What do you need help with?

We send a sign-in link to your contact email. Once you're in, you choose a new password.

1. Go to the sign-in page, type your email address and press Email me a sign-in link.
2. Open the email we send you and press Continue. The link works once, for 15 minutes.
3. In the menu, open Sign-in & security, type your new password twice and press Change password.

No email arrived? Look in the spam folder of that inbox, or ask for a new link.

A sign-in link can't reach you, so use the recovery key you saved when you created your account.

1. On the sign-in page, choose Use your recovery key.
2. Type your address, the recovery key and a new password, and press Set my new password.
3. You get a new recovery key: the old one works only once. Write the new one down and keep it safe.

Lost the key too? Write to support@freeholdmail.com from any address, and we'll help you prove it's you.

When you switched on two-step verification, you saved ten recovery codes. Each one works once instead of a code from your phone.

1. Sign in as usual. On the Enter your code screen, open Phone not with you? Use a recovery code.
2. Type one of your recovery codes and press Sign in.
3. On your new phone: open Sign-in & security, press Switch off under two-step verification, then Set up two-step verification again.

A passkey signs you in with your device's fingerprint, face or PIN. It only works on our own site, so nobody can trick you into using it somewhere else.

1. Open Sign-in & security.
2. Give it a name, like "My laptop", and press Add a passkey. Your device asks for your fingerprint, face or PIN.
3. Next time, press Sign in with a passkey on the sign-in page.

Any mail app works: the Mail app on an iPhone, Gmail or Thunderbird on Android, Outlook or Thunderbird on a computer.

1. On the web, open Account and press Create a mailbox password. Copy it: it's shown once. It's only for mail apps; your sign-in password stays separate.
2. In your mail app, add an account and choose the manual or Other option. On an iPhone: Settings › Apps › Mail › Mail Accounts › Add Account › Other › Add Mail Account, then IMAP.
3. Fill in these settings:

Email and user name

your full address, e.g. sam@freeholdmail.com

Password

the mailbox password from step 1

Incoming mail (IMAP)

mx1.freeholdmail.com · port 993 · SSL/TLS

Outgoing mail (SMTP)

mx1.freeholdmail.com · port 465 · SSL/TLS (or 587, STARTTLS)

Extra addresses land in the same inbox, each with its own colour, so you always see which one a message came to.

1. Open Addresses.
2. For an address you'll keep, like sam.shop@freeholdmail.com: type the name and press Add alias.
3. For sign-ups and newsletters, press Create throwaway address: you get a random one you can switch off later.

Addresses are never deleted or given to anyone else, even after you switch them off or leave.

1. Open Addresses and click the address.
2. Under Where mail goes, choose Forward to another address and type that address. Tick Also keep a copy in my mailbox if you want both.
3. Press Save route. The other inbox gets an email first and has to confirm, so nobody can redirect your mail by mistake.

Run your own mail server? Choose Relay to my own mail server instead; we test the connection before switching.

A domain is a name like jansen.nl that you rent from a domain company. You can use it for your addresses here.

1. Open Domains, type your domain and press Add domain.
2. We show a few records to add. Copy each one into the DNS settings at the company where you rent the domain.
3. We check every hour and email you when the domain is ready. Then add addresses on it under Addresses.

If a record later goes missing, we email you which one, in plain words.

1. Select the message and press Spam. It moves to the Spam folder.
2. Is it all arriving at one throwaway address? Open Addresses, click it and press Switch off. Mail to it is refused from then on.
3. Something good ended up in Spam? Open it there and press Not spam.

Pictures from the internet are hidden until you press Show pictures, because they can tell the sender you opened the message.

1. Look in the Spam folder.
2. Check the address under Addresses: is it switched off, or set to forward or relay somewhere else?
3. Check the status page. If it shows a problem, we're already on it.

Still missing? Write to support@freeholdmail.com with the sender's address and roughly when it was sent.

1. Open Export & leave and press Start export.
2. When it's ready, press Download. We email you the link too.

You get your mail, contacts and filters in standard formats any provider can read. You can do this any time, not only when you leave.

1. Make a copy of everything first (the question above).
2. Open Export & leave and press Start leaving. The page walks you through moving your addresses.
3. We delete your data 30 days after you confirm, with a reminder a week before. Changed your mind? Press Cancel, I'm staying before then.

Your address is never given to anyone else, not even after you leave. See the shutdown promise and the privacy policy.