Passagen.se was one of Sweden’s earliest internet portals, launched by Telia in 1995 and, for a few years, the country’s second most-visited website behind MSN. It offered a free consumer email service alongside chat, forums, homepage hosting, and horoscopes, in the classic 1990s portal formula. The email service faded through successive ownership changes, and in November 2022 the domain was acquired by Data-World GmbH, a Swiss company that refocused the business on fintech and gaming. There is no active passagen.se email service today. If you still have a @passagen.se address configured somewhere, this guide covers what happened and how to migrate to a modern provider.
Passagen.se SMTP, IMAP, and POP3 settings
There are no working settings for @passagen.se. The Passagen mail infrastructure was retired after Data-World GmbH acquired the domain in November 2022 and refocused the property away from the mail business. There is no server to connect to, no webmail to sign into, and no way to receive new mail at a @passagen.se address. The migration options below cover how to move any mail flow that used to reach @passagen.se to a new address.
Passagen.se email is gone. Following the November 2022 acquisition by Data-World GmbH, the domain was refocused on fintech and gaming and the historical portal services (email, chat, forums) were discontinued. There is no active Passagen mail server to configure a client against. Any mail client still pointing at passagen.se hostnames will fail to connect.
What happened to Passagen.se email
Telia launched Passagen in September 1995. In its late-1990s peak, it was Sweden’s second most-visited website behind Microsoft’s MSN.se, with 1.46 million monthly visitors and 400,000 registered members according to early 1999 data. The portal bundled the standard 1990s offering: search, news, blog and homepage hosting, forums, chat, and a free consumer email service.
The email service never generated meaningful revenue, and it was carried along through a series of ownership changes as the portal era gave way to Google, social media, and mobile apps. Telia handed off to Schibsted in 1998, Schibsted sold to Eniro in 2001, Eniro divested to Ola Ahlvarsson’s Result Group in 2010, and Result ran the property until 2022. Each transition eroded the coherence of the portal and the priority given to consumer email.
In November 2022, Data-World GmbH (based in Baar, Switzerland) acquired the domain and business. The stated aim was to refocus on fintech and the gaming industry, unrelated to the historical portal services. The consumer email service was not carried forward. Anyone still holding a @passagen.se address had no active mailbox to log into by the following year.
Option 1: Migrate to Gmail
There is no direct successor for Passagen email. Gmail is the standard destination for Swedish consumers moving off a legacy portal address.
1. Create a Gmail account
Go to gmail.com and set up a fresh account with an address you can live with long-term.
2. Attempt an import if any Passagen authentication still worked recently
In Gmail, Settings then Accounts and Import then Import mail and contacts. In 2026 this is unlikely to succeed for @passagen.se because the underlying service is gone, but it costs nothing to try.
3. Send a change-of-address notification
The realistic action is a mass email from your new Gmail to your contact list, mentioning the old @passagen.se so recipients can search and update their address books.
Option 2: Migrate to Outlook.com
Microsoft’s outlook.com works the same way as Gmail. Settings then Sync email then Other email accounts handles imports if any credentials still authenticate against Passagen infrastructure. Realistically for a Passagen mailbox in 2026, the destination is the more important choice than the import path.
Option 3: Migrate to a Swedish provider
If you specifically want a Swedish-hosted mailbox, Telia offers consumer email tied to its broadband subscriptions, and independent providers like Loopia and Binero offer paid mailbox hosting under custom domains. None of these are direct Passagen successors, but they keep your email presence local to Sweden.
Alternatives at a glance
Common issues with legacy Passagen email
Mail client returns connection refused for passagen.se servers
The historical Passagen mail infrastructure was retired in the transition to Data-World ownership. There are no active mail hostnames under passagen.se, and no replacement values will make a legacy configuration work.
Cannot sign in to Passagen webmail
The Passagen webmail interface no longer exists. The current passagen.se properties are unrelated fintech and gaming activities, not a portal email service.
Contacts still send to @passagen.se
Because there is no forwarding option (the mailboxes are gone, not migrated), the only fix is a mass change-of-address notification from your new address. Expect a few months of gradual contact-book updates.
Old Passagen emails are missing
If you never exported the mailbox to a local mail client before the Data-World transition, the messages are not recoverable from the server side. Any surviving copies live in your own historical archives.
Passagen chat, blogs, or homepage links are broken
All the historical portal services (chat, forums, personal homepage hosting) were retired along with the email. Old links to passagen.se resources point at content that no longer exists.
Frequently asked questions
Can I still use my @passagen.se address?
No. Following the November 2022 acquisition by Data-World GmbH, the Passagen consumer email service was discontinued. There is no active mailbox to log into and no active mail server to receive mail on your behalf.
What are the correct Passagen SMTP or IMAP settings?
There are no current working values because the service is discontinued. Any settings for passagen.se floating around online refer to infrastructure that no longer exists. Configure your mail client for Gmail, Outlook, or a Swedish alternative instead.
Is there a Swedish equivalent to Passagen today?
Not really. The Swedish portal era ended a long time ago. Consumer email in Sweden is dominated by Gmail, Outlook, and ISP-tied mail from Telia and Tele2. For paid mailbox hosting under a custom domain, Loopia and Binero are the standard local options.
What is Data-World GmbH now doing with passagen.se?
The stated focus at acquisition was fintech and the gaming industry. The current use of the domain is not a portal or email service; it is a different business operating under the historical domain name.
Can I export old Passagen mail before losing it?
Only if you had archived it locally before the service ended. There is no active Passagen server to authenticate against for a fresh export. Any historical mail archives on your own devices are the only surviving copies.
What should I do with my old Passagen contacts?
Import them into your new mail provider if you still have a local backup. Send a change-of-address message from your new address so contacts can update their records. Any Passagen mail still being sent to your old address is not being received; there is no mailbox to receive it.
Where to go next
The Passagen shutdown is one of many 1990s portals that quietly ended over the past decade. If you are dealing with a similar migration from another legacy portal or ISP, the same framework applies.
- TDC.dk email shutdown and Danish alternatives
- NetCom.no to Telia Norge migration guide
- Gmail POP3, IMAP, and SMTP settings
- Outlook.com POP3, IMAP, and SMTP settings
Historical timeline of Passagen.se
- November 2022: Data-World GmbH (Baar, Switzerland) acquires the domain and business, refocusing on fintech and the gaming industry. Historical portal services (email, chat, forums, homepages) are discontinued.
- 2010 to 2022: Ola Ahlvarsson’s Result Group owns Passagen after acquiring the property from Eniro. The portal is gradually run down as consumer attention moves to social media and mobile apps.
- 2001 to 2010: Eniro Sverige AB owns Passagen after Schibsted’s exit.
- 1998 to 2001: Norwegian media group Schibsted owns Passagen.
- January 1999: Passagen reaches its peak with 1.46 million monthly visitors and 400,000 registered members. Sweden’s second most-visited website after MSN.se.
- September 1995: Telia launches Passagen as one of Sweden’s first internet portals. Founded by Ken Ceder, Lars-Erik Eriksson, and Mattias Söderhielm. Bundles horoscopes, news, chat, homepage hosting, and a free consumer email service.
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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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