How to create a mailbox

Applies to: All plans (Self-Managed and Managed).

Before you start: Log in to your client area at my.maxinodes.com. Decide on the address you want (for example info@yourdomain.com) and choose a strong password that you don't use anywhere else.

Every hosting plan includes mailboxes on your own domain. You create and manage them on your service page in the client area, or in cPanel if you prefer. Each mailbox has its own address and password, and you can use it in webmail and in any mail app that supports IMAP or POP3. On a Managed plan you can also simply ask us: we create mailboxes, connect your mail apps and reset mailbox passwords on request.

How many mailboxes your plan includes

Plan	Mailboxes	Maximum size per mailbox
Self-Managed Lite	10	5 GB
Self-Managed Plus	50	10 GB
Self-Managed Pro	Unlimited	10 GB
Managed Starter	25	10 GB
Managed Growth	100	10 GB
Managed Business	Unlimited	25 GB

The number is for your whole hosting account, across all the domains on it.
Mailboxes share your plan's storage. Mail is kept in your hosting account and counts toward its disk space, together with your website files and databases. "Unlimited" means there is no fixed number of mailboxes; they all still share that storage.
Each mailbox starts with a 1 GB quota, which you can raise at any time up to your plan's maximum. The quota is a ceiling, not space set aside: a mailbox only takes up as much space as the mail in it.

All the limits, including how much mail each domain can send, are in Mailbox and sending limits.

Create a mailbox in the client area

Go to Services -> My Services and open your hosting service.
Open Email Accounts.
Choose the button above the list to create a mailbox.
Enter the address: the name before the @ (for example info) and, if your account has more than one domain, the domain.
Set a password, or generate a random one. The strength meter under the field shows how strong it is.
Enter the quota in MB. 1024 MB is 1 GB, the usual starting size. The most you can enter is 5120 on Self-Managed Lite, 10240 on Plus, Pro, Managed Starter and Growth, and 25600 on Managed Business.
Confirm to create the mailbox.

Result: The mailbox appears in the list with its usage and quota, and it's ready to use. Mail from outside reaches it once your domain's mail records point to us (see The DNS records your email needs). The mailbox's menu includes Account Configuration Details, with the settings for mail apps.

Or create it in cPanel

On your service page, choose Log in to cPanel.
Go to Email -> Email Accounts and choose + Create.
Pick the domain, enter the username and a password, and set the Storage Space (1 GB to start, up to your plan's maximum).
Choose Create.

It's the same list either way: mailboxes you create in cPanel show up in the client area, and the other way round.

Connect the mailbox to your mail app

Choose Account Configuration Details in the mailbox's menu to see its server names and ports, or use the table in Mail app settings for your mailbox (IMAP, POP3, SMTP). The username is always the full email address. To read mail in your browser, use the Webmail button on the service page; see How to access webmail.

Change a mailbox's password or quota

Password: in Email Accounts, open the mailbox's menu and change the password (in cPanel: Email Accounts -> Manage). Then update the saved password on every phone, tablet and computer that uses the mailbox. A device that keeps trying the old password gets the mailbox locked for five minutes at a time: see My mail app can't connect, or keeps asking for my password.
Quota: in the same menu, change the quota (in cPanel: Email Accounts -> Manage). You can raise it up to your plan's maximum. If you lower it below what the mailbox already holds, the mailbox counts as full and refuses new mail.

Delete a mailbox

Deleting a mailbox deletes all the mail in it, at once and for good. Before you delete one:

Save anything you need: move it to another mailbox in your mail app, or export it.
Remove the account from phones and mail apps, so they stop trying to log in.
If the address should keep receiving mail but doesn't need its own mailbox, create a forwarder for it once the mailbox is deleted: see How to forward email (forwarders).

Mail deleted by mistake can only come back from a backup taken before it was deleted: see How to restore a mailbox or deleted email from a backup.

Troubleshooting this task

You can't create another mailbox. You've reached your plan's number of mailboxes. Delete one you no longer need, replace addresses that only pass mail on with forwarders, or move to a larger plan: see How to upgrade or downgrade your plan.
The quota isn't accepted. A mailbox can't be larger than your plan's maximum, so an unlimited quota is refused even if the form offers it. Enter a number of MB no higher than the maximum in the table above.
The mailbox works in webmail, but mail from outside doesn't arrive. Your domain's mail records probably still point somewhere else: a previous host, Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. Check them with The DNS records your email needs. If the domain already has email elsewhere, tell us before you change anything and we'll help you move it: see How to move your existing email to Maxinodes.
Your mail app says the password is wrong. The username is the full email address, not your cPanel username. See My mail app can't connect, or keeps asking for my password.

Good to know

Need shared calendars, Microsoft Teams or shared drives? Professional Email (Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace) is also available in the client area store: see How to add Professional Email to your hosting.