organizing your emails, including rules, Quick Steps, and more accounts.
What You’ll Need Before You Start
- Your complete Amazon WorkMail email address
- Your WorkMail account’s password
- The AWS region where your organization’s post office is located, for instance, the most common of which are us-east-1, us-west-2, or eu-west-1 (if you are unsure of this, ask your administrator)
- Outlook version 2016 or up if you are using Windows, Outlook version 2019+ if you are using Mac, or the
- Outlook app when using a mobile phone or online
Note: Amazon WorkMail doesn’t support the POP3 email protocol. Only connections through IMAP and Exchange ActiveSync (AutoDiscover) are accepted, so any “POP” option present on the email client should be skipped.
Amazon WorkMail Server Settings
If you’re setting up manually, you’ll need these details:
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Incoming server (IMAP) | imap.mail.[region].awsapps.com |
| IMAP port | 993 |
| IMAP encryption | SSL/TLS |
| Outgoing server (SMTP) | smtp.mail.[region].awsapps.com |
| SMTP port | 465 |
| SMTP encryption | SSL only (WorkMail’s SMTP server does not support STARTTLS on port 587) |
| Username | Your full WorkMail email address |
| POP3 | Not supported |
Replace [region] with your AWS hosting region, e.g. imap.mail.us-east-1.awsapps.com.
AutoDiscover vs. Manual IMAP: Which Should You Use?
| AutoDiscover (Recommended) | Manual IMAP | |
|---|---|---|
| Setup | Automatic — just enter your email and password | Manual — you enter server addresses and ports |
| Syncs email | Yes | Yes |
| Syncs calendar & contacts | Yes | No |
| Best for | Most Outlook users on Windows or Mac | Fallback if AutoDiscover fails, or non-Outlook IMAP clients |
How to Add Amazon WorkMail to Outlook on Windows
Method 1: Automatic Setup (AutoDiscover) — Recommended
- Open Outlook and navigate to File > Add Account (in new Outlook, select Add Account from the account menu).
- Type in your complete WorkMail email address and press Connect.
- When prompted, provide your WorkMail password.
- Outlook will find out your WorkMail settings automatically and set up the mail, calendar, and contacts.
- Click on Finish (or Done) to complete the wiring process.
If AutoDiscover doesn’t detect your settings automatically, ask your WorkMail administrator to confirm AutoDiscover is enabled for your domain, or use the manual method below.
Method 2: Manual IMAP Setup (Email Only)
Use when classic Outlook 2016/2019 is in use or when AutoDiscover has failed:
- Access File > Add Account then choose Let me set up my account manually (Advanced options in the latest Outlook).
- Select IMAP.
- On the incoming mail settings, type in imap.mail.[region].awsapps.com, port 993 and SSL/TLS as encryption.
- On the outgoing mail settings, type in smtp.mail.[region].awsapps.com, port 465 and SSL as encryption.
- Type your full WorkMail email address as the username and the password in WorkMail.
- Ensure that “My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication” is checked and use the same credentials.
- Hit Next to check the connection.
Remember: this method syncs email only. For calendar and contacts, use Method 1 above.
How to Add Amazon WorkMail to Outlook on Mac
- Open Outlook for Mac and navigate to Outlook > Settings > Accounts and click on + afterwards select New Account option.
- Type in WorkMail email address and click on Next to proceed.
- Select Exchange option for automatic installation which is highly recommended as it will sync email, calendar and contacts or IMAP option for manual configuration which allows for email only.
- In case you decided to go with IMAP/SMTP choice, please consult the respective server settings table given previously as it will provide you with all necessary configuration information.
Important: Amazon WorkMail can be added only to the Legacy Outlook mode on Mac since the current version of Outlook for Mac is not properly developed for WorkMail profile configuration. In case you are working in the new version go to Help > Revert to Legacy Outlook option.
How to Add Amazon WorkMail to Outlook on the Web
- Log in to your Outlook account.
- From the gears button, click on Settings > Mail > Sync email option (in some versions, this will be called Add account).
- Choose Other email accounts (or IMAP) and fill in the WorkMail email address and password.
- Use the IMAP and SMTP server details that are mentioned in the table above, and save the changes.
Note: This option of connected accounts is functional on a number of Microsoft 365 subscriptions and also in personal Outlook.com accounts. If you do not come across this option, you should consider utilizing the Outlook application or the desktop client as your administrator may have disabled this option for you.
How to Add Amazon WorkMail to Outlook Mobile (iOS & Android)
- Launch the Outlook >> Get Started >> Add Account.
