<!-- loio6ad4956b4c4d484598ca9f7119313af6 -->
# Setting Up Inbound Mail Connections
Using the mail sender adapter, you connect the tenant with an e-mail server so that the tenant can read data from the e-mail server \(in a process referred to as polling\).
In other words, the tenant sends a request to the e-mail server, but the data flow is in the opposite direction, from the e-mail server to the tenant, as illustrated in the figure. The direction of the request is indicated by the arrow next to the *R* notation in the following figure, the direction of the data flow by the direction of the connection arrow.
Using the sender mail adapter, you can connect to mail servers through the following protocols: IMAP, POP3.
The following table lists the options for setting up secure connections for the different protocols. Consider the following table as a connection setup checklist. For a detailed description of the available properties for integration flow design, see the documentation of the individual adapter.
****
<table>
<tr>
<th valign="top">
Authentication
</th>
<th valign="top">
Description
</th>
<th valign="top">
How to configure \(checklist\) ...
</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">
Encrypted user/password
</td>
<td valign="top">
The mail sender adapter can download e-mails from an e-mail server and access the e-mail body content as well as attachments.
User name and password are hashed before being sent to the server.
</td>
<td valign="top" rowspan="2">
- Create and deploy a *User Credentials* artifact that contains the credentials \(user name and password\) of the e-mail account owner.
- In the integration flow / mail receiver adapter, specify the mail adapter settings. In particular, as *Credential Name* specify the name of the *User Credentials* artifact to use for this connection.
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">
Plain user/password
</td>
<td valign="top">
The mail sender adapter can download e-mails from an e-mail server and access the e-mail body content as well as attachments.
User name and password are sent in plain text \(only use together with SSL or TLS\).
</td>
</tr>
</table>
**Related Information**
[Mail Adapter](../50-Development/mail-adapter-f1145cc.md "The mail adapter allows you to connect the tenant to an email server. The sender mail adapter can download e-mails and access the e-mail body content as well as attachments. The receiver mail adapter allows you to send encrypted messages by e-mail.")
