SmarterMail — Enable 2FA and reconfigure your mail clients
This guide covers two complementary steps:
- Enable two-factor authentication (2FA) on your SmarterMail account.
- Reconfigure your mail software (Outlook, Thunderbird, Mac Mail…) with an application password, because once 2FA is active, your usual password no longer works in these programs.
PART 1 — Enable 2FA
Access the setting
- Log in to your SmarterMail account via webmail (browser).
- Click on More, then Settings.
- Open the Account section and locate the Two-Factor Authentication card.
- Click on Enable. You are then guided according to the chosen method: authentication app or recovery address.
Then choose your method in the Verification Methods menu.
Method A — Authentication app (recommended)
Each time you log in to webmail, you will read the verification code in your app.
- Install an authentication app (e.g. Google Authenticator or Microsoft Authenticator) on your phone or computer.
- Select Authenticator App in the Verification Methods menu.
- Enter and confirm a recovery email address: it will serve as a backup method if the app is not accessible. (It will also be used to reset the password.)
- Click on Next: a QR code appears.
- In the app, add a token and scan the QR code with the camera.
- Enter the 6-digit code displayed by the app into SmarterMail.
- Click on Check to confirm and finalize.
Unable to scan the QR code? Click on “Can't scan the QR code?” in SmarterMail, create a token by manual entry in the app, provide a name in the Account field (e.g. your username), copy the secret key displayed by SmarterMail into the Key field, then enter the generated 6-digit code.
Method B — Recovery email address
Each time you log in to webmail, a code is sent to the indicated recovery address.
- Select Recovery Email Address in the Verification Methods menu.
- Enter and confirm the recovery email address that will receive the code.
- Click on Next.
- Wait a few moments, then enter the 6-digit code received.
- Click on Check to confirm and finish.
Tip: use a recovery address external to the SmarterMail account (e.g. a Gmail or Yahoo! address).
Subsequent logins
Enter your email address and password, then the 6-digit code (read from the authentication app, or received on the recovery address).
PART 2 — Reconfigure mail clients
Once 2FA is active, your usual password no longer works in mail software. You must use an application password.
Important points:
- Several passwords are provided, one per protocol type (SMTP, IMAP, POP, EAS, EWS…).
- The same password can be used in multiple clients.
- They can be reset at any time (you will then need to update them in your clients).
Step 1 — Retrieve the application password
- Log in to webmail (password + 2FA code).
- More → Settings → Account section.
- Scroll down to the Two-Factor Authentication card.
- Application passwords are displayed there, sorted by protocol.
- Copy the one corresponding to the protocol you are going to use.
Be sure to use the password for the corresponding protocol: the IMAP password will not work for an EAS configuration, and vice versa.
Step 2 — Connection settings (default values)
| Item |
IMAP Incoming |
POP Incoming |
SMTP Outgoing |
| Server |
mail01.swisscenter.com |
mail01.swisscenter.com |
mail01.swisscenter.com |
| Port (SSL/TLS) |
993 |
995 |
465 |
| Port (STARTTLS) |
143 |
110 |
587 |
| Encryption |
SSL/TLS recommended |
SSL/TLS recommended |
SSL/TLS recommended |
| Authentication |
Required |
Required |
Required (same credentials) |
| Username |
full email address |
full email address |
full email address |
| Password |
application password |
application password |
application password |
IMAP or POP? IMAP is recommended: messages remain on the server and are synchronized across all your devices. POP downloads messages locally and does not keep them on the server (unless otherwise configured), which causes issues if you check your mail from multiple locations.
Outlook (“classic” / desktop version)
Outlook 2016, 2019, 2021 and the Microsoft 365 desktop application.
Universal option: IMAP + SMTP
- In Outlook: File → Add Account.
- Enter your email address, then choose manual setup / advanced options.
- Select IMAP.
- Fill in the incoming/outgoing servers and ports (table above).
- In the password field, paste the IMAP application password.
- Ensure the outgoing SMTP server requires authentication with the same credentials.
- Finish and test sending/receiving.
New Outlook (“New Outlook”)
⚠️ Important privacy warning — read before using.
The “new Outlook” (which replaces the Mail and Calendar apps on Windows 11, and the “new” version of Outlook for Mac) does not work like a classic mail client with your SmarterMail account.
What is problematic:
- To add an IMAP account, the new Outlook requires syncing the account to the “Microsoft Cloud”. On Windows, there is no option to refuse: if synchronization fails, the account simply cannot be added.
- Concretely, Outlook transmits your IMAP/SMTP credentials and your emails to Microsoft servers. A copy of your mail is then stored at Microsoft, even if your mailbox is hosted on SmarterMail.
- Microsoft thus obtains full read access to your mail. Your data is governed by Microsoft’s terms of service and privacy statement.
- Giving your IMAP/SMTP credentials to a third party is equivalent to handing over the keys to your mailbox. For private, professional, or sensitive communications, this is a real risk to privacy and confidentiality — and potentially problematic regarding correspondence secrecy.
- Also note: the free version of the new Outlook displays ads amidst messages.
Recommendation: for privacy-respecting use with SmarterMail, prefer classic Outlook, Thunderbird, or Apple Mail, which connect directly to your server, without passing through Microsoft. If you insist on using the new Outlook, do so knowingly: your emails and credentials will pass through Microsoft’s infrastructure and be stored there.
(If you are forced to use it, the procedure remains that of an IMAP account: email address + IMAP application password + server settings from the table. But synchronization to the Microsoft Cloud remains mandatory.)
Mozilla Thunderbird
Free and open-source client, which connects directly to SmarterMail (no intermediary).
- Open Thunderbird: ☰ → New → Existing Mail Account.
- Enter your name, email address, and the IMAP application password.
- Click on Manual Config to precisely fill in the servers.
- Incoming: IMAP, server and port from the table, SSL/TLS encryption, authentication method Normal Password.
- Outgoing: SMTP, server and port from the table, SSL/TLS encryption, Normal Password authentication with the same credentials.
- Validate, then test.
Calendars and contacts: Thunderbird can synchronize SmarterMail calendars (CalDAV) and contacts (CardDAV), natively or via an add-on depending on the version.
Apple Mail (Mac Mail)
Universal option: IMAP + SMTP
- Open Mail → Settings (or Preferences) → Accounts → +. (or System Settings → Internet Accounts → Add Other Account.)
- Choose Other Mail Account….
- Enter your name, email address, and the IMAP application password.
- If automatic detection fails, manually fill in the incoming (IMAP) and outgoing (SMTP) servers as well as the ports from the table.
- Keep SSL/TLS enabled and password authentication.
- Validate, then test sending and receiving.
Troubleshooting
- Authentication failure: check that you are using the application password for the correct protocol (IMAP vs POP vs EAS…), and not your usual password.
- You reset an application password: you must update it in all clients that were using it.
- The client requests the 2FA code: this means it is trying to use your normal password; replace it with the application password.
- Doubts about the server or ports: contact our support team