What Is an IMAP Checker?

An IMAP checker verifies email credentials by attempting to authenticate against a mail server using the IMAP protocol. You provide email addresses with passwords, specify the mail server details, and the tool confirms which credentials are valid.

This is useful for administrators managing multiple accounts, security professionals auditing credential lists, or anyone needing to verify email access works before deploying automated systems.

How to Use the IMAP Checker

Follow these steps to verify your email credentials:

1. Enter email:password pairs in the resource field (one per line)
2. Configure the IMAP host for your email provider (e.g., imap.gmail.com)
3. Set the correct port (typically 993 for IMAPS)
4. Enable TLS for secure connections (recommended)
5. Click Check to start verification

Common IMAP Server Settings

Here are the correct IMAP settings for popular email providers:

• Gmail: imap.gmail.com, Port 993, TLS enabled
• Outlook/Hotmail: imap-mail.outlook.com, Port 993, TLS enabled
• Yahoo: imap.mail.yahoo.com, Port 993, TLS enabled
• iCloud: imap.mail.me.com, Port 993, TLS enabled
• AOL: imap.aol.com, Port 993, TLS enabled

Understanding Results

LIVE Results

Credentials marked as LIVE authenticated successfully. The email and password combination is valid, and the account is accessible via IMAP. These credentials can be used for email client configuration or automated access.

DIE Results

DIE indicates authentication failure. Common causes include:

• Incorrect password
• Account disabled or locked
• IMAP access disabled for the account
• Account requires app-specific password
• Too many failed attempts triggered security lockout

UNKNOWN Results

UNKNOWN means the server responded ambiguously. This can happen with temporary server issues or unusual authentication responses. Retry these credentials later for a definitive result.

ERROR Results

ERROR indicates connection problems rather than authentication issues:

• Wrong IMAP host or port
• Server unreachable or timing out
• TLS/SSL configuration mismatch
• Network connectivity issues
• Server rejected connection (rate limiting)

Batch Processing Tips

When checking large lists of credentials:

• Process credentials in batches of 50-100 to avoid server rate limits
• Allow delays between batches for Gmail and other providers with strict limits
• Pre-filter your list to remove obviously invalid email formats
• Separate credentials by provider and check each with correct server settings

Security Considerations

When working with email credentials:

• Only verify credentials you're authorized to check
• Don't store or share credential lists unnecessarily
• Use this tool on your own accounts or with explicit permission
• Credentials are processed server-side but never logged or stored
• Results remain in your browser session only

Technical Implementation

Our IMAP checker works by:

1. Parsing your input to extract email and password pairs
2. Establishing a connection to the specified IMAP server
3. Attempting IMAP LOGIN or AUTHENTICATE command with credentials
4. Interpreting the server response to determine success or failure
5. Categorizing results based on the authentication outcome

The tool processes credentials sequentially to avoid overwhelming mail servers and triggering rate limits. Real-time results appear as each verification completes.