Email Setup

Eir to charge users of @eircom.net email service €5.99 per month from 31st of July.

According to Eir they are doing this ‘in order to provide users with a better service’. If you decide not to pay, Eir will hold your emails and email address for a further 60 days – to end of September. After that you will not be able to access your email because Eir will then permanently delete all your emails, contacts and your email address.

If you are opting not to pay then you need to set up a new email address. The best option is Gmail or Microsoft. If you already have a hotmail.com or a live.ie account then you are already with Microsoft. If you have been accessing your eircom email online (Webmail) then I recommend you opt for a Gmail account.

Click here to sign up to a Gmail Account

Link below gives you a step by step Tutorial guide on how to get and use a Gmail account - https://edu.gcfglobal.org/en/gmail/

Click here to sign up to a Microsoft Account

Link below gives you a step by step Tutorial guide on how to get and use a Microsoft account - https://edu.gcfglobal.org/en/microsoftaccount/

There are two ways to access your emails

1. Online also known as Webmail – Open a browser and type outlook.com for a Microsoft account or gmail.com for a Gmail account. You will be asked to sign in with your email and password. If you do that successfully then all your emails will be displayed. Check tutorials above to learn about all the things you can do using your online account. Remember to sign out of your account when you have finished. If you don’t, anyone using that computer can view your emails and tamper with your account. Webmail rather than email clients is much more flexible in what it lets you do. You may have accessed your eircom emails like this.

A free email service
You access your account by logging into it in a web browser
You can log in from any computer anywhere in the world as you have internet access
Works well with smartphones and tablets
Most private individuals opt for Webmail.

2. Email Client - An email client is a program on your computer that lets you send or receive emails. Typical examples include Outlook (part of MS Office suite) and Windows Live Mail (free with Windows 10). You must have access to internet to get new emails. The advantages of using one of these programs;

If you have multiple email accounts email client will download them all to one location
Your messages are stored on your computer though you can choose to retain a copy online
You can access all emails except new ones even when not connected to internet
An email client is faster than web pages.
You don’t have to login with username and password

You can still access your emails online if you are using a mail client but you may not be able to view older emails online. This would likely be true for eircom emails.

How to save my Eircom emails and contacts

If you have been using an email client then all your emails and contacts are on your computer. All you need do is add your new email to your email client and then delete your old eircom email address account, after the end of May 2020, from your email client. When eircom deletes your Webmail it wont affect all those old emails and contacts you have on your computer.

If you have been accessing your eircom emails online (Webmail) then when Eir deletes your account they will be lost to you.

If you setup a Gmail account you can import all your eircom emails and contacts into Gmail. Watch video on the right to see how to do this.