title: Manage Email Accounts
created at: Wed Oct 16 2024 09:43:13 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
updated at: Sat Feb 08 2025 14:22:09 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
---
# Manage Email Accounts
# Overview
This feature lets you edit an existing email account. In addition to standard email accounts, you can use the cPanel account’s system user email account to receive mail for nonexistent or invalid addresses for your domains.
To access this interface, locate the email address that you want to edit in cPanel’s [*Email Accounts*](https://docs.cpanel.net/cpanel/email/email-accounts) interface (*cPanel » Home » Email » Email Accounts*) and click *Manage*.
!! Note
!! To update the email address where you receive cPanel & WHM password reset emails and account notifications, use the [*Contact Information*](https://docs.cpanel.net/cpanel/preferences/contact-information/) interface (*cPanel » Home » Preferences » Contact Information*).
!! For more information on how to troubleshoot your email account, read our [cPanel Common Questions - Email](https://docs.cpanel.net/knowledge-base/q-and-a-with-cpanel-support/cpanel-common-questions/#email) documentation.
# Manage the system user email account
The system creates the cPanel account’s system user email account when your hosting provider creates your cPanel account. It uses the `
[email protected]` format, where `account` is your cPanel account name and `domain` is your main domain. The username and password are the same as your cPanel account’s.
You should keep the following tips in mind for managing your cPanel account’s email and the system user email account:
* Check your account’s default address **often** for missing messages. The account default address may receive messages for your existing email addresses if they contain typos or other issues. For example, if your email address is `
[email protected]` but a sender uses `
[email protected]`, the system user email account will receive it.
* If you have configured a domain default address for any of your domains, the system will send mail with invalid recipients to **that** address. You can configure default addresses for domains in cPanel’s [*Default Address*](https://docs.cpanel.net/cpanel/email/default-address) interface (*cPanel » Home » Email » Default Address*).
* If you cannot access the system user email account, contact your hosting provider for assistance.
* You cannot rename, delete, or set a quota on the account’s system user email account. We recommend that you create a separate email account for daily use.
* You cannot rename an email account or change its address. However, you can use cPanel’s [*Forwarders*](https://docs.cpanel.net/cpanel/email/forwarders/) interface (*cPanel » Home » Email » Forwarders*) to create a new address that forwards all mail from the existing account. For example, if you cannot access your account’s system user email account, you can create a forwarder that forwards the system user emails to another email address.
* The system uses the default email address for the `From` and `Reply-to` addresses on outgoing email that your account’s PHP scripts send.
* Because of the way the `maildir` mailbox format calculates disk usage, a discrepancy between reported and actual disk usage may exist for the default email account. For more information about mailbox formats, read our [Mailbox Conversion](https://docs.cpanel.net/whm/email/mailbox-conversion) documentation.
***
When you click *Manage* for this account, the system directs you to the *Manage Email Accounts* interface. It displays the following information:
| Item | Description |
| ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------- |
| *Email Account* | The name of the email account. |
| *Current Storage Usage* | The amount of used storage space, in bytes. |
***
Use the *More Actions* section of this interface to select one of the following settings:
| Setting | Description |
| ------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| *Check Email* | Click to check the system user email account’s mail. A new interface will appear that displays the account in [Webmail](https://docs.cpanel.net/webmail/the-webmail-interface/) . |
| *Free up Email Storage* | Click to delete old messages from your mailbox. The system will direct you to cPanel’s [*Email Disk Usage*](https://docs.cpanel.net/cpanel/email/email-disk-usage/) interface (*cPanel » Home » Email » Email Disk Usage*). |
| *Manage Default Address* | Click to manage a domain’s default address’s unrouted mail settings. The system will direct you to the [*Default Address*](https://docs.cpanel.net/cpanel/email/default-address/) interface (*cPanel » Home » Email » Default Address*).<br />!! Note<br />!! The cPanel account’s default address is **not** synonymous with a domain default address. You **must** configure the domain default address separately. |
# Manage Email Accounts
You can modify the following settings in this section of the interface:
| Setting | Description |
| -------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| *Share the System-managed Address Book* | This setting lets you use the system-managed address book. It serves as a user directory and allows for collaboration. Set the *With all email accounts* toggle to share this address book with the other email accounts on this account. When you disable it, only the system user email account has access to the system-managed address book.<br />- Set the *With all email accounts* toggle to share this address book with the other email accounts on this account. <br />- If you disable the toggle, **only** the default email account can access the system-managed address book.!! Note<br />!! We do **not** support the system-managed address book in Roundcube. |
