Setting up your phone or tablet

How to add your mailbox to an iPhone, iPad or Android device, so mail, calendar and contacts stay in step.

Phones and tablets connect to the service over Exchange ActiveSync, which syncs mail, calendar and contacts together. The exact menu names differ between devices and change between operating system versions, so the steps below give the shape rather than every tap. The details you enter are the same on any device.

Before you start

Check with your email administrator that ActiveSync is enabled for your mailbox, or the setup will not complete.

Have three things ready: your username, which is your full email address; your password; and your server name. These were given to you when the mailbox was set up, so ask your administrator if you do not have them.

On an iPhone or iPad

1. Open Settings, then Mail, then Accounts, and choose Add Account. On older versions this sits under Accounts & Passwords, or Mail, Contacts, Calendars.
2. Choose Exchange.
3. Enter your email address and a name for the account, such as Work Email, then tap Next.
4. If offered, choose Configure Manually, then enter your password.
5. If autodiscover is set up for your domain, the account verifies here. If not, enter your server name and your full email address as the username when asked. Should it warn that it cannot verify the server identity, tap Details, then Cancel, and fill in the server and username fields by hand.
6. Choose what to sync, then tap Save.

On an Android device

1. Open Settings, then Accounts, and choose Add Account. The path varies by manufacturer, so it may sit under Accounts and backup or a similar heading.
2. Choose Exchange, or Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync.
3. Enter your email address and password.
4. If it cannot find the settings on its own, enter them by hand. Use your full email address, set the server to your server name, and keep the secure connection (SSL) option on. Where a device asks for a separate domain and username, enter the username as your full email address.
5. Confirm, and the account verifies and appears in your Accounts list.

Before you turn on calendar and contact sync

Adding the account replaces the calendar and contacts on the device with the copies held in your mailbox. Anything stored only on the phone, and not also in Zimbra, is lost when sync starts.

So if you keep contacts or appointments only on the device, back them up and import them into your Zimbra mailbox first. Once you have confirmed they are in the mailbox, turn on calendar and contact sync for the account.

If you also connect the device to a computer, turn off calendar, contact and mail syncing in that connection. Otherwise the two fight over the same data.