Emails are sent from your computer to their recipients using your email account´s Outgoing Server (SMTP). This server is also the one to which Thunderbird normally authenticates at least once per session. Most of the time, the physical mail server for incoming and outgoing emails is the same. Often, the address is also identical, as in mail.yourEmailProvider.com
Thunderbird supports multiple (outgoing) email servers. Outgoing mail servers are automatically added to the list every time you add an email account in Thunderbird.
To access Thunderbird´s list of SMTP server, go to Tools > Account Settings, and select Outgoing Server (SMTP) on the left pane of the Account Settings dialog.
Thunderbird keeps track of SMTP information separately from email accounts. By default, when an email account is created, Thunderbird adds the new SMTP server´s information to the Outgoing Servers list, (and automatically attaches it to the email account).
To manually add an SMTP server, click the Add button, which will open the SMTP Server dialog. Likewise, the SMTP Server dialog popsup when selecting an existing SMTP server and clicking Edit.
Keep in mind that editing an SMTP server settings will affect all email accounts using this it. Settings will most likely be the same for all email accounts sharing an SMTP server, so this should not create problems.
Thunderbird lets you add and edit things like server description (friendly name), server name (address), port number, as well as user name.
You can use Thunderbird as reader for RSS feeds or Newsgroup accounts; in this tutorial, we will setup an email account. Choose "Email account," and click Next.
Thunderbird also lets you customize the security settings for outgoing authentication: by default, outgoing authentication happens in plain text (not secure), which all email providers support. Some email providers, however, demand that authentication be done in secure mode, (not a bad thing).
The standard SMTP ports are as follows:
Your email provider may require another configuration, generally for security reasons, like a four-digit port. If you have problems sending emails, check with your ISP and email provider(s).
Thunderbird offers the following options: No [security] (default), TLS if available (else plain text), TLS (mandated), or SSL (mandated). Email accounts created in Thunderbird are automatically set to use the most common configuration: plain text and port 25.
