Exchange is Microsoft's corporate email, calendar, and contact service, built on top of the company's lightning-fast ActiveSync protocol. Many companies use Exchange for their email services; if yours happens to be one of them, we've got the guide to help you set it up on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
Even if you don't have a company Exchange account, you may still be able to take advantage of Exchange syncing on the iPhone through a paid Google account. Google licenses Microsoft's technology so that it can provide Google Sync service for Gmail, Contacts, and Calendars; if you have a paid Google account, you can set up Google Sync through an Exchange account on the iPhone, as well.
No matter whether you use Exchange via Microsoft, Google, your company, or a third-party service, it's all set up the same way: All you need to know are your credentials.
How to set up a mail, calendar, and contacts Exchange account on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap Mail, Contacts, Calendars.
- Tap Add Account.
- Tap Microsoft Exchange.
- Enter your Exchange ActiveSync account settings (see your IT administrator or service provider if you don't know them).
- Tap Next.
- Select what you want to sync (Mail, Calendar, Contacts, Reminders).
- Tap Save.
You can go back to Settings and configure how many days of mail you want to sync, along with advanced settings like SSL and S/MIME as well.
How to set up Google Sync on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
The Google Sync setup is nearly identical to Exchange: You just need to have a paid Google account and enter the following settings.
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap Mail, Contacts, Calendars.
- Tap Add Account.
- Tap Microsoft Exchange.
- Under Email, enter your full Gmail or Google Account email address (i.e. name@gmail.com or name@mygoogleaccountdomain.com).
- Enter m.google.com as the Server.
- Leave the Domain field blank. (Really.)
- Enter your full Gmail or Google Account email address as the Username. (Yup, just like above.)
- Enter your account password next to Password.
- Tap Next.
- Select what you want to sync (Mail, Calendar, Contacts, Reminders).
- Tap Save.
Running into problems with Exchange sync? Let us know and we can try and help you out.
Rene Ritchie contributed to an earlier version of this article.
