ProtonMail free account registration guide

This article explains how to create a free ProtonMail account, download a public ProtonMail PGP key, and how to obtain authentication logs.

Data is only subject to the privacy laws of Switzerland, where the service is located, not the European Union or the United States.

Steps to create a free ProtonMail account

Although the IP address is recorded during registration, it is easy to create a ProtonMail account without sharing any personal information. Proceed as follows:

1. EnterProtonMail registration page.
   
   
2. chooseregister>free>Choose a free plan. After registration, you can change the account type (free or premium) at any time.
   
   
   
   
   
3. existCreate your accountPage, enterUsername and domainSection, enter the user name. It is best to use lowercase characters in the user name. Underscores, dashes, dots and some other characters can also be used, but they will not increase the uniqueness of the ProtonMail user name. E.g,ex.ampleandexample The user name is the same, which is regarded as a ProtonMail email account user name.
   
   
   
   
   
4. existpasswordSection, enter the password. This is the password used to log in to the ProtonMail account.
   
   
5. Or inRecover email (optional)Section, enter an alternate email address.
   
   
6. chooseCreate account.

Secure access to ProtonMail

When using a browser to access ProtonMail, enter ProtonMail login pageMake sure that the browser displays the verified site security certificate.

ProtonMail and POP, IMAP and SMTP

ProtonMail does not provide IMAP or POP access, so you cannot use ProtonMail addresses to send emails via SMTP. It is also not possible to set up ProtonMail in Microsoft Outlook, macOS Mail, Mozilla Thunderbird, iOS Mail or other email clients.

Download the public ProtonMail PGP key

Others can send you encrypted emails on ProtonMail, as long as their email service provider uses inline OpenPGP and they have your PGP public key. To share your PGP public key, upload it to a key server, for exampleMIT PGP public key server. From there, the email program can automatically obtain the key.

Steps to obtain a copy of the public PGP key for a ProtonMail email address:

1. Open a web browser and log in to your ProtonMail account.
   
   
2. chooseset up.
   
   
3. Go toKeyTab.
   
   
   
   
   
4. existContact encryption keyPart, copyfingerprintLink.

Authentication log

After opening the authentication log, ProtonMail will record all account access and the IP address of each login attempt. The setting method is as follows:

1. chooseset up.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Go toSafetyTab.
   
   
3. exist"Authentication log"Section, select "advanced".
   
   
   
   
   
4. If prompted, enter your ProtonMail account password.
   
   
5. choosesubmit.