Email: add BSC mail to iPhone: Apple Mail

The Mail app already on your iPhone can support BSC email and there is nothing to install.

Before you start

Set your BSC password first if you haven't already. You'll need it partway through.

If you'd rather use Outlook, see Add BSC mail to iPhone: Outlook.

* Steps shown on iOS 26.

Which app to use

Use the Mail app that came with your iPhone. It's the white envelope on a blue background, and no download is needed.

These steps work the same whether this is your first email account or you already have iCloud, Gmail, or another account on your phone. Adding BSC email doesn't change or remove anything you already have.

Open your mail account settings

Open Settings, tap Apps, then Mail, then Mail Accounts.

Tap Add Account.

Choose Mail Account, not the address field

The next screen asks you to enter your email address. Don't use that field. It only works for providers your iPhone already recognizes, and BSC isn't one of them.

Instead, tap choose from a list below the box.

A list of providers appears. BSC isn't there either, so tap Add Other Account at the bottom.

The list expands. Tap Mail Account, the blue envelope icon.

Enter your account details

Fill in all four fields, then tap Next.

Enter the server settings

Make sure IMAP is selected at the top, not POP. IMAP keeps your mail on the server so your phone, computer, and webmail all stay in sync.

Your iPhone may fill Incoming Host Name with your name instead of leaving it blank. If it does, clear it and type the hostname below.

The Outgoing Mail Server section marks User Name and Password as Optional. They aren't. Fill them in, or you'll be able to receive mail but not send it.

Both User Name fields need the whole address, not just the part before the @ sign. That's the most common thing to cause the email setup to fail.

Tap Next. Verification takes up to a minute.

Finish setup

Leave Mail switched on and tap Save. Notes is optional and you can leave it off.

BSC Email now appears in your account list.

Open the Mail app and your BSC inbox is there.

Turn on notifications

Your iPhone asks whether Mail can send you notifications. Tap Allow.

If you already dismissed it, open Settings, tap Notifications, then Mail, and turn on Allow Notifications. Mail will arrive either way, but without this you'll only see new messages when you open the app.

Check which account you're sending from

If you have another account on your phone, new messages go out from whichever one your iPhone treats as the default, and that may not be BSC. Some College offices only accept mail from a BSC address, so this is worth checking before you email a professor or your advisor.

In any new message, tap the From line to see which account is selected, and tap again to switch.

To make BSC the default, open Settings, tap Apps, then Mail, scroll to Default Mail Account, and select BSC Email. Replies always go out from whichever account received the message, so this only affects messages you start yourself.

About the category tabs

Your iPhone may sort mail into Primary, Transactions, Updates, and Promotions, and it decides which is which on its own. College messages sometimes land outside Primary, so check the other tabs for the first week or two.

To turn the sorting off, tap the ... menu at the top of your inbox and switch to the list view. Everything then arrives in one list.

Don't use Add Mailbox or New Mailbox

Inside the Mail app you'll see Add Mailbox and New Mailbox options. Those create folders inside an account you already have. They don't add an email account, so they won't bring in your BSC mail.

If you can receive mail but not send it

This means the outgoing server didn't save your username and password. Open Settings, tap Apps, then Mail, then Mail Accounts, then BSC Email.

Tap the account name at the top, then SMTP, then mail.b-sc.edu under Primary Server. Enter your full email address as the User Name and your password below it, then tap Done.

If it won't connect

Check the User Name fields first. Both need the full address including @student.b-sc.edu.

Check that Incoming Host Name says mail.b-sc.edu and not your name, since your iPhone sometimes fills that field in for you.

If you see a message about the server identity or a certificate, don't tap Continue. Email helpdesk@b-sc.edu and let us look at it first.

If you've recently reset your password, delete the account and add it again so it picks up the new one.

Still stuck, email helpdesk@b-sc.edu with a screenshot of the error.