One of the most frustrating issues that a user generally faces with their AOL Mail account is “imap.aol.com not responding”. This error is generally experienced by users who access their AOL email account using the Mail app in iOS. And the error that appears on the screen reads – “Cannot Get Mail, the mail server imap.gmail.com is not responding”.Though this error is usually reported by iOS users, however, this error can also occur on other email applications like Outlook, Android, Thunderbird, etc. Well, no matter whether you are seeing the error to your already configured Aol Mail account or when trying to configure your AOL Mail account, you can overcome the “imap.aol.com not responding” error easily by following the workarounds provided below.
Guide to Fix “imap.aol.com not responding” Error
NOTE: Make sure that you have configured Your AOL email account using the correct IMAP settings. The correct IMAP server settings are as follows:
| Protocol | IMAP |
| Server Settings | Incoming mail server (IMAP): imap.aol.com Outgoing mail server (SMTP): smtp.aol.com |
| Port Settings | IMAP – 993 – SSL SMTP – 465 – SSL |
- Consider Basic Solution
The basic solution that you can consider to fix the problem of imap.aol.com not responding is to follow the instructions suggested below.
- To begin with, you will first need to close the mail application on your device on which you are experiencing issues.
- Next, you will need to restart your device and again open the Mail application on it.
- Once you have opened the app on your device, you will not need to clear the cache files of the mail app.
- Then, you will need to check the Incoming server port no, authentication type, and other details to ensure that they have been entered correctly.
- In case the problem persists, it is suggested to kindly remove the account and configure it using the latest account details.
In most of the cases, the above-mentioned workaround should help you overcome the problem, however, if the problem persists, you can follow the instructions provided below.
- Update the Configuration Settings of your Account
If even after considering the above-mentioned solution you are getting the AOL IMAP is not responding error message on your screen, it is recommended to check the account configuration settings. Sometimes the problem can be occurring due to outdated or incorrect configuration settings. Therefore, it is important to check and update the configuration settings of your account. To know the correct AOL Mail IMAP configuration settings, you can refer to the table provided above.
- Check the AOLUsername and Password
If you check the configuration settings of your AOL Mail account on the Mail app and the settings appear to be correct, but still you are finding the “imap.aol.com not responding”error in your AOL account, it is suggested to check your AOL email account login credentials. There are chances of typing the incorrect username or password, that’s why IMAP is unable to sync to the mail server. There can be a possibility that you entered an incorrect username or password of your AOL email account, which is making the mail application of the device to display the error on your screen. So, make sure that you have entered your AOL username and password correctly in the relevant fields. If you have forgotten your AOL email account password, you can create a new one by accessing your account using a web browser.
- Disable the Security Programs
Sometimes, the “imap.aol.com not responding error” may also appear when the security programs or settings installed on your device are blocking the incoming port used by you to configure your AOL email account on the email application. If this could be the case, your mail application will not be able to sync with the AOL mail server and you may face AOL email login problems or issues like“imap.aol.com, not responding”error.
In such a case, you can consider disabling the security software temporarily, and then try to synchronize with the AOL account again. If this workaround clears the error, you can reach to the manufactured of your security program to provide a solution.
- Reconfigure the AOL account
If even after following all the above-mentioned instructions you are setting the “imap.aol.com not responding” error in your mail application, it is best to delete your AOL email account from the mail application and re-configure it using the correct IMAP configuration. Below you can find the steps to manually set up your AOL email account on iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.
- Go to Settings>Password & Accounts option on your iPhone and tap on the Add Account option.
- From the list, you will need to select the “Other” option and tap on the Add Mail Account option.
- Next, you will need to enter your name, email address, password, and description for your AOL email account in the relevant fields.
- Then, tap on the Next button and allow the Mail application to find the email settings. If the application is able to find the settings automatically, you can finish the setup. However, if the application is unable to find the settings, go to the next step.
- Select IMAP or POP for your AOL email account and enter the information for the Incoming Mail Server and Outgoing Mail Server using the table provided above and follow the on-screen prompts.
- Once you are done entering the required information, you will need to tap on the Save option to complete the configuration process.
So, these are the basic workarounds that should help you fix the “imap.aol.com not responding” error in an email application.