Help with BT email

[help-with-tech]

I wonder if anyone else is having a similar issue with using the BT portal to access their emails?  It used to be managed by Yahoo which worked well but since the switchover it has not been reliable.  I use Google chrome to sign into BT Internet to get my emails but often my emails do not load.  I get the loading icon then eventually the message 'An unexpected error has occured'. The sent emails are fine and sometimes the in-coming emails load up!  The account itself is fine as I can receive my emails on my iphone where I don't use the portal - I use my Mailbox icon. In order to work on emails from my laptop I use my iphone to send my emails to myself so that I can view them in my Sent items on my laptop.  I have called several times with assurances that it will be looked into and sorted but I'm still having the same problem.  Does anyone have a similar problem?  I am not techy enough to know how to get direct access to emails on my laptop (using an HP with Windows 8.1 if that is relevant?!) without going through the laborious and unreliable BT portal.  Can anyone help me?  Many thanks in advance,  

[licquorice]

You just need to install a mail client on you laptop, this is the equivalent of the mail app on your iPhone.

There are several free ones to choose from bu the most popular is Mozilla Thunderbird https://www.thunderbird.net/en-GB/

If you configure the account as IMAP, it will sychronise with your iPhone. 

Download and install the client and add your email account, it should automatically populate the correct settings by entering your email address and password.

[licquorice]

Sorry, I've just realised what you are saying about having to send mails to yourself from your iPhone in order to see them in webmail on your laptop. This means that your mail app on your iPhone is configured as POP3 rather than IMAP. Unfortunately,  it is not possible to reconfigure the account from POP3 to IMAP on the fly, the account needs to be deleted and re-created in order to do so. If the mails are stored on your phone rather than the server, it is possible you could lose them in the process. I am not familiar with Apple products and iPhone mail apps so can't advise specifically how to change from POP3 to IMAP whilst ensuring no mail is lost.

[help-with-tech]

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply.  That’s much appreciated. I’ll try again calling the BT helpline to see if there’s anything they can do their end. At least for now my long-winded system does work, it’s just so frustrating! Thanks for trying to help

[licquorice]

Don't waste your time calling the BT help desk, they will be unable to assist.

[help-with-tech]

Ok, thanks for that - I’ll give that a miss then! 

[licquorice]

Have you tried using a different browser, such as Firefox to see if that makes any difference.

[licquorice]

If you are not confident changing your iPhone from POP3 to IMAP, you could take it to an Apple Store and get them to configure it for you.

The required settings are here

https://www.bt.com/help/email/manage-email-account/manual-settings/what-are-the-settings-for-outgoin...

[help-with-tech]

I have tried logging into BT from a different browser but it didn’t help. My laptop is not Apple it’s a HP Pavilion so I don’t know if that makes a difference. It used to work fine so I’m just stumped by what has gone wrong. The iPhone works fine with emails so it’s just the laptop. Thanks for trying to help

[licquorice]

Right, having re-read your original post more closely, can you confirm that when you send yourself an email from your phone you are then viewing that email in the Sent items rather than the Inbox on your laptop? If that is the case, your phone is set up as IMAP.

Try installing Thunderbird and see how you get on with that. If you need to set up the account manually, the settings are in the link I posted previously.