How to Add Your Business Email to Your Phone and Outlook (Android, iPhone, Windows)

Most business email in Kenya is read on a phone. Once your mailboxes are live, the next step is getting them onto your team's Android phones, iPhones and computers. This guide gives the exact settings and the taps to make, plus fixes for the errors people run into most.

The settings you need

Your Hostiko Business Email setup page shows the exact server name for your domain. It is usually mail.yourbusiness.co.ke. Throughout this guide, replace that with the name on your setup page.

IMAP or Exchange? IMAP syncs your email. Exchange (ActiveSync) also syncs your calendar and contacts, so choose it when your phone or Outlook offers it.

Android (Gmail app)

1. Open the Gmail app, tap your profile picture, then Add another account.
2. Choose Exchange and Microsoft 365 to sync mail, calendar and contacts, or Other for email only.
3. Enter your full email address and tap Manual setup.
4. For Exchange, enter your password and set the server to mail.yourbusiness.co.ke. For Other, choose Personal (IMAP) and use the IMAP and SMTP settings above.
5. Accept the sync options and give the account a name, such as "Work".

Samsung phones with the Samsung Email app work the same way: Add account → Other or Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, then Manual setup.

iPhone and iPad

1. Open Settings → Mail → Accounts → Add Account (on iOS 18 and later: Settings → Apps → Mail → Mail Accounts → Add Account).
2. Choose Microsoft Exchange to sync mail, calendar and contacts. Enter your email address and tap Next → Configure Manually.
3. Enter your password, then set Server to mail.yourbusiness.co.ke and Username to your full email address.
4. Choose what to sync (Mail, Contacts, Calendars) and tap Save.

Prefer email only? Choose Other → Add Mail Account, pick IMAP and use the IMAP and SMTP settings above.

Outlook on Windows

1. Open Outlook and go to File → Add Account (or Settings → Accounts → Add account in the new Outlook).
2. Enter your email address and choose Advanced options → Let me set up my account manually, then IMAP.
3. Enter the incoming and outgoing settings above, then your password, and finish.

IMAP in Outlook syncs your email. For your calendar and contacts on a computer as well, use the webmail, or the eM Client desktop app: every Hostiko Business Email plan includes an eM Client Business Pro licence for up to three computers, and it syncs mail, calendar and contacts in one account.

No setup at all: the webmail

You can always read your mail in any browser at workspace.hostiko.co.ke, with your calendar, contacts, tasks, notes, files and the AI writing assistant. On a phone, add it to your home screen for an app-like experience.

Fixing common errors

• "Cannot verify server identity" or a certificate warning: you may be using a server name that is not yet active for your domain. Use the exact server name shown on your setup page.
• "Username or password incorrect": the username must be the full email address, not just "info". If you switched on two-factor sign-in, create an app password for the phone.
• Receiving works but sending fails: check the outgoing server requires sign-in with the same username and password, and the port is 465 (SSL) or 587 (STARTTLS).
• Calendar not showing on the phone: you set up IMAP, which syncs only email. Add the account again as Exchange (ActiveSync).
• Nothing arrives at all: your domain's MX records may not point to your mailboxes yet. See our guide to email DNS records.