Getting started

Before you install

NextMail is currently in Preview. Windows 10 22H2+ x64 and macOS 12+ on Intel or Apple Silicon are the main supported platforms. Linux x64 builds are experimental and have not received the same level of validation.

Get the installer for your architecture from the download page. Every link points to a real asset in the official GitHub repository.

Windows builds do not have production code signing. macOS builds are ad-hoc signed and are not notarized by Apple. Your operating system may show an unverified-developer warning. Only download from the official repository.

Choose where mail lives

The first-run setup lets you choose a local data directory. NextMail stores its mail database and downloaded content there. Account passwords are stored separately in your operating system’s secure credential store.

Local-first does not mean that every message body is already downloaded. Content you have saved is available locally; new bodies and attachments are fetched on demand by default.

Add your first account

NextMail connects to mail servers through IMAP and SMTP with password authentication. Your provider may require an app password or an authorization code and may require you to enable IMAP/SMTP access.

Automatic discovery can suggest settings for common providers and custom domains. You can adjust the server settings manually. Discovery is not a guarantee that a provider permits password-based access. OAuth sign-in is not implemented.

Let your mailbox arrive

NextMail builds the folder tree first and brings in messages progressively. Sender, subject, state, attachment information, and a short preview arrive before full content. Open a message to fetch its body; open or save a particular attachment to fetch that file.

Continue with account setup or learn how sync works.