eM Client is the desktop mail client SmartXHosting sells alongside its email plans — a full-featured Outlook alternative available on Windows and macOS. This tutorial walks through adding your SmartXHosting mailbox to eM Client using auto-discovery or manual IMAP/SMTP setup, along with calendar and contacts sync.
eM Client gives you on your desktop what webmail gives you in the browser: a full view of your mailbox, calendar, contacts, tasks and notes with offline support. For UK users who work frequently offline (during train commutes, in and out of office Wi-Fi) or who prefer the keyboard-heavy workflow of a proper mail client, eM Client is the direct alternative to Outlook.
SmartXHosting's eM Client licence pricing is detailed at smartxhosting.uk/email-client. Personal use is free for up to two accounts; business use requires a commercial licence.
SmartXHosting publishes Autodiscover/Autoconfig records for its domains, so eM Client can set up the account automatically in most cases.
[email protected]).Auto-discovery takes typically 30-60 seconds. First full mailbox sync can take from minutes to an hour depending on mailbox size.
If auto-discovery does not succeed (unusual, but possible on recently migrated domains), use manual setup with these SmartXHosting server settings:
| Service | Host | Port | Security |
|---|---|---|---|
| IMAP (incoming) | mail.epost.plus or your domain's mail hostname | 993 | SSL/TLS |
| SMTP (outgoing) | same hostname | 465 | SSL/TLS |
| SMTP submission (alternative) | same hostname | 587 | STARTTLS |
| CalDAV | same hostname | 443 | HTTPS |
| CardDAV | same hostname | 443 | HTTPS |
In eM Client: Menu › Accounts › New account › Mail › Other. Enter host, port, security, username (full email address), password. Repeat for outgoing.
Enable Authentication required on SMTP with the same credentials as IMAP.
On most setups, auto-discovery configures calendar and contacts alongside mail. If not, add them manually:
https://mail.epost.plus/caldav (or your custom hostname). Authentication: same as mail.https://mail.epost.plus/carddav. Authentication: same as mail.First sync of calendar and contacts is usually quick — minutes at most.
If your mailbox has MFA enabled (TOTP, WebAuthn) and eM Client cannot prompt for a code interactively, use an application password:
Application passwords bypass MFA but are bound to a specific application. You can revoke any application password at any time without affecting your primary credentials.
"Authentication failed." Common causes: typo in password, MFA expected but application password not used, account locked after repeated failures. Verify the credentials in webmail first — if webmail works, eM Client's credentials are wrong. If webmail also fails, the account may be locked out.
"Cannot connect to server." Check that port 993 (IMAP-SSL) and 465 or 587 (SMTP) are reachable from your network. Corporate firewalls sometimes block these. As a quick test: on Windows, telnet mail.epost.plus 993; on macOS, nc -zv mail.epost.plus 993.
Mail syncs but sending fails. Usually an outbound authentication problem. In account settings, confirm SMTP requires authentication with the same username/password as IMAP.
Certificate warning. eM Client should accept SmartXHosting's certificates without warning. A warning usually indicates you are hitting a wrong hostname or a misconfigured TLS inspection proxy on your network. Never click "accept anyway" without investigating.
Calendar events look wrong by an hour. Timezone mismatch. Check eM Client › Settings › Calendar › Timezone matches your system timezone (should be Europe/London for UK).
eM Client supports unlimited accounts. Common patterns:
Account colours help distinguish them visually — set per account in Settings.
Q: Can I use eM Client for free?
A: Personal use allows up to two accounts for free. Business use requires a commercial licence — see smartxhosting.uk/email-client.
Q: Does eM Client work offline?
A: Yes. All cached mail, calendar and contacts are available offline. New messages composed offline queue and send when connectivity returns.
Q: Can I import from Outlook?
A: Yes. eM Client has a one-click Outlook migration tool that imports your PST file, calendar and contacts.
Q: How much local disk does eM Client use?
A: Depends on mailbox size and sync settings. A 10 GB mailbox with full-text search cached locally uses around 11-12 GB including the search index.
Q: Is eM Client GDPR-compliant?
A: eM Client is a local application processing data on your device. As long as your account provider (SmartXHosting) is compliant, eM Client itself does not introduce additional compliance risk for UK GDPR.