Any mailbox that offers IMAP over an encrypted connection connects to Sektra with its email address and password. Sektra finds the server settings for you, checks the login, and starts syncing in seconds; the password is stored encrypted and never shown again.
- Start the connection
Go to Settings, then Inboxes, then Connect an inbox, and pick Other email, described as any mailbox with an email address and password.
- Choose the inbox type and read state
Shared for a team address, Personal for your own. For a shared inbox, pick Shared or Separate read state; it cannot be changed later.
- Enter the address and password
Type the full email address and the mailbox password. If the mailbox has two-factor authentication, use an app password from your provider instead (see below).
- Check the server settings
Sektra looks the host up and fills in Incoming mail (IMAP) and Outgoing mail (SMTP) with host, port and security. Correct anything your provider told you differently. Turn on Outgoing mail uses a different login only if your host gave you a separate username or password for sending.
- Set import and sync
Import earlier emails brings in existing mail. The sync toggles decide whether archive, trash, and everything else (flags, folders and read state) move from Sektra back to the mail server.
- Connect
Sektra logs in to both servers, reads the folder list and sends a test command before it accepts the connection. A specific error names what went wrong: wrong password, host unreachable, encryption failure, or blocked by the host.
Ports and security
- IMAP: port 993 with TLS, or port 143 with STARTTLS. Port 143 without encryption is refused.
- SMTP: port 587 with STARTTLS, or port 465 with TLS.
- The server's certificate has to be valid. There is no switch to skip that check.
App passwords and two-factor
When a mailbox has two-factor authentication, the normal password will not work over IMAP. Create an app password in the provider's security settings and paste it into Sektra. The connect screen says so when the server refuses the login for that reason. A refused login is retried once after five minutes, then the inbox waits for a new password instead of hammering the host.
Which providers work
Web hosts running cPanel (mail.yourdomain.com), Namecheap Private Email and other hosts that offer IMAP over TLS connect this way. Gmail and Google Workspace connect through Google sign-in, and Microsoft 365 through Microsoft sign-in, not over IMAP. The dialog tells you to go back and use the right one when it recognizes the address.
What syncs
New mail lands in Sektra within a few seconds. Read state, stars (flags), archive and trash move both ways. Folders on the server become Sektra tags, nested folders included; applying a tag in Sektra files a copy of the conversation in that folder. Sektra never deletes mail on the server: trash is a move to the Trash folder and archive a move to the Archive folder. Newsletters and bulk mail are recognized from their headers and sorted into Updates and Promotions.