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POP email and basic authentication changes | BT Business
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Your guide to changes to own domain POP email and basic authentication

What's changed and why?

From February 2023, Microsoft and many other suppliers started moving away from basic authentication to make accounts more secure. Basic authentication is now an outdated form of security for your emails and using it could make it easier for attackers to capture your details, putting your personal information at risk. 

Microsoft is our email supplier so this change will affect our BT Business customers who use a POP service.

What does this mean for me? 

If you use a mail client like Outlook, Thunderbird, or MacMail, you won’t be able to send or receive emails using those clients anymore.   

You can still access your emails using a browser on a laptop, Mac or PC or using the Outlook app on tablets and mobiles.

What should I do?

The best way to access your emails going forward is using a web browser.

Outlook Web Access (OWA), also known as Webmail, is an easy way for you to access your email.

You can access your email online at www.office.com or via My Account.

Outlook Web Access (OWA):

  • Works from any (connected) PC or mobile device anywhere - never be without access to your mailbox again.
  • Remembers your login details across common devices and signs in for you.
  • Contains the most common and up to date mail client features – with the improved security of modern authentication.
  • Looks and feels just like a mail client.
  • Has easy-to-use junk filtering (block/whitelist senders and domains).
  • Contains customisable themes to suit your style and mood.

It even lets you:

  • create sub folders
  • save contacts
  • add to calendars
  • create and use email signatures
  • set up mail forwarding
  • create user groups
  • activate out of office auto replies.

Are there any other options?

Using OWA or Webmail is the easiest and fastest way to send and receive emails.

If you want to keep using a client for your email, you’ll need to upgrade to Microsoft 365.

There are two ways you can do this:

Self-migration

Professional Setup

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