Autodiscover is a protocol that allows email clients (e.g. Thunderbird, Apple Mail, Microsoft Outlook) to configure server connection parameters for your email address automatically, instead of configuring all parameters manually. This will save yourself some time, especially if you have to configure a lot of accounts.
To use the autodiscover system, make sure that your client supports this feature, as not all email clients currently support it. Furthermore, it is necessary to change the DNS configuration of your domain to add some parameters that will allow you to contact the autodiscover service in an appropriate way.
Configuring Autodiscover for your domain certainly makes it easier for users the first set up their email account, and voids any found typos. It is also a very simple configuration to perform and has no additional cost or impact on performance.
The implementation of Autodiscover provides IMAP and SMTP parameters for desktop email clients and Microsoft® Exchange ActiveSync for Smartphones.
Not all email clients are currently compatible. A list of clients that can host Autodiscover is available below:
| Client | Version | Protocol |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Outlook | 2013 and newer | IMAP and SMTP |
| Microsoft App Mail Contacts and Calendar | Windows 10 | Microsoft® Exchange ActiveSync |
| Mozilla Thunderbird | 60 and newer | IMAP e SMTP |
| Android | latest | Microsoft® Exchange ActiveSync |
| Apple iOS | 12 and newer | Microsoft® Exchange ActiveSync |
Access the DNS management panel of your domain's provider and add the following CNAME record as follows:
| Record | Record type | Value |
|---|---|---|
| autoconfig.yourdomain.com | CNAME | autodiscover.emailpnl.com. |
| autodiscover.yourdomain.com | CNAME | autodiscover.emailpnl.com. |
The above setting authorizes your email client to contact the autodiscover service to obtain the mail server configuration data for your domain. Once the above listed records have been added, it can take up to 24 hours for the DNS change to become fully operational. It is important to remember that this configuration may not be enough to make the autodiscover compatible on your email client.
