How to Configure AOL Email in Outlook 2003?

You can use any of the email client applications to download your AOL Mail account emails. There are two different incoming protocols (POP or IMAP) you can prefer while configuring your AOL Mail account in an email client like Outlook.

POP – Post Office Protocol

It downloads a copy of your email message from the AOL Mail account to Outlook. After downloading, if you delete an email from the mail server, you can still view the downloaded copy in Outlook.

IMAP – Internet Message Access Protocol

However, IMAP synchronizes both the AOL Mail server and the Outlook client. Any changes in the mail server will reflect in Outlook and vice versa.

AOL Mail server settings

Before setting up the AOL Mail account, you have to know the incoming and outgoing server settings. Refer to the following section to know the AOL Mail account server details.

Email address – Your AOL email address (yourname@domainname.com)
Password – Your AOL Mail account’s password

Incoming Mail Server

Server name – pop.aol.com (POP3) or imap.aol.com (IMAP)
Port – 995 (POP3) or 993 (IMAP)
SSL – Required

Outgoing Mail Server

Server name – smtp.aol.com (SMTP
Port – 465
SSL – Required

AOL Mail Setup in Outlook 2003

The step-by-step instructions to manually configure your AOL Mail account in the Outlook 2003 client are provided on this page.

Step 1:

Launch the Outlook 2003 email client.

Click the Tools tab.

Choose the Email Accounts option from the Tools menu.

Step 2:

Select the radio button beside the ‘Add a new email account’ option.

Click Next.

Step 3:

Choose the POP3 or IMAP option.

Select the Next option.

Step 4:

On the Email Accounts page, enter the following information.

User Information

Your name – Your full name
Email Address – Your full email address

Server Information

Incoming Mail Server – imap.aol.com (IMAP) or pop.aol.com (POP3)
Outgoing Mail Server – smtp.aol.com

Logon Information

User Name – Your AOL Mail account’s email address
Password – Your AOL Mail account password

If necessary, select the Remember Password option to save the AOL Mail account password in the Outlook 2003 client.

To configure the SMTP server, click the More Settings button.

Step 5:

Select the ‘My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication’ option.

Choose either of the following options.

Use same settings as my incoming mail server
Log on using

If you choose ‘Log on using’ option, you have to enter the user name and password manually.

Fill both the Incoming server and Outgoing server fields with the respective port numbers correctly.

Step 6:

Click OK -> Next -> Finish.

Now, the AOL Mail account has been successfully added to the Outlook 2003 email client.