Connect a mailbox
Ballast sends from your own mailboxes and reads their replies, so it needs to log in to each one. Pick your provider in Mailboxes, Add mailbox. Ballast tests sending and reading before it saves anything.
Ballast is cold email software with every feature on every plan. Connect unlimited mailboxes, send sequences at a pace your domains survive, and handle replies in one inbox, priced by the emails you send.
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Google Workspace or Gmail (app password)
Google refuses your normal password over SMTP and IMAP. An app password is a separate 16-character password for one app, and you can revoke it any time.
- Turn on 2-Step Verification for the account you send from, at myaccount.google.com/signinoptions/twosv. App passwords only exist once it's on.
- Create an app password at myaccount.google.com/apppasswords. Name it Ballast.
- Copy the 16 characters Google shows you. You won't see them again.
- In Ballast, open Mailboxes, Add mailbox, Google Workspace or Gmail. Enter the email address, the sender name your leads will see, and paste the app password. Spaces are fine.
- Press add. Ballast logs in to
smtp.gmail.comandimap.gmail.com, and shows "login works" or Google's error for each.
If the app passwords page says the setting isn't available, 2-Step Verification is still off, or a Google Workspace admin has turned app passwords off for your organisation. Changed the Google password later? Google revokes app passwords with it: make a new one and paste it in the mailbox's settings.
Microsoft 365 or Outlook (sign in)
Microsoft is retiring password logins for SMTP, so Ballast connects through Microsoft sign-in instead. Open Mailboxes, Add mailbox, Microsoft 365 or Outlook and press Continue with Microsoft.
- Sign in with the mailbox you want to send from, not your admin account.
- Allow Ballast to send and read mail for that mailbox. Ballast stores a token, never a password, and you can revoke it in your Microsoft account any time.
- If your company blocks third-party apps, an admin has to approve Ballast once.
Ballast sends through Microsoft Graph and reads replies from every folder, Junk included. If Microsoft refuses the sign-in later, the mailbox shows Reconnect.
Any other provider (SMTP and IMAP)
Zoho, Fastmail, Yahoo, iCloud, cPanel hosting, Mailcow, Mailreef and anything else that speaks SMTP and IMAP. Open Mailboxes, Add mailbox, Any other provider and enter the email address, username (usually the same address) and password.
When Ballast recognises the provider from the domain's MX records, it fills in the server details for you. Change anything that differs.
| Provider | SMTP (sending) | IMAP (replies) |
|---|---|---|
| Google Workspace | smtp.gmail.com 587, STARTTLS | imap.gmail.com 993, SSL/TLS |
| Microsoft 365 | smtp.office365.com 587, STARTTLS | outlook.office365.com 993, SSL/TLS |
| Zoho Mail | smtp.zoho.com 465, SSL/TLS | imap.zoho.com 993, SSL/TLS |
| Zoho Mail (EU) | smtp.zoho.eu 465, SSL/TLS | imap.zoho.eu 993, SSL/TLS |
| Fastmail | smtp.fastmail.com 465, SSL/TLS | imap.fastmail.com 993, SSL/TLS |
| GoDaddy | smtpout.secureserver.net 465, SSL/TLS | imap.secureserver.net 993, SSL/TLS |
| Yahoo Mail | smtp.mail.yahoo.com 465, SSL/TLS | imap.mail.yahoo.com 993, SSL/TLS |
| iCloud Mail | smtp.mail.me.com 587, STARTTLS | imap.mail.me.com 993, SSL/TLS |
| Yandex | smtp.yandex.com 465, SSL/TLS | imap.yandex.com 993, SSL/TLS |
Unknown provider? Ask your host for the SMTP and IMAP server, port and security. Port 465 is usually SSL/TLS and 587 STARTTLS. Ballast connects only to public addresses, so a server on a private network won't work.
Providers that need an app password
These providers refuse your normal password over SMTP and IMAP. Ballast shows the same hint in the form when it detects them.
| Provider | What to do |
|---|---|
| Zoho Mail | Zoho needs an app password when 2-factor is on, and IMAP turned on in Mail settings. The free plan has no SMTP or IMAP. Open settings |
| Zoho Mail (EU) | Zoho needs an app password when 2-factor is on, and IMAP turned on in Mail settings. The free plan has no SMTP or IMAP. Open settings |
| Fastmail | Fastmail needs an app password with IMAP and SMTP access: Settings, Privacy & Security, App passwords. Open settings |
| Yahoo Mail | Yahoo needs an app password, not your normal one: Account security, Generate app password. Open settings |
| iCloud Mail | iCloud needs an app-specific password, not your Apple ID password: Sign-In and Security, App-Specific Passwords. Open settings |
Many mailboxes at once (CSV)
In Add mailbox, choose Many mailboxes? Import a CSV. Headers from Instantly and Smartlead exports are recognised. Each row is tested like a single mailbox, and the result shows which were added, which already existed and which failed with the reason.
email,name,password,smtp_host,smtp_port,imap_host,imap_port,daily_limit
ana@acme.com,Ana Popescu,app-password,smtp.acme.com,465,imap.acme.com,993,30Optional columns: smtp_security, imap_security, smtp_user, imap_user. Leave out daily_limit to get the default of 30.
What happens after you connect
A new mailbox starts at 5 emails a day and adds 2 a day until it reaches its daily limit. Its domain appears in Domains with a deliverability grade. Ballast logs in again once a day to catch expired passwords. Details in Mailboxes.
New workspaces can connect up to 5 mailboxes in their first 7 days. Gmail and Outlook.com addresses work as mailboxes, but their domains never get a deliverability grade: you don't control their DNS.