How to Create Email Accounts in Plesk

Every domain in Plesk can have its own email. Creating an address takes a minute; the settings around it — forwarding, aliases, spam filtering, quotas — are where the useful options are. Here is the whole Mail section.

Create a mailbox

1. Mail → Create Email Address (or Mail on the domain card).
2. Enter the local part (hello for hello@example.com) and pick the domain.
3. Set a strong password, or click Generate.
4. Mailbox size: the default (usually 1 GB or "unlimited to the subscription limit") is fine; set a smaller quota for role accounts that should not accumulate.
5. Optionally tick Access to the Customer Panel if this person should also log into Plesk (rarely).
6. Click OK.

The address is live immediately. Click it in the list to see the tabs below.

Forwarding

Forwarding tab: tick Switch on mail forwarding and enter one or more addresses. Mail is delivered to the mailbox and forwarded. To forward only, without keeping a copy, uncheck Mailbox on the General tab — the address then exists purely as a forwarder and uses no storage.

Forwarding to Gmail or Outlook.com is common and mostly works, but forwarded spam counts against your server's reputation with them. Keep spam filtering on for forwarded addresses, or use the fetch mail feature on the Gmail side instead.

Aliases

Email Aliases tab: extra addresses that deliver into the same mailbox — info@, sales@, enquiries@ all landing in one place. Aliases can be used as sender addresses in most mail clients.

Auto-reply

Auto-Reply tab: an out-of-office message with a subject, body, optional attachment, an end date, and a forward incoming mail to option for the cover. Set the end date; the number of "I'm away until March" replies still going out in June is large.

Spam filtering

Spam Filter tab: enable SpamAssassin for the mailbox and choose what to do with spam — mark the subject, move to the Spam folder, or delete. Move to Spam is the safe choice; deleted mail cannot be checked for false positives. The sensitivity score (7 default; lower is stricter) can be tuned per mailbox.

Server-wide, Tools & Settings → Spam Filter Settings controls the engine, and DKIM/SPF checks for incoming mail are under Mail Server Settings.

Catch-all

Under Mail → Mail Settings → the domain, Mail for non-existent users can be set to Forward to address to create a catch-all. It receives every typo and every dictionary attack; use it briefly during a migration to spot addresses you forgot, then switch it back to Reject.

Quotas and the domain limit

Each mailbox has a size; the subscription has a total. Statistics shows both. A full mailbox bounces incoming mail with a message the sender sees, which is the usual reason a client rings to say "someone said my email bounced".

Settings for mail clients

Click the address, then Mail client settings (or the i icon). Plesk shows:

Those go into any client; device-by-device screenshots are in setting up Plesk email on iPhone, Outlook and Gmail. Webmail is at webmail.example.com (Roundcube), with no setup at all.

Bulk creation

For a client with thirty staff, the Import button on the Mail page accepts a CSV of address, password and quota. Or with the CLI on the server:

plesk bin mail --create sales@example.com -mailbox true -passwd 'Str0ng-Pass' -mbox_quota 2G

Before you tell anyone the address works

Send one message out to a Gmail address and confirm it arrives in the inbox with SPF, DKIM and DMARC passing. If the domain is new to the server, that setup is in set up email on Plesk so it does not land in spam; on VPSPioneer plans it is done automatically when the domain is added.