Deutsche Post E-POST was Germany’s registered email service, launched in 2010 as Deutsche Post’s answer to secure electronic communication and a competitor to the government-backed De-Mail standard. It offered legally-binding delivery, encryption, and integration with Deutsche Post’s physical mail infrastructure. Deutsche Post discontinued the E-POST consumer service at the end of 2020, and the @epost.de address family stopped functioning as an active mailbox. If you still have E-POST credentials configured somewhere or expected @epost.de to work as regular email, this guide covers what happened and how to move to a modern replacement.
Deutsche Post E-POST is discontinued: no working settings exist
Service shutdown: end of 2020. Deutsche Post retired E-POST after the platform failed to reach mainstream adoption. The mail infrastructure has been decommissioned and @epost.de addresses no longer authenticate against any mail server. No SMTP, IMAP, or POP3 configuration will connect. No port change, TLS setting, or username variation will fix this. For legally-recognized registered digital mail (the original E-POST use case), current alternatives are De-Mail providers such as T-Systems or Mentana-Claimsoft. For standard consumer mail, the migration options below are the path forward.
What happened to Deutsche Post E-POST
E-POST was launched in July 2010 as Deutsche Post’s attempt to modernize registered postal correspondence for the digital age. The value proposition was legally-binding delivery of electronic messages, encryption, identity verification, and a hybrid option where messages could be printed and delivered physically if the recipient did not have an E-POST account. It was Deutsche Post’s answer to De-Mail, the parallel standard promoted by the German government and offered by other providers.
The service never reached the volume Deutsche Post needed to justify its infrastructure. Both E-POST and De-Mail struggled with the fundamental problem that consumers had already committed to Gmail, GMX, Web.de, and Outlook, and businesses were reluctant to require yet another registered channel when everyone was reachable by ordinary email or by physical letter. Deutsche Post gradually reduced marketing and feature investment through the late 2010s.
At the end of December 2020, Deutsche Post formally discontinued the consumer E-POST service. Existing users were notified in advance and given time to export their historical messages and address books. The @epost.de mail infrastructure was decommissioned. There is no successor product from Deutsche Post covering the same use case for consumers.
Option 1: Migrate to Gmail (most common)
If you were using E-POST as a regular email account (not for the registered-delivery features), Gmail is the standard destination. Your address moves with you regardless of provider or country.
1. Create a Gmail account
Go to gmail.com and set up a fresh account.
2. Send a change-of-address notification
Since the E-POST infrastructure is gone, there is no import path from the server side. Any mail archives you exported before the December 2020 shutdown are the only surviving copies. Send a mass notification to your contacts from the new Gmail address.
Option 2: Migrate to a German provider (GMX, Web.de, T-Online)
If you specifically want a German-hosted mailbox, three consumer providers dominate: GMX and Web.de (both owned by United Internet) and T-Online (Deutsche Telekom’s consumer email). All are free for basic use, and all offer German-language interfaces and support.
GMX
Free at gmx.de. Standard consumer webmail with mobile apps. Offers De-Mail as an add-on for registered delivery.
Web.de
Free at web.de. Same underlying platform as GMX (both owned by United Internet). Also offers De-Mail as an option.
T-Online
Deutsche Telekom’s consumer email at t-online.de. Bundled with Telekom broadband subscriptions historically; also available as a free standalone webmail service.
Option 3: De-Mail if you need registered delivery
If E-POST’s registered-delivery feature was what mattered to you, De-Mail is the closest continuing standard in Germany. Providers include Telekom’s T-Online De-Mail, GMX De-Mail, and Web.de De-Mail. All require identity verification (Post-Ident or comparable) at signup because the messages are legally binding.
Realistic assessment for De-Mail: adoption remains limited relative to the original vision. If you do not have a specific requirement for legally-binding electronic delivery (dealing with government offices, legal correspondence), Gmail or GMX will cover 99 percent of what you actually need.
Alternatives at a glance
Common issues after the E-POST shutdown
Mail client returns connection refused for epost.de servers
The E-POST infrastructure was decommissioned when Deutsche Post shut down the consumer service. Any mail client still configured for epost.de hostnames will fail at the network level.
Cannot sign in to E-POST portal
The consumer E-POST web interface was retired. There is no active sign-in page for the discontinued service.
Old @epost.de address is unreachable
Any mail sent to the address either bounces at the sender’s server (if the domain still returns no MX) or is silently discarded. Send a change-of-address to your contacts.
Cannot recover archives after 2020 shutdown
Deutsche Post provided an export window before the December 2020 shutdown. If you did not use it, the historical mail is not recoverable from the server side.
Confusion between E-POST and De-Mail
These were two separate registered-email standards in Germany. E-POST was Deutsche Post’s proprietary service; De-Mail is a government-backed standard offered by multiple providers (Telekom, GMX, Web.de). E-POST is gone; De-Mail continues.
Frequently asked questions
When exactly did Deutsche Post shut down E-POST?
The consumer service was officially discontinued at the end of December 2020. Users were notified in advance and given an export window for their historical messages and contact lists.
Can I still use my @epost.de address?
No. The mail infrastructure was decommissioned at shutdown. There is no active mailbox to receive mail on your behalf and no server to authenticate against for a mail client.
What are the current E-POST SMTP or IMAP settings?
There are no current working values because the service is discontinued. Configure your mail client for Gmail, GMX, Web.de, T-Online, or another active provider instead.
What is the difference between E-POST and De-Mail?
E-POST was Deutsche Post’s proprietary registered-email service, launched 2010 and shut down end of 2020. De-Mail is a German government-backed registered-email standard, offered by multiple providers (Telekom, GMX, Web.de) and still available. Both target the same use case (legally binding electronic delivery), but only De-Mail continues.
Do I need De-Mail as a replacement?
Only if you specifically need legally binding electronic delivery. For ordinary personal or business communication, standard email (Gmail, GMX, Web.de, T-Online) is sufficient and much more widely used.
Can I recover old E-POST messages after the shutdown?
Only if you exported them before December 2020 using the export tools Deutsche Post provided. There is no post-shutdown recovery path from the server side because the underlying infrastructure was decommissioned.
Where to go next
The E-POST shutdown was one of several attempts at registered electronic mail that faded when consumer email momentum settled on Gmail, GMX, Web.de, and Outlook. For most former E-POST users, the practical answer is picking one of those and moving on.
- Gmail POP3, IMAP, and SMTP settings
- Outlook.com POP3, IMAP, and SMTP settings
- GMX email settings for POP3, IMAP, and SMTP
- Web.de email settings for POP3, IMAP, and SMTP
Historical timeline of Deutsche Post E-POST
- End of December 2020: Deutsche Post officially discontinues the consumer E-POST service. Mail infrastructure decommissioned. Users advised to move to standard email or De-Mail providers depending on use case.
- Late 2010s: Deutsche Post progressively reduces investment in E-POST as adoption stalls relative to consumer email (Gmail, GMX, Web.de) and De-Mail.
- July 2010: Deutsche Post launches E-POST as a registered electronic mail and hybrid-mail service. Positions it as a competitor to the government-backed De-Mail standard.
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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.
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