Outbound email

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated December 5, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Outbound email

    Outbound email accounts in ServiceNow enable you to send emails from your instance by configuring and managing email accounts and properties. This functionality is essential for automated notifications, communications, and integrations requiring email delivery.

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    Accounts

    Accounts define the connection details used to process outbound emails. You can view existing accounts or create new ones by providing key information:

    • Name: The account identifier.
    • Type: Select either POP3 or IMAP.
    • Authentication: Mandatory method used to authenticate the account.
    • Server: Fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the mail server node (mandatory for on-premises installations).
    • Username and Password: Credentials for account creation (both mandatory).
    • Connection Security: Options include None, STARTTLS (upgrades to secure), or SSL/TLS (recommended for best security).
    • Port: TCP port for the connection.
    • Active: Checkbox to activate the account.
    • Enable Debug Logging: Creates logs of raw data exchanged with the email server for troubleshooting, accessible via System Logs.

    You can export account configurations in various formats (Excel, CSV, JSON, PDF) and choose to download or email the export.

    Properties

    Manage outbound email behaviors and debugging through configurable properties:

    • Enable or disable sending emails.
    • Include timezone information in outgoing emails.
    • Add visible watermarks to outbound emails.
    • Retry sending emails on unknown SMTP error codes.
    • Enable internationalization support for email addresses.
    • Set the email address for sending test emails.
    • Configure the number of journal entries included in email notifications.
    • Define roles authorized to view emails in the Activity formatter.

    Changes to properties must be saved to take effect, with an option to undo recent unsaved changes, restoring the last saved settings.

    Use outbound email accounts to send emails.

    Accounts

    Use Accounts to process the outbound emails. On selecting Accounts under Outbound email, a list of existing accounts shows up. Select Add an account to create a new account.

    Image showing outbound accounts

    Field Description
    Name Name of the account
    Type States the type of account. It can either be POP3 or IMAP.
    Authentication States the authentication method of the account
    Note:
    Authentication is a mandatory field
    Server Remote server to which this account connects. To activate a server for an on-premises installation, enter the full address (FQDN) of the node (for example, node.customerdomain).
    Note:
    Server is a mandatory field
    Username Username used to create the account
    Note:
    Username is a mandatory field
    Password Password used to set up the account
    Note:
    Password is a mandatory field
    Connection Security Type of secure connection. Choose a setting:
    • None: No secure protocol is used.
    • STARTTLS: Upgrades an insecure connection to a secure connection using the SSL/TLS encryption protocol, if your email server supports TLS.
    • SSL/TLS: Connect to an SSL/TLS encrypted port to secure the connection. Email is encrypted between the ServiceNow instance and your mail server.
      Warning:
      Selecting a less secure protocol like STARTTLS or None may expose your data. To better ensure the security of data in your email server, select SSL/TLS.
    Port Connection TCP port.
    Active Optional checkbox to create an active account
    Enable Debug Logging Option to create node logs for the raw data that is exchanged with the email server. You can review the node logs by navigating to System Logs > Utilities > Node Log File Browser.

    Select Export to export the accounts on to an Excel, CSV, JSON or PDF. You can then select the delivery type either through download or email.

    Properties

    Manage the behavior of outgoing emails with Properties.

    Image showing outbound properties

    • Outbound sending and delivery options: You can either enable or disable the following options:
      • Enable sending emails
      • Include timezone in the email
      • Include visible watermark in the outbound emails
      • Retry sending email on unknown SMTP error codes
      • Enable internationalization of email address
    • Outbound debugging and access: You can configure the following:
      • Email address to be used to send all test emails
      • Number of journal entries to be included in email notifications
      • Roles that can view email in the Activity formatter
    Note:
    Select Save to save the recent property settings. You can also undo the most recent change by selecting Undo. By selecting Undo, the values are reverted back to the most recent saved values.

    See Outbound email configuration for more information.