| *UTF-8 Mailbox Names* | This setting lets you enable UTF-8-encoded mailbox names. By default, new accounts encode mailbox names with UTF-8. The system will save mailboxes to the filesystem as unencoded strings. This can break some types of email filters. Set the toggle to enable or disable this setting.<br />!! Note<br />!! If you transfer or restore an account using the default setting, it will continue to use the default. |
| *Automatically Create Folders for Plus Addressing* | This setting allows you configure how the system handles plus addressing for the mailbox. Plus addressing (or subaddressing) adds a plus character and string after an email account username. For example, the `
[email protected]` email address could use the `
[email protected]` plus address. The email account would recognize these messages and place them in the `list` mailbox. Set the toggle to one of the following settings:<br />- *Automatically Create Folders.* — When you receive an email that uses plus addressing and the folder does not already exist, the system will create a new folder. The system will deliver the message to that new folder. <br />- *Do Not Automatically Create Folders.* — When you receive an email that uses plus addressing and the folder does *not* already exist, the system will *not* create a new folder. Instead, the system will deliver the message to the `INBOX` folder. |
# Manage an Email Account
When you click *Manage* for an email account, the system directs you to the *Manage an Email Account* interface. This interface lets you manage an email account. You can also select from the following account management settings:
***
Use the *I Want To…* section of the interface to select one of the following settings:
| Setting | Description |
| -------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| *Free up Email Storage* | This lets you view all of your mailboxes and remove old or large messages. The system will direct you to cPanel’s [*Email Disk Usage*](https://docs.cpanel.net/cpanel/email/email-disk-usage/) interface (*cPanel » Home » Email » Email Disk Usage*). |
| *Manage Email Filters* | This lets you to create rules to filter the email that arrives in the account. The system will direct you to cPanel’s [*Email Filters*](https://docs.cpanel.net/cpanel/email/email-filters/) interface (*cPanel » Home » Email » Email Filters*). |
| *Send Automated Responses* | This lets you configure your email account’s automated responses. The system will direct you to cPanel’s [*Autoresponders*](https://docs.cpanel.net/cpanel/email/autoresponders/) interface (*cPanel » Home » Email » Autoresponders*). |
***
Use the *Configure* section of the interface to select one of the following settings:
| Setting | Description |
| ---------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| *Connect Devices* | This lets you configure your mail client to access your cPanel email address. The system will direct you to a new interface. For more information, read our [Set Up Mail Client](https://docs.cpanel.net/cpanel/email/set-up-mail-client/) documentation. |
| *Configure Calendars and Contacts* | This lets you access your calendars and contacts on your personal devices. The system will direct you to cPanel’s *Calendars and Contacts Configuration* interface (*cPanel » Home » Email » Calendars and Contacts Configuration*). For more information, read our [How to Set Up Calendars and Contacts](https://docs.cpanel.net/knowledge-base/webmail/how-to-set-up-calendars-and-contacts) documentation.<br />!! Note<br />!! This setting is available if your hosting provider has enabled the *Calendars and Contacts* feature in WHM’s [*Feature Manager*](https://docs.cpanel.net/whm/packages/feature-manager/) interface (*WHM » Home » Packages » Feature Manager*). |
***
Use the *Authentication* section of the interface to select the following setting:
*Manage External Authentication* — This lets a user access cPanel with external authentication credentials. The system will direct you to a new interface. For more information, read our [Password and Security](https://docs.cpanel.net/cpanel/preferences/password-and-security/) documentation.
!! Note
!! If you do not see this setting, your hosting provider has **not** configured it. Contact them and ask them to enable this feature in WHM’s [Manage External Authentications](https://docs.cpanel.net/whm/security-center/manage-external-authentications/) interface (*WHM » Home » Security Center » Manage External Authentications*).
# Security
Use this feature to change the account’s password. Enter a secure password in the *New Password* text box. A secure password does **not** contain a dictionary word. It **must** also contain uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. The system will evaluate the password that you enter on a scale of `100`. A weak password has a `0` value, while a very secure password has a `100` value.
!! Note
!! Some hosting providers require a minimum password strength value. You **must** enter a password that meets this value.
!! You **cannot** retrieve passwords. If a user loses or forgets a password, you **must** create a new password.
You can perform the following actions with this feature:
* Click the reveal
icon to display the entered password.
* Click *Generate* to let the system create a secure password for you. The system will reveal this password.
* Click the more icon
to select password complexity settings. The system will use these settings when it generates a new password.
# Storage
The quota for an email account defines the amount of mail that the account can store. When the account exceeds this limit, the system returns any incoming mail to the sender. It also sends a message that states that the recipient’s mailbox is full. The system administrator can change this behaviour in WHM’s [*Exim Configuration Manager*](https://docs.cpanel.net/whm/service-configuration/exim-configuration-manager/) interface (*WHM » Home » Service Configuration » Exim Configuration Manager*).
