How to set up chat (instant messaging)

FastMail supports the internet standard XMPP (Jabber) protocol to allow chatting and instant messaging between FastMail users and many other chat services.

To use the chat service, you'll need to install an XMPP client and set it up to access the FastMail servers. There is currently no access to the chat service through our web interface.

There are many free XMPP clients available. A fairly complete list is available on the XMPP website, but we recommend:

How to set up your chat client

Once you install a chat client, you need to set it up to access the FastMail server. This is slightly different for each client, but most will ask you for the following values:
UsernameYour full FastMail username, including the domain, unless you are asked to enter the domain separately.
PasswordYour FastMail password
Login server
(if asked for)
Your FastMail email domain
SSL/TLS EncryptionEnabled and must use STARTTLS

If your client only supports old-style SSL/TLS on connection, you can use port 5223 with SSL/TLS (not STARTTLS) enabled.

Chat roster

XMPP supports the concept of a chat roster. That is a list of people you have authorised to be able to chat with you, and these contacts are usually listed by your chat client when you connect.

These contacts can be separated into different groups. This is controlled by default by the client, and any changes made in one client are synchronised to other clients when they connect.

If you have a business or family account, then by default each person in the business/family will be able to see every other person in the business/family as part of their chat roster.

Chat logs

Most clients will keep a history of your chats for you. However, that means you need to be on the same machine, using the same client to read the log.

FastMail has the ability to log chats as emails to your account. We'll automatically create a "Chats" folder in your account, and file any chat logs into that folder. This makes it easy to see and search them from anywhere.

To enable chat logs:

  1. Go to the Advanced → Chat Settings screen.
  2. From the "Logging type" drop-down menu, select "Email logs".

  3. Click the "Save Changes" button.

Set up DNS for your domain

If you have a business or family account, and have created users with account names in your own domain, then you must set up the correct SRV records for your domain in order for chat to work.

If you host your DNS with FastMail then we will automatically set up the correct DNS records. We recommend this approach.

If you use an external DNS provider, you will have to manually set up SRV records through their DNS control panel. Unfortunately there are so many providers, we can't give explicit instructions for each one.

The records you need to add are:
VALUE="5 0 5269"
VALUE="5 0 5222"