Add your Gmail, Outlook or other email account to your Mac

Why it happens

Your Mac keeps email, contact and calendar accounts in one place, Internet Accounts, and the Mail, Contacts and Calendar apps use whatever you add there. Adding the account once sets up all three. Most sign-in trouble comes from two-step verification or an old saved password.

How to fix it

1. Open the Apple menu, choose System Settings, and click Internet Accounts in the sidebar.

2. Click Add Account.

   Internet Accounts›Add Account…

3. Choose your provider. Pick Google for Gmail, Microsoft Exchange for Outlook.com, Hotmail and most work Microsoft accounts, or Yahoo for Yahoo Mail. For anything else, choose Add Other Account and then Mail account.

4. Sign in with your email address and password. A sign-in window from your provider may open, and if you use two-step verification, approve the code on your phone.

5. Turn on what you want on this Mac, such as Mail, Contacts and Calendars, then click Done.

6. Open the Mail app. Your messages start downloading, which can take a while for a big mailbox.

Still not fixed?

1. If a calendar is missing, open Calendar and check it's ticked in the calendar list on the left. Some shared calendars only sync once they're turned on in your account's settings on the provider's website.

2. If you see 'could not be refreshed' or keep getting asked for a password, select the account in Internet Accounts and sign in again. If that doesn't help, remove the account there and add it again.

3. If you changed your email password recently, the Mac still has the old one. Selecting the account in Internet Accounts lets you sign in with the new one.

4. Work accounts sometimes need extra settings from your IT team, such as a server name. Ask them for the details.

5. If your provider's sign-in works on the web but not on the Mac, contact your email provider first, then Apple Support.