Reading time: 7 min · Last verified: July 2026 · SMTPedia editorial team
Clix.pt email has been discontinued twice
The original @clix.pt consumer email service was shut down by NOS on 15 February 2020, together with the sister domains kanguru.pt, mail.pt, oniduo.pt, optimus.clix.pt, oninetspeed.pt, oninet.pt, and mail.optimus.pt (approximately 18,000 users affected). NOS relaunched a rebadged @clix.pt service afterwards but announced on 16 July 2025 that it would stop hosting email entirely; the domain was transferred to a third party (SOOMA) that offers @clix.pt as a paid privacy-focused email service. Users who did not migrate before the NOS cutoff lost their historical mailboxes. This guide explains what happened and how to move remaining account references to a modern free email service.
Clix was one of Portugal’s earliest consumer internet brands, launched on 27 October 1999 by Novis (a Sonae group telecom subsidiary) as a free-access ISP and a horizontal web portal at clix.pt. The email service, bundled with the ISP subscription, offered @clix.pt addresses to hundreds of thousands of Portuguese users during the early 2000s. Related consumer email domains sharing the same infrastructure included @kanguru.pt, @mail.pt, @oniduo.pt, @oninetspeed.pt, @oninet.pt, and @mail.optimus.pt.
Through a chain of corporate consolidations, Clix became part of the NOS group: on 21 January 2010, Sonaecom merged Clix and Optimus into Optimus Clix; on 27 August 2013, Optimus merged with ZON to form ZON Optimus; in May 2014, the combined entity rebranded as NOS. Clix-branded services shut down alongside the NOS rebrand, and the Clix portal itself closed on 15 September 2015. The Clix email service persisted longer as a bundled subscriber benefit but was ultimately retired in 2020.
Timeline of the Clix.pt email shutdown
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 27 October 1999 | Clix brand launched by Novis (Sonae group) as a free ISP and consumer portal |
| 21 January 2010 | Sonaecom merges Clix and Optimus into Optimus Clix |
| 27 August 2013 | Optimus merges with ZON to form ZON Optimus |
| May 2014 | ZON Optimus rebrands as NOS; Clix-branded services shut down |
| 15 September 2015 | Clix portal at clix.pt closed |
| 15 February 2020 | NOS shuts down @clix.pt consumer email (and sister domains kanguru.pt, mail.pt, oniduo.pt, oninetspeed.pt, oninet.pt, mail.optimus.pt), affecting approximately 18,000 users |
| 16 July 2025 | NOS announces it will stop managing email entirely across all its domains; the @clix.pt email management is transferred to Sooma, a Portuguese privacy-focused paid email operator |
Current @clix.pt situation
As of 2026, @clix.pt is operated by Sooma (sooma.pt) as a paid Portuguese email service positioned around privacy (no advertising, no scanning of message content). This is a commercial offering unrelated to the original consumer service that NOS retired in 2020. If you had an @clix.pt address active before February 2020 and did not migrate, your historical mailbox is unrecoverable through this route. If you want to keep the @clix.pt domain in your address, you would need to open a new paid account with Sooma.
Recommended replacement: Gmail
For a durable free replacement independent of any Portuguese ISP or paid service, we recommend Gmail. NOS itself directed departing @clix.pt users to Gmail in the 2020 shutdown notices. Sapo.pt (owned by MEO/Altice Portugal) is also a viable Portuguese-hosted free alternative if you prefer a local provider.
For Gmail SMTP, IMAP, and POP3 configuration values, see the SMTPedia Gmail email settings guide, which covers current hostnames, ports, App Password generation, and mail-client-specific troubleshooting.
Migration checklist
- Create a Gmail account at accounts.google.com/signup (or a Sapo.pt account at sapo.pt if you prefer a Portuguese-hosted service)
- Update the account email on your bank, tax authority (Portal das Finanças), utilities, and streaming services first
- Export contacts from any local backup and import them into Google Contacts
- If you still have local IMAP-synced messages in Thunderbird, Apple Mail, or Outlook, drag them into your new Gmail account
- Update your professional profile, CV, and business cards
- Notify friends and family with a single announcement message
Alternatives to Gmail
- Sapo.pt — free Portuguese-hosted webmail from MEO/Altice Portugal, historically the largest Portuguese portal
- Outlook.com (Microsoft) — free, 15 GB storage, integrates with Windows and Office
- Proton Mail (Switzerland) — end-to-end encrypted, EU-adjacent jurisdiction, free tier at 1 GB
Common issues after the Clix shutdown
Mail client cannot connect to smtp.clix.pt or pop.clix.pt
The historical NOS mail servers stopped accepting connections after 15 February 2020. Remove the account from your mail client and configure your new replacement address instead. If you signed up for the new Sooma-operated @clix.pt paid service, use the settings Sooma provides in its onboarding email — they are different from the NOS-era hostnames.
Cannot recover old messages
NOS provided several months of advance notice before the February 2020 shutdown and offered self-service export tools. Users who missed the window cannot recover data because the mailboxes were permanently deleted. If you had a local IMAP-synced copy in Thunderbird, Apple Mail, or Outlook, those messages remain on your device and can be migrated to your new provider using drag and drop between IMAP accounts.
FAQ
Is @clix.pt still working in 2026?
The original NOS-hosted service was shut down on 15 February 2020. A new @clix.pt paid email service operated by Sooma launched after NOS transferred domain management in July 2025, but historical NOS-era mailboxes are not accessible through it.
Can I recover my old @clix.pt emails?
Only if you exported them during the NOS notice window in late 2019 to early 2020, or kept a local synced copy in a desktop mail client. Server-side data was permanently deleted.
What happened to my @kanguru.pt or @oninet.pt address?
These sister domains were shut down on the same date (15 February 2020) as part of the same NOS consumer email retirement.
Should I sign up for the new Sooma @clix.pt service?
Only if you specifically want to keep the @clix.pt domain in your address and are willing to pay for privacy-focused email. For most users, a free Gmail, Sapo, or Outlook.com address is a better fit.
Which Portuguese free email service should I use instead?
Sapo.pt (MEO/Altice Portugal) is the main free Portuguese-hosted option in 2026. For provider-independent alternatives, Gmail and Outlook.com are the practical choices.
Where to go next
- Iol.pt email — parallel Portuguese shutdown by Media Capital
- Discontinued email providers hub
- Gmail SMTP, IMAP, POP3 settings
- Sapo.pt SMTP, IMAP, POP3 settings
Sending mass emails from your new address? Whether you moved to Gmail, Sapo, or Outlook, personal mailboxes hit 500-per-day sending limits and are not designed for newsletters or transactional flows. SMTPing gives you a dedicated relay with proper SPF, DKIM, and DMARC alignment for reliable delivery at scale.
About the Author
Alaa · LinkedIn
Email infrastructure specialist with 8+ years of hands-on experience in SMTP, deliverability, and email verification. I’ve configured and troubleshot mail systems across Postfix, Exchange, and cloud relays, managed IP reputation and warmup campaigns, and built verification pipelines processing millions of addresses. My work spans DNS authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC, BIMI), bounce handling, blocklist monitoring, and compliance frameworks including CAN-SPAM and GDPR. I write every article on SMTPedia to give email professionals, developers, and marketers the accurate, RFC-grounded reference they need.
About SMTPedia
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