Use the *Storage* feature to manage the following settings:
| Setting | Description |
| ------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| *Current Storage Use* | The amount of space that the email account currently uses. |
| *Allocated Storage Space* | The amount of disk space that the account can use to store email. If an account has reached the allocated storage space, or you set it to an amount below what is currently being used, then when an email is sent to the address, you will receive a bounce back email similar to [below](https://docs.cpanel.net/cpanel/email/manage-email-accounts/#bounce-back-email-example) . |
### Bounce back email example
```bash
This message was created automatically by mail delivery software.
A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of its
recipients. This is a permanent error. The following address(es) failed:
"user+Subject"@example.com
(ultimately generated from
[email protected])
LMTP error after RCPT TO:<"user+Subject"@example.com>:
552 5.2.2 <
[email protected]> Mailbox is full / Blocks limit exceeded / Inode limit exceeded
```
You can select one of the following settings for allocating storage space:
| Setting | Description |
| --------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Specify Storage Space | Enter a custom mailbox quota storage size. This value must be a whole number. You can also select different file sizes. For example, MB, GB, TB, and PB.<br />- Due to mail server constraints, you cannot assign quotas **greater** than 4096 TB (4 PB). You **must** assign the *Unlimited* value for quotas that exceed this amount. <br />- Make certain that you track your quota usage. A mailbox with a full quota **cannot** receive mail. <br />- The system calculates a mailbox’s quota use when a user logs in to that mailbox. <br />- Your mailbox’s trash folder does not count in the quota calculation. |
| *Unlimited* | There is no storage space limit.<br />If this setting appears as the *Maximum* setting, your hosting provider does **not** allow unlimited mailbox quota. If you assign a custom quota, it **cannot** exceed this value. |
# Restrictions
Use this feature to enable or disable a user’s ability to log in, receive mail, or send mail. You can also hold outgoing mail. Select *Allow*, *Suspend*, or *Hold* for the applicable setting.
| Options | Allow | Suspend | Hold |
| ------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- |
| *Receiving Incoming Mail* | The server will accept any incoming messages for the account. | The server will reject any incoming messages for the account. | N/A |
| *Sending Outgoing Mail* | The server will accept any outgoing messages for the account. | The server will reject any outgoing messages for the account. | The system will retain all outgoing messages in a queue. |
| *Logging In* | The server will enable login for a user. | The server will disable login for a user. | N/A |
You should keep the following tips in mind when using this feature:
* When you suspend an email account, the system also **disables** any aliases or forwarders that redirect email to the account.
* When you change the *Sending Outgoing Email* setting from *Hold* to *Allow*, the server will deliver all queued messages.
# Plus Addressing
Plus addressing (or subaddressing) adds a plus character and string after an email account username. For example, the `
[email protected]` email address could use the `
[email protected]` plus address. The email account would recognize these messages and place them in the `list` mailbox.
!! Note
!! Plus-addressing is **case-sensitive**. For example, to send an email to the system user email’s `INBOX` folder, use the plus address `
[email protected]`.
!! Plus-addressing is **not** the same as a wildcard redirect, which redirects all emails whose addresses match a regular expression (regex) pattern. To learn more about wildcard redirects, includng how to set one up, read our [Global Email Filters](https://docs.cpanel.net/cpanel/email/global-email-filters/#create-a-wildcard-redirect) documentation. To learn more about email filters as a whole, read our [How to Configure Email Filters](https://docs.cpanel.net/knowledge-base/email/how-to-configure-email-filters/) documentation.
You can configure how the system handles plus addresses when the appropriate folder does not already exist. Select one of the following settings:
| Setting | Description |
| -------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| *Automatically Create Folders.* | When you receive an email that uses plus addressing and the folder does not already exist, the system will create a new folder for the message. The system will deliver the message to that new folder. |
| *Do Not Automatically Create Folders.* | When you receive an email that uses plus addressing and the folder does **not** already exist, the system will **not** create a new folder. Instead, the system will deliver the message to the `INBOX` folder. |
# Save or cancel your changes
At the bottom of the interface, you can perform the following actions:
| Action | Description |
| ------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| *Stay on this page after I click Update Email Settings* | Select this to remain on this interface after you click *Update Email Settings*. |
| *Go Back* | Cancel any of your current changes. This will return you to the [*Email Accounts*](https://docs.cpanel.net/cpanel/email/) interface. |
| *Update Email Settings* | Update the account with your changes. This will return you to the [*Email Accounts*](https://docs.cpanel.net/cpanel/email/) interface. |
# Delete Email Account
Use this feature to **permanently** remove the email account and its data. When you click *Delete Email Account*, a confirmation message will appear. Click *Delete* to remove the account.