Why do you sometimes need one email address to access another? And why doesn’t your Infomaniak password always work in Outlook?
Let’s untangle accounts, addresses and access without getting lost in the settings.
1. Why does Infomaniak ask for an email address to access another email address?
To use Infomaniak Mail, you first sign in to your Infomaniak account. Your login is an email address, for example your personal address firstname@gmail.com.
Once signed in, you can read messages sent to firstname@company.ch, provided your account has been authorised to use that address.
The two addresses have different roles:
firstname@gmail.comis your Infomaniak account login: you use it to sign in.firstname@company.chis the email address you use to send and receive work messages.
The two addresses can also be identical. For example, you can use firstname@company.ch both as your Infomaniak account login and as your email address. The roles remain different: one identifies your account, the other sends and receives messages.
Create an email address or invite a user?
Why not both? Infomaniak may ask you to choose who will use a new address when you create it. Conversely, depending on your plan, you may also be able to create an address when inviting someone.
The important thing is knowing which email address to use for the invitation: the person may already have an Infomaniak account, or they may be invited to create one.
Invite someone using a personal or work address?
When Infomaniak asks which address to use for an invitation, you can choose a personal address or a work address, which may be created at the same time. This address can be used as the login for the person’s Infomaniak account.
We recommend inviting people using their personal address. Their account then remains linked to them: they can use it to access services for several companies without depending on a work address that might be deactivated when they leave.
The company stays in control of its services: it chooses each person’s access and can remove it when they leave. The work address remains available for the company’s communications.
For the details, see Infomaniak’s guides to adding a user to an organisation and creating an email address.
2. Setting up Outlook and Apple Mail: which password should you use?
To use your email address in Outlook, Apple Mail or another application, you need a device password. It is separate from your Infomaniak account password, even if you use the same email address.
The Infomaniak configuration assistant helps you create this password and set up your software.
A “device” is not necessarily a computer or phone: it can also be software, such as an invoicing tool that sends emails. These connections appear under Connected devices.
Adding a device lets you generate a unique password for your email software (Outlook, Thunderbird, Apple Mail, etc.). Configured devices appear below.
| Name | User |
|---|---|
| Outlook — office | SM Sophie Martin |
| Apple Mail — phone | LB Lucie Bernard |
| Invoicing software | Unassigned |
Separate passwords let you remove one device’s access without disconnecting the others.
Add a device and create an email password: Infomaniak guide.
In summary
For Infomaniak Mail, sign in with your Infomaniak account. For Outlook, Apple Mail or another application, use the email address and a device password. Even if the email address is the same, these are two separate connections.
Need help making sense of your accounts, addresses or permissions? Pyxa can help.