• More about Mailfence
    • How does Mailfence pay its bills? To pay our bills, the team sells private label versions of its software to universities, service providers and corporations all over the world.

      If you love Mailfence, upgrade to one of our paid plans. We annually donate 15% of the Ultra plan revenues to projects and organisations that fight for online privacy. We currently support the Electronic Frontier Foundation and European Digital Rights.
    • Does law protect my data? Yes. Mailfence is based in Belgium which has strict privacy laws. However, if a Belgian judge issues a court order because of suspected illegal activities, we are legally obliged to comply by providing the requested data. We maintain an up-to-date warrant canary and transparency report listing the requests we receive. Should you wish to engage in illegal activities, we therefore strongly suggest that you read our Terms of Use thoroughly and think twice before you sign up.
    • Can Mailfence protect my mail from viruses and malware? We have virus-checking routines for attachments and follow sound practices of spam avoidance. However, we can't protect the local files on your device. It remains your responsibility to protect your devices from viruses, malwares and hacking attempts. Check this course to aware and safeguard yourself from common online security/privacy issues.

      See also the threat model for more details about what Mailfence does and does not protect you from.
    • Is Mailfence GDPR compliant? Mailfence is an email service that is GDPR-compliant. A service that manages email accounts on behalf of EU citizens or residents needs to take steps to process data lawfully and transparently, and also secure the personal data of its users. Find out what technical and organizational measures Mailfence implements in order to provide a GDPR-compliant email.
  • What about the money?
    • How much does Mailfence cost? The Mailfence free version makes email privacy available to everyone. It offers many of our features but with a limited storage capacity. Paid plans are also available.
    • What's the difference between free and paid plans? Our paid plans offer more features and more storage. Check our pricing for more details.
    • I want a paid plan. How do I upgrade? Way to go! Log in and go to 'Settings > Subscriptions'. Register if you don't have a free account yet.
    • How can I pay?
      • Credit card (Visa and Eurocard/Mastercard). Your plan will be automatically renewed 10 days before its expiration date.
      • Bitcoin
      • Litecoin
      • PayPal
      • Wire transfer: contact support for more information.
    • What is your refund policy? You can use Mailfence for free for as long as you want. This allows you to test our product thoroughly before upgrading. Subscriptions are therefore not refunded.
    • I want to end my Mailfence subscription. How do I do that? Please send us an email with your Mailfence username or email address and we will downgrade your subscription.
    • What happens with my account when I don't use it? We do not keep accounts indefinitely: your data will disappear if you stop using your account. Free accounts are suspended after 7 months of inactivity and totally deleted 5 months later. Paid accounts are not deleted as long as payments are received.
  • What about the technical stuff?
    • What are the technical requirements for using Mailfence? Mailfence is dummy proof: all you need is a device with an up-to-date Web browser and Internet access. Our services are available anywhere and there is nothing to install.
    • How can I reset my password? Click here. We will send a password reset link to your alternate email address. This is why we ask for an alternate email address when you register.
    • How do I access Mailfence from my mobile device? Paid accounts can use ActiveSync for iPad, iPhone, Android, Exchange ...
      server: www.mailfence.com
      username : your Mailfence username
      password : your Mailfence password
      domain : (leave empty)
      SSL : activate it.

      You can also use a lighter version which has been designed for mobile devices: https://mailfence.com/m/

      We are working on a dedicated mobile app.
    • Can I have POPS, IMAPS and SMTPS access? Paid accounts have POPS, IMAPS and SMTPS access. The settings are:

      POPS
      server: pop.mailfence.com
      user: your Mailfence username
      password: your Mailfence password
      port: 995 (SSL)

      IMAPS
      server: imap.mailfence.com
      user: your Mailfence username
      password: your Mailfence password
      port: 993 (SSL)
      Please note that simultaneous IMAP connections are limited to 20

      SMTPS
      server: smtp.mailfence.com
      user: your Mailfence username
      password: your Mailfence password
      port: 465 (SSL)
    • Can I send encrypted messages to people who are not Mailfence users? Yes. They can read and reply to your encrypted messages, after decrypting them using their OpenPGP private key. You can also send digitally signed emails to anyone.
    • Does Mailfence allow me to manage keys? Mailfence provides users with full control over their OpenPGP key management via an integrated keystore. This allows you to pretty much do all sorts of OpenPGP encryption operations without any restrictions. You can import your existing private and public keys, import and update your correspondents' public keys, generate revocation certificates and much more. You can even export your data and key pair and migrate at anytime.
    • I use Gmail/Hotmail/Ymail to communicate with Mailfence users. What data are available to my email provider and Mailfence about this communication? If you are exchanging end-to-end encrypted emails with Mailfence users via any third-party plugin/add-on (e.g., Mailvelope), your email provider and Mailfence know when the emails were sent to or from you, as well as other meta-data (to/from email addresses, messages subjects and sizes, IP addresses, etc.).
    • How can I import my account from Ymail/Gmail/Hotmail? See here.
    • Can I communicate securely with hardcore PGP users? Yes, easily. See this guide for details. Also, check best OpenPGP encryption practices.
    • Can I access my encrypted messages without using Mailfence? Yes. For instance, you can access your messages on a local client via IMAPS/POPS. You can also export your encrypted keys and messages and access them on any third-party party PGP compliant software.
    • Can I use Tor browser to access Mailfence webmail? Yes. See this blog post.
  • Cool stuff
    • Can I get a customised version of Mailfence? Yes. This is possible. Are you a business, an association or a government agency? Do you want other subscription plans, your own logo or would you like to integrate Mailfence seamlessly in your ecosystem? Our Business offering includes all these possibilities and much more. Just contact our sales () with a short description of your needs.
    • Can I get aliases? Yes, paid accounts can have aliases. The number of aliases for each subscription can be found in the pricing section. You can manage aliases in 'Settings > Messages > Aliases'.
    • Can I have my own domain name in my mail? Yes. If you have a paid account, you can have your own domain instead of "@mailfence.com" in your email address. You can keep your existing "@mailfence.com" address. If you don't already have your own domain name, you can get one from a registrar.
    • How do I set Mailfence as email server for my domain? Go to Settings > Messages > Email domains. The wizard will guide you through the steps to prove domain ownership, change the mail servers, add SPF, DKIM and DMARC records. Create your own email addresses by adding aliases to your account.
      If you need addresses for other people, get a paid subscription and go to Settings > Users to create your users, their email addresses and aliases.
  • More help?
    • I read the whole FAQ and I still have a question.
      • Check our support knowledge base for common technical questions.
      • Log in and go to your personalised online help which covers most topics in detail. If you don't have an account yet, see our online documentation.
      • If your question is not answered there, contact us. As we don't use bots but humans to reply, your problem will be solved as quickly as humanly possible.