Question :

I have macOS 10.15 Catalina and Mail.app 13.4 and for some reason, I am now getting an error saying that Mail.app can’t get new mail from my Planet.nl eMail account, even though it used to run without any problem for the past years (I had been using the mailserver setting outlined in this post without running into any problems).

I have tried creating a new eMail account for my Planet.nl-account in Mail.app, but that wasn’t possible without deleting the previously used Planet.nl-account from Mail.app first. But even after deleting the previous Planet.nl-account, whenever I try to setup a new eMail account for my Planet.nl-account, it is automatically set up as a POP3-mailbox and I can’t find any way to change it to an IMAP-mailbox afterwards…

Even though it works as a POP3-mailbox, I don’t want a POP3-mailbox since I want to use it on multiple devices constantly : I want to use it on my Mac, my iPhone and my iPad without running into syncing problems.

How do I setup my Planet.nl-account as an IMAP-mailbox on Mail.app ?

Answer :

The problem you are running into seems to have to do with the fact that it’s a long long time ago (actually in the summer of 2008, so nearly 15 years ago) that internetprovider Planet.nl was integrated into (or ‘replaced by’ if you prefer) it’s mother-brand internetprovider KPN, which meant that all Planet.nl mail-servers were replaced by KPNmail.nl mail-servers.

Here’s how to fix this :

• first open Safari (your internet browser) and goto your KPN Webmail : https://webmail.kpnmail.nl/mail/logon.asp
• login using username@planet.nl (your Planet.nl eMail address) as your login
• see if the password that you are using works here to login
• if your password doesn’t work, see if you can find the password that does work to login to the KPN Webmail website
• if you still can’t find the correct password, go here to reset it : https://www.kpn.com/service/internet/e-mail/wachtwoord-of-gebruikersnaam-vergeten.htm
• then, open Mail.app on your Mac to delete the existing Planet.nl eMail-account
• goto Mail (in the top menu bar) > Prefereces > Accounts (tab) > select the Planet.nl account (from the list on the left) > – (the button with a minus-sign ; a.k.a. ‘delete’)
• then goto Apple-icon (top-left in upper menu bar) > System Preferences > Internet Accounts > Add Other Account (bottom option on the right)
• now, in the window that opens, DO NOT type username@planet.nl as the new eMail address, but use username@kpnmail.nl instead !!! (even if you have never used username@kpnmail as your eMail address, it is available for you if you have a username@planet.nl eMail address)
• now you will get an error message AND the option to manually choose either POP or IMAP
• at ‘E-mailadres:’ put username@planet.nl (= the Planet.nl eMail address you want to use)
• at ‘Gebruikersnaam:’ put accountname@planet.n (= the Planet.nl account that usually consists of your last name and 3 numbers ; do not forget to add @planet.nl after it)
• at ‘Wachtwoord:” put your password (the one that works for KPN Webmail)
• at ‘Type account:’ choose IMAP
• at ‘Server inkomende e-mail:’ put imap.kpnmail.nl
• at ‘Server uitgaande e-mail:’ put smtp.kpnmail.nl
• then click the ‘Log in’-button
• Then open Mail.app and see that your Planet.nl eMail-account has been added and that your mail is being fetched

That’s it !

enjoy 😉