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Alibaba Mail:Activation Guide

Last Updated:Mar 17, 2026

This topic describes how to activate administrator accounts, assign employee email accounts, and more after you purchase Alibaba Mail. For more information, see Alibaba Mail purchase flow.

Note

You can configure the following activation settings only after purchasing and binding an email domain name.

The recommended activation order is as follows:

imageSet the administrator password (If you already set the password during the purchase process, you can skip this step.) —> Assign employee accounts —> Migrate mailboxes (Optional. Migrate emails from your previous mailbox to Alibaba Mail.) —> Add DNS records (If the domain name for Alibaba Mail was previously used with another email provider, you must delete or pause the original DNS records before you add the DNS records for Alibaba Mail.)

1. Set administrator password

When you log on to Alibaba Mail for the first time, you must set the password for the administrator account. If you already set the password during the purchase process, you can skip this step.

To reset the password, log on to the email console, find your instance on the email management list page, and then click Manage > Reset password.image

2. Assign employee accounts

  1. Log on to the Alibaba Mail web client. After the mail DNS record takes effect, you can also access the logon interface using the `mail.YourDomainName` address. Enter the administrator account and password to log on to the mailbox.

    The web client logon addresses are as follows. You must select the site that corresponds to your email instance. Otherwise, the logon fails:

    Singapore site: mail.sg.aliyun.com

    Hong Kong (China) site: mail.hk.aliyun.com

    Germany site: mail.de.alibabacloud.com

    US site: mail.us.alibabacloud.comimage

  2. After the administrator logs on, the Alibaba Mail domain management interface is displayed by default. If the Webmail interface is displayed, click the domain management button in the upper-right corner to go to the management interface.imageIn the navigation pane on the left, click Mail Management. You can click Create Account to create email accounts one by one, or click Import to create multiple accounts in a batch.image

  3. Create Account: Click Create Account. Enter the name, email address, and password. Select the option to require a password change on first logon, and then click OK.imageAfter the account is created, you can click Edit to enter additional information, such as a secure phone number, and then save the changes.imageImport: Download the template. Fill in the template based on the specified format, and then upload the file. The accounts are created in a batch.imageimage

3. Mail migration

To migrate emails from your original mailbox to Alibaba Mail, use Mail migration. If you do not need to migrate emails, skip this step.

IV. Add Parsing

Note: Correctly configuring domain name resolution for your email is a prerequisite for using Alibaba Mail. Incorrect configuration directly affects the email sending and receiving services for this mailbox.

1. If you purchased both your domain name and Alibaba Mail from Alibaba Cloud, follow the instructions in Alibaba Mail domain name resolution to set DNS records in the Alibaba Cloud DNS console.

2. If your domain name and DNS service are not provided by Alibaba Cloud, see How to set up DNS records for Alibaba Mail using a non-Alibaba Cloud (Wanwang) domain name? or contact your domain name service provider for assistance with domain name resolution.

General access endpoints for Alibaba Mail web client:

Singapore (site): mail.sg.aliyun.com

Hong Kong (China) site: mail.hk.aliyun.com

German site: mail.de.alibabacloud.com

The US site is mail.us.alibabacloud.com.

Recommended DNS parameter settings:

MX and SPF records are required. Otherwise, you will not be able to send or receive emails. For more information, see How to add SPF records for email domain names.

Singapore site

Parsed domain names

DNS record type

Priority

DNS record value

@

MX

5

mx1.sg.aliyun.com

@

MX

10

mx2.sg.aliyun.com

imap

CNAME

-

imap.sg.aliyun.com

pop3

CNAME

-

pop.sg.aliyun.com

smtp

CNAME

-

smtp.sg.aliyun.com

mail

CNAME

-

mail.sg.aliyun.com

@

TXT

-

v=spf1 include the following:spf.sg.aliyun.com -all

Hong Kong (China) site

Host record

Type

Priority

Value

@

MX

5

mx1.hk.aliyun.com

@

MX

10

mx2.hk.aliyun.com

imap

CNAME

imap.hk.aliyun.com

pop3

CNAME

pop.hk.aliyun.com

smtp

CNAME

smtp.hk.aliyun.com

mail

CNAME

mail.hk.aliyun.com

@

TXT

v=spf1 include the following:spf.hk.aliyun.com -all

Germany site

Domain name resolution operations

DNS record type

Priority

DNS record value

@

MX

5

mx1.de.alibabacloud.com

@

MX

10

mx2.de.alibabacloud.com

imap

CNAME

imap.de.alibabacloud.com

pop3

CNAME

pop.de.alibabacloud.com

smtp

CNAME

smtp.de.alibabacloud.com

mail

CNAME

mail.de.alibabacloud.com

@

TXT

v=spf1 include the following:spf.de.alibabacloud.com -all

US site

Parsing Domain Names

DNS record type

Priority

DNS record value

@

MX

5

mx1.us.alibabacloud.com

@

MX

10

mx2.us.alibabacloud.com

imap

CNAME

imap.us.alibabacloud.com

pop3

CNAME

pop.us.alibabacloud.com

smtp

CNAME

smtp.us.alibabacloud.com

mail

CNAME

mail.us.alibabacloud.com

@

TXT

v=spf1 include the following:spf.us.alibabacloud.com -all

Note:

1. If your domain name resolution service is provided by Alibaba Cloud, DNS settings typically take about 10 minutes to take effect after they are configured.

2. Email domain name resolution statuses:

Status

Description

Domain name resolution is effective

You can send and receive emails and manage email services normally.

Domain name resolution is not effective

Because the DNS record does not correctly point to the mailbox, you cannot use the web client or email client to send and receive emails normally. However, other features, such as account creation and mail migration, are not affected.

After you add DNS records, the system automatically refreshes the resolution status at regular intervals. You can also manually refresh the resolution status.

Manually refresh DNS resolution status:

Log on to the Alibaba Mail console to access the email management list page. On the email management list, click the Manage button to the right of the email domain name for which you want to set DNS records.

image.png

Click Check Domain Name Resolution or Refresh Status. The system automatically checks if the resolution for your domain name is effective. If it is, the system updates the status to "Domain name resolution is effective". If not, please wait for the DNS record to take effect.

image.png

Common client configuration help:

We recommend using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption to enhance security. When you use SSL encryption, ensure that the encrypted ports 465, 995, and 993 are open on your local computer and network.

Outlook 2016

Foxmail 7.2

Mac Mail

iOS Mail

Android Mail

The Alibaba Mail client is now available on all platforms. We recommend using the Alibaba Mail client because it offers high compatibility and requires no configuration. You can log on by simply entering your Alibaba Mail address and password. Click to download.

FAQ

How do I log on to Alibaba Mail?

After you complete account creation and domain name resolution, you can click here to log on and send or receive emails.

If you have purchased the mailbox but have not yet configured it, see this topic for configuration steps before use.