Proton Mail has limited third-party IMAP support. You typically connect standard mail clients through Proton Mail Bridge or a paid plan.Documentation Index
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Option 1: Proton Mail Bridge (recommended)
Bridge is a desktop app that exposes standard IMAP/SMTP locally. Free accounts can use it.| Protocol | Address | Port |
|---|---|---|
| IMAP | 127.0.0.1 | 1143 |
| SMTP | 127.0.0.1 | 1025 |
- Username: Proton Mail address
- Password: Generated in the Bridge UI—not your Proton login password
Install Bridge
Download and install Proton Mail Bridge from the Proton website.
Sign in and get credentials
Sign in to Bridge and copy the IMAP/SMTP username and password it generates for your mail client.
Option 2: Paid direct IMAP/SMTP
Proton Mail Plus and other paid plans support direct connection toimap.proton.me. See Proton’s official IMAP documentation for current settings.
Free Proton Mail does not support direct third-party IMAP. Use Bridge instead.
Frequently asked questions
Why is ProtonMail Bridge required?
Why is ProtonMail Bridge required?
Proton’s servers only see end-to-end encrypted mail. Bridge runs on your computer, holds your decryption key, and exposes a standard IMAP/SMTP interface locally. Without Bridge, third-party clients cannot decrypt your mail.
Is Bridge free?
Is Bridge free?
Bridge itself is free to install, but requires a paid Proton plan (Mail Plus, Unlimited, or Business). It’s not available on the free Proton tier.
Can I use Bridge with a cloud-hosted mail client?
Can I use Bridge with a cloud-hosted mail client?
Not out of the box — Bridge serves IMAP on
127.0.0.1 (localhost). A client running in the cloud cannot reach your local Bridge without a tunnel (e.g. WireGuard, Tailscale) or a self-hosted client on the same machine as Bridge.