- Type your WorkMail email address and click on Continue.
- In the event, select a provider and Auto-Discovery fails to identify it, click IMAP (or Other).
- Enter your WorkMail password along with the IMAP/SMTP settings mentioned in the table above before finally clicking on Sign In.
Troubleshooting Common Errors
- Unable to connect to the server: Ensure that [region] in the server address matches the region in which your account is hosted, and make sure that port 993 or 465 is not blocked by the firewall.
- Failed authentication: Make sure to enter your full email address (instead of just the first part before @) in order to correctly authenticate.
- SMTP server failure/invalid username/password: Keep in mind that the SMTP server works with SSL on port 465 only and does not support STARTTLS on port 587. So switch from port 587 to 465 and enable SSL if needed.
- AutoDiscover does not detect my account: Request the administrator of WorkMail to check whether AutoDiscover has been configured or not. If it still does not work, you can use the IMAP method.
- Calendars or contacts are missing: With IMAP-only connections this is normal because they sync email only so it is better to use AutoDiscover/Exchange.
- Synchronization is slow or stalled: Large mailboxes are being slow to sync during the first time. If it stalls further re-open Outlook or delete the stored data to prompt syncing.
How to Migrate Amazon WorkMail Data to Outlook Before the 2027 Shutdown
Connecting your WorkMail with Outlook ensures that you perform your daily tasks but it does not offer a permanent backup of your data in any other cloud apart from AWS. Since data recovery will become unavailable after March 31, 2027, you must schedule your backup or migration of your mailbox before this date.
Method 1: Manual Export (PST)
When you connect your WorkMail with Outlook, you can execute a manual export of your mailbox.
- To export your data, in Outlook, navigate to the following File > Open & Export > Import/Export.
- Then select the export to file option and select Outlook Data File (.pst).
- To finish the exporting of your data, select your WorkMail inbox, tick the Include subfolders option and save the file.
Note: Doing the manual export with this method is not cheap since it takes a long time to export very big mailboxes and the process may be interrupted during the export which results in losing some or all metadata of the calendars. AWS offers you a special mailbox export tool that is capable of exporting your data into Amazon S3 directly. — see the AWS end-of-support page for details and links.
Method 2: Easily Migrate Amazon WorkMail to Outlook Without Data Loss
In case your mailbox is large, you have multiple users, or you need an automatic approach, you can use an Email Migration Tool that can transfer your emails, folder structure, and other information from Amazon WorkMail to Outlook without going through a long technical process. Look for a tool with the following options:
- Easy transfer of data from Amazon WorkMail to Outlook or Microsoft 365 without doing the manual exports.
- Retaining structure, folder hierarchy, read/unread status, and original timestamps.
- Batch transfer for several mailboxes, that is helpful for IT professionals transferring an entire department before the deadline.
- Efficient way of handling larger mailboxes without manual segmentation.
- Provide Schedule Feature that lets you schedule AWS to Outlook migration for later.
How to Transfer Amazon WorkMail Emails to Outlook with Tool?
- Download and start the software and select Amazon WorkMail from email sources. Enter your AWS account login details and hit Sign In.
- Preview and select the folders that you want to migrate from Amazon WorkMail to Outlook.
- Use Advanced Filters to transfer specific data from Amazon WorkMail to Outlook.
- Schedule Amazon WorkMail to Outlook migration for later if you want.
- Select PST from the Saving options and choose the destination path.
- Hit the Migration button to migrate AWS emails to Outlook.
- Finally, import this PST file containing AWS data in your Outlook account.
FAQ: Add Amazon WorkMail to Outlook
Q 1: Why won’t Outlook connect to my WorkMail account?
The most common faults lie in specifying the wrong AWS region when typing the server address, in using SMTP-port 587 instead of SMTP-port 465 (the StartTLS function is not supported by WorkMail), or in entering the incomplete username, instead of submitting a full email address.
Q 2: Will my calendar and contacts sync if I add WorkMail to Outlook via IMAP?
Unfortunately, no. IMAP allows synchronization of email only. If you wish to synchronize contacts and calendar together with email, you will have to launch the automatic AutoDiscover of Outlook, where you can choose Exchange mode instead of IMAP or EAS for connection via the ActiveSync protocol.
Q 3: Can I use Outlook for Mac with Amazon WorkMail?
Absolutely. However, one needs to use the legacy version of Outlook when working on Mac. Since the current interface of Outlook for Mac doesn’t fully support the proper configuration of WorkMail profile, one should switch to the Legacy Outlook mode prior to setting up the account.
