Set up iOS devices manually

If you need to manually set up your iOS device, this help page is for you. If you'd prefer an easier way to set up your iOS device, we also have help pages that will walk you through automatic setup via configuration profile on iOS 12 and 13, iOS 14, iOS 15 and 16, and iOS 17. 

Did you know: Fastmail has an excellent iOS app which many of our users prefer to other mail apps. See our help page The Fastmail mobile app for more details.

Third-party mail apps need their own app password to access your information. If you use your normal password or your Fastmail two step verification password on a third-party mail app, you will see a password error. IMAP access is not supported on Basic plans, so you cannot create an app password and set up Fastmail on your iPhone's native mail program (or any other third-party mail program) if you are on a Basic plan.

• Using our setup guide
• Manual setup
  • Email
  • Calendar
  • Contacts
  • Notes
• Updating your password

Using our setup guide

It's easier and less error-prone to use our web interface's built-in setup guide for iOS devices. To use this setup guide, please log in to Fastmail on a web browser, and have your device ready.

Once logged in to Fastmail, please go to your Settings → Migration → Apps & Setup guides screen. Then, scroll down to the Setup guides section. Click on the option for iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch. On the next screen, you'll be asked what you would like to set up. Please click Mail. You'll be asked to enter your Fastmail password. Please do so, and follow the rest of the onscreen instructions.

This guide will walk you through each step of setting up your Fastmail account on your phone's mail client, so the process is quick and simple.

Manual setup

The instructions in this setup guide are for iOS 17. Previous versions of iOS will be similar, but some steps and screenshots shown here may not match what you see on your device.

Set up your email

1. Open the Settings app in your device. 
2. Find and tap Mail, then tap Accounts.
3. Tap Add Account at the end of the accounts list.
4. Select Other at the end of the email provider list.
5. Tap Add Mail Account.

6. Fill in your name, email address and app password:

   • Name: The name people will see on the email you send.
   • Email: Your full Fastmail username, including the domain.
   • Password: Your iPhone app password. (What's an app password?)
   • Description: A name to identify this account (anything you like).

   

7. If you're using a custom domain, you need to enter your Host Name, Username and Password for incoming and outgoing mail servers.

   • Incoming Host Name: imap.fastmail.com
   • Outgoing Host Name: smtp.fastmail.com
   • Username: Your full Fastmail username, including the domain.
   • Password: Your iPhone app password (What's an app password?)

8. Tap Next, then tap Save.

Note: You can also add additional email addresses to your device.

Your Fastmail account is now ready to use. Open the Mail app to read your email. In addition, you can also sync your calendar with your device.

Set up your calendar

1. Open the Settings app in your device. 
2. Find and tap Calendar, then tap Accounts.
3. Tap Add Account at the end of the accounts list.
4. Select Other at the end of the email provider list.
5. Tap Add CalDAV Account.

6. Fill in the server name, your username and app password:

   • Server: caldav.fastmail.com
   • User Name: Your full Fastmail username, including the domain.
   • Password: Your iPhone app password. (What's an app password?)
   • Description: A name to identify this account (anything you like).

7. Tap Next, then tap Save.

Your Fastmail calendars will now sync with your phone and are ready to use. Open the Calendar app to view and edit your calendar.

If you'd like to also use your calendar also for iPhone reminders, you can also enable this in the iPhone Settings app.

Warning: Deleting a Reminders list from your phone will also delete the associated Fastmail calendar off the server and your phone.

Set up your contacts

1. Open the Settings app in your device. 
2. Find and tap Contacts, then tap Accounts.
3. Tap Add Account at the end of the accounts list.
4. Select Other at the end of the email provider list.
5. Tap Add CardDAV Account.

6. Fill in the server name, your username and app password:

   • Server: carddav.fastmail.com
   • User Name: Your full Fastmail username, including the domain.
   • Password: Your iPhone app password. (What's an app password?)
   • Description: A name to identify this account (anything you like).

7. Tap Next, then tap Save.

Your Fastmail contacts will now sync with your phone and are ready to use. Open the Contacts app to view and edit your contacts.

Note: This will sync all CardDAV accounts by default (both Personal and Shared). If you want to sync them separately, create individual CardDAV accounts. Use the same server name and app password, but set the username to select the specific contact list:

• Personal contacts: <username>+Default@<domain.tld>
  • For email chocolate@example.com the CardDAV username is chocolate+Default@example.com
• Shared contacts: <username>+Shared@<domain.tld>
  • For example chocolate@example.com the CardDAV username is chocolate+Shared@example.com

Be aware that any pre-existing contacts already on your device do not automatically get copied back up to Fastmail with the sync: you need to import them to Fastmail first.

If you wish to set Fastmail as your default Contacts app, you can do so by following these steps:

1. Open your phone's Settings.

2. Tap Contacts.

3. Select Default Account.

4. Choose Fastmail for your desired default account.

Set up notes

1. Open the Settings app in your device.  
2. Find and tap Notes, then tap Accounts.
3. Under Accounts, select your Fastmail account from the list.

4. Enable the Notes option.

You can now check that it's working in the Notes app on your phone.

1. Open the Notes app.
2. There will be an option at the top to go back to the Accounts list.

3. You will now see a list of places where your Notes are stored and select which set of Notes you want to view.

If you'd like to use Fastmail storage as the default location for new notes to ensure they are backed up and always available:

1. Open your phone's Settings.
2. Tap Notes.
3. Select Default Account.

4. Choose Fastmail for your desired default account.

If your Notes do not display, check the advanced server settings.

Updating your password

If you change an iPhone app password after adding your Fastmail account to your iOS device, you will need to update the settings.

Depending on what kind of access the app password granted (just mail; or mail and calendars; or mail, calendars, contacts) affects which passwords you will need to update in your phone. Note that access to Notes is controlled by your Mail password.

For Mail (and Notes):

1. Open the Settings app in your device. 
2. Find and tap Mail, then tap Accounts.
3. Under Accounts, select your Fastmail account from the list.
4. Tap Account, and scroll down to the "Incoming Mail Server" section.
5. Tap to focus the Password field, delete the current contents, and type in your new iPhone app password.
6. Now scroll down to the "Outgoing Mail Server" section and tap the first (and probably only) entry, called something like SMTP smtp.fastmail.com.
7. Tap the first entry, smtp.fastmail.com, under the "Primary Server" heading.
8. Tap to focus the Password field, delete the current contents and type in your new app password.
9. Tap Done, then go back to Account then tap Done again.

You should be able to both send and receive mail again with your Fastmail account. If you can do one, but not the other, try following the steps again carefully: your password may have been updated for incoming mail, but not for outgoing mail, or vice versa.

If you have your calendar set up on your device, you will need to update the password there as well:

1. Open the Settings app in your device. 
2. Find and tap Calendar, then tap Accounts.
3. Under Accounts, select your Fastmail account from the list.
4. Tap Account, then tap to focus the Password field, delete the current contents and type in your new app password.
5. Tap Done.

For Contacts:

1. Open the Settings app in your device. 
2. Find and tap Contacts, then tap Accounts.
3. Under Accounts, select your Fastmail account from the list.
4. Tap Account, then tap to focus the Password field, delete the current contents and type in your new app password.
5. Tap Done.