---
title: "Email Backup - How to Set up an Apple iCloud Mail Account as an Email Account"
slug: "email-backup-how-to-set-up-an-apple-icloud-mail-account-as-an-email-account"
updated: 2023-11-18T00:27:46Z
published: 2023-11-18T00:27:46Z
canonical: "docs.retrospect.com/email-backup-how-to-set-up-an-apple-icloud-mail-account-as-an-email-account"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.retrospect.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Email Backup - How to Set up an Apple iCloud Mail Account as an Email Account

Email Backup

![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/6d1fe0c6-ccdb-4ee9-a621-0504cb91b4be/Images/Documentation/email-backup---how-to-set-up-an-apple-icloud-mail-account-as-an-email-account-image-qeniz0uw.png)

[Apple iCloud](https://www.icloud.com/) is a free email service from Apple. Retrospect 15 for Windows and Mac are certified to back up and migrate iCloud. Follow these step-by-step instructions for configuring Retrospect.

## Configuration

Retrospect needs the following pieces of information to access your email account:

- **Email Address** – your_email_address@icloud.com
- **User Name** – your full name (for display purposes only)
- **Password** – generated app-specific password
- **IMAP Server** – imap.mail.me.com
- **IMAP Port** – 993 (Mac only, Windows always set to 993)

For the password, you’ll need to log into your iCloud account to generate an application-specific password. See Apple’s article on ["Using app-specific passwords"](https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204397). Note that to generate and use app-specific passwords, your Apple ID must be protected with two-factor authentication.

On Windows, select "Email Accounts" under "Volumes" and click "Properties" to add an email account.

![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/6d1fe0c6-ccdb-4ee9-a621-0504cb91b4be/Images/Documentation/email-backup---how-to-set-up-an-apple-icloud-mail-account-as-an-email-account-image-3jvirxmw.png)

On Mac, select the plus button under "Sources" and then "Email" to add an email account.

![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/6d1fe0c6-ccdb-4ee9-a621-0504cb91b4be/Images/Documentation/email-backup---how-to-set-up-an-apple-icloud-mail-account-as-an-email-account-image-8etrytp6.png)

If you receive "error 8256", please check your email address and password.

If you receive "error 8252", please check your IMAP server and port.

## Adding Email Account to Backup Script

Adding an email account to a backup script is the same as any other source. Launch the Mac Backup Assistant or Windows Backup Wizard and select the email account as a source. If you use the advanced mode, the email accounts are listed along with the other sources.

![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/6d1fe0c6-ccdb-4ee9-a621-0504cb91b4be/Images/Documentation/email-backup---how-to-set-up-an-apple-icloud-mail-account-as-an-email-account-image-hi92si8d.png)

![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/6d1fe0c6-ccdb-4ee9-a621-0504cb91b4be/Images/Documentation/email-backup---how-to-set-up-an-apple-icloud-mail-account-as-an-email-account-image-qnyl22xg.png)

## Performance

Below are performance metrics for gauging how long your email operations will take. Keep in mind that they vary greatly by the email service’s responsiveness.

- **Scanning**: For scanning, Retrospect downloads successive sets of email headers. We have seen Retrospect scan 150 emails per second for 100,000 emails on a Gmail account, taking 10 minutes. We have also seen instances where scan is as slow as 10 emails per second.
- **Backup**: For backup, Retrospect downloads each email in serial. In testing, we have seen a backup of 30,000 emails with 3 GB of data take 2.5 hours, averaging 3 Mbps. However, similar to scanning variance, we have seen backups that were far slower.

Last Update: June 27, 2018