Download and install a Small Business Email profile on Mac
A connection profile can add your Small Business Email mailbox to Apple's Mail app on macOS in a few clicks. A combined profile can also add calendars and contacts to Apple's Calendar and Contacts apps. It does not configure Outlook or other third-party email apps.
Example domain only:
Wherever you see clientdomain.co.uk, type the domain after the @ in your own email address.
Your Small Business Email package includes a custom mail hostname and webmail URL. In this guide we will use mail.clientdomain.co.uk as a placeholder.
For example, if your email address is joebloggs@clientdomain.co.uk, your server would be mail.clientdomain.co.uk, and your webmail link would be https://mail.clientdomain.co.uk.
Before you begin
Have your full email address, mailbox password and Mac login password ready. Back up local-only messages before removing an old account.
Download your profile
- Open Safari and go to your Small Business Email webmail interface and sign in.
- Click the Preferences cog icon in the top left of the page
- Click the link to go to Small Business Email Advanced Settings
- Click General then tap the link to download the appropriate Apple connection profile. You can choose either:
Email [IMAP, SMTP] - this option will only sync email to your Mac
Email, contacts, and calendars [IMAP, SMTP, Cal/CardDAV] (Recommended) - this option will allow you to sync your webmail contacts and calendars with your Mac
- If Safari asks permission to download a configuration profile, click Allow. A download alone does not install the account.
- Go to your Downloads folder and double click the configuration profile. You will get this message:
Review and install
- Open Apple menu > System Settings > General > Device Management. On some earlier macOS versions, open System Settings > Privacy & Security > Profiles; older releases use System Preferences > Profiles. Searching Settings for Profiles can help locate it.
- In the downloaded profiles section, double click the profile in the Downloaded section. Confirm your email address and the expected account settings.
Check the title under your email address says Small Business Email by smallbusiness.host, and that the server matchesmail.clientdomain.co.uk, (or a server name including smallbusiness.email or sbhdns.com is also acceptable).
Stop if it contains unexpected settings, device-management enrolment or a request to trust a root certificate.
- Click Continue or Install, depending on your macOS version, and review further prompts. Enter your Mac login password or approve with Touch ID if requested to authorise installation.
If a workplace policy prevents installation, contact your device administrator or support. Do not change management or security settings to force installation.
Verify the account
Open Mail > Settings > Accounts > your account > Server Settings. Older versions use Mail > Preferences. Where visible, confirm incoming IMAP port 993, outgoing SMTP port 465, Use TLS/SSL enabled for both, and password authentication with your full email address. If profile-managed values differ or cannot be inspected, contact support to check the profile before using the account. Do not modify the downloaded profile to bypass managed settings.
Open Mail, send a message to another address you can access and reply to it. If you installed the combined profile, check that the account appears in Calendar and Contacts too. Do not bypass certificate warnings or turn off encryption.
Remove or replace a profile
Return to Device Management or Profiles, select the relevant profile and choose the remove/minus button. Removing it removes the accounts and settings it installed from this Mac, not the server mailbox; unsynchronised local data may be lost. Check synchronisation and back up local-only messages, calendars and contacts first. Download a fresh profile from your own service if a replacement is needed. Keep profiles private and do not share them.
Contact us through the Client Management Portal with your macOS version and error message. Never send your password or a profile containing credentials.
