Setting up iOS devices: iOS 17

If you have an iPhone or iPad, you can use this guide to set up your Fastmail account in your Mail app.

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

Third-party apps need their own app password to access your information. If you use your normal password or your Fastmail two step verification password on an external account, syncing to an external service won't work and you will see a password error.

• Automatic setup tools
  • Setting up via QR code
  • Setting up via mobile web browser
• Adding additional accounts
• Setting up notes
• Updating your password
• Manual setup
• Removing a Fastmail profile

Automatic setup tool

You can easily set up your device and avoid a lot of manual typing using our setup tools: either scan a QR code that sets everything up, or set up via a mobile web browser.

Note: Selecting contacts/CardDAV will sync all CardDAV accounts by default (both personal and shared). If you want to sync them separately, manually create individual CardDAV accounts.

As a general note, if you want to send from addresses other than your Fastmail username, you will need to set up your Fastmail account on iOS manually instead of using our automatic setup tools. However, if your Fastmail account uses a different alias as its default address, the configuration profile will use this when composing emails instead of your username.

Setting up via QR code

If you have another device nearby, you can use your camera to scan a QR code and automatically set up your Fastmail account. (Please note that the QR code will not appear if you have multiple addresses.)

1. Log in to the Fastmail web interface on your device and go to the Settings → Privacy & Security screen.
2. Find the Connected apps & API tokens section. Click Manage app passwords and access.
3. Click New app password.
   • A Verify it's you box may appear. Enter your password and click Continue. (For more information, see our Password-protected actions help page.) 
4. Give your app password a name to indicate which device and app this password is for.
5. For the QR code setup, you will need to choose either the Mail, Contacts & Calendars access or the Mail (IMAP/POP/SMTP) access.
6. Click Generate password.

The screen will show a QR code.

1. Point the Camera app on your iPhone or iPad at the QR code on the screen.

2. Tap on the yellow link that appears. 

3. Tap Allow to download the configuration file.

   

4. You'll then see a confirmation that the profile is downloaded.

5. Install the configuration profile: Tap Settings, then Profile Downloaded, then Install. Note: For iPad devices, after Settings, you may need to tap More for Your iPad before you get to Profile Downloaded.

   

6. Enter your device's passcode and tap Install again.
7. Tap Done to finish the process. This will automatically set up your mail, calendar, and contact settings on your device, according to the access types you requested for this app password.

Setting up via mobile web browser

You can use the mobile browser on your device to perform a one time automatic setup.

1. Log in to the Fastmail web interface on your iOS device and and go to the Settings → Privacy & Security screen.
2. Find the Connected apps & API tokens section. Click Manage app passwords and access.
3. Click New app password.
   • A Verify it's you box may appear. Enter your password and click Continue. (For more information, see our Password-protected actions help page.) 
4. Give your app password a name to indicate which device and app this password is for.
5. Choose what sort of access this password requires.
6. Click Generate password.

The screen will show a link to a configuration file to install a new profile. Click Open this configuration file.

1. Allow the browser to open Settings to show a configuration profile.

   

2. Install the configuration profile. This will automatically set up your mail, calendar and contact settings on your device, according to the access types you requested for this app password.

   

Adding additional accounts

Adding other accounts to send with on iOS.

Set up notes

1. Open the Settings app in your device. 
2. Scroll down and tap Mail.

3. Select your Fastmail email account from the list.

4. Enable the Notes option.

   

You can now verify it's working in the Notes application.

1. Open the Notes app.
2. There will be an option at the top to back to the Folders 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 the Settings app.
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 on your device. The easiest way is to delete the old profile off your device and use the automatic setup tool to generate a new password and store it on your phone.

Manual setup

To set up the app passwords for email, calendar, contacts and notes manually, we have detailed instructions. This is not the preferred way, as it is more prone to human error.

Remove a Fastmail Profile

To delete Fastmail from your iOS device, you need to remove the profile.

1. Open Settings.
2. Go to General.
3. Scroll down and tap VPN and Device Management.
4. Select the Fastmail profile and tap Remove Profile.

This will remove Fastmail from the list of internet accounts on that device.

It is possible to individually disable each mail, contact or calendar account in the iOS settings, but to delete them, you have to remove the profile.