Set up IMAP and change your SMTP settings to read Gmail messages in other mail clients, like Microsoft Outlook and Apple Mail. When you use IMAP, you can read your Gmail messages on multiple devices, and messages are synced in real time. You can also read Gmail messages using POP.
Important: To avoid temporarily locking yourself out of your account, make sure you don't exceed 2500 MB per day for IMAP downloads and 500 MB per day for IMAP uploads. If you're setting up a single IMAP account on multiple computers, try taking a break between each setup.
Step 1: Check that IMAP is turned on
- On your computer, open Gmail.
- In the top right, click Settings
See all settings.
- Click the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab.
- In the "IMAP access" section, select Enable IMAP.
- Click Save Changes.
Step 2: Change SMTP & other settings in your email client
Use the table below to update your client with the correct information. For help updating your settings, search your email client's Help Center for instructions on setting up IMAP.
| Incoming Mail (IMAP) Server |
imap.gmail.com Requires SSL: Yes Port: 993 |
| Outgoing Mail (SMTP) Server |
smtp.gmail.com Requires SSL: Yes Requires TLS: Yes (if available) Requires Authentication: Yes Port for SSL: 465 Port for TLS/STARTTLS: 587 |
| Full Name or Display Name | Your name |
| Account Name, User name, or Email address | Your full email address |
| Password | Your Gmail password |
Troubleshoot problems
Important: If you can't sign in to your email client, you might see one of these errors:
- "Username and password not accepted"
- "Invalid credentials"
- You're asked to enter your username and password over and over
Step 1: Check your password
If you have these problems or can’t sign in, first check to make sure you’re using the right password.
Step 2: Try these troubleshooting steps
- Update your email client to the latest version.
- Use an App Password: If you use 2-Step Verification, try signing in with an App Password.
- Important: If you sign in with OAuth, use your regular Google password.
- Allow less secure apps: If you don't use 2-Step Verification, you might need to allow less secure apps to access your account.
- If you recently changed your Gmail password, you might need to re-enter your Gmail account information or completely repeat your Gmail account setup on your other email client.
- If the tips above didn't help, visit https://www.google.com/accounts/DisplayUnlockCaptcha and follow the steps on the page.
- The email client's sign-in method might be insecure. Try signing in directly on the Gmail app.
- Make sure your mail app isn't set to check for new email too frequently. If your mail app checks for new messages more than once every 10 minutes, the app’s access to your account could be blocked.
You can only use 15 IMAP connections per account. If you have many email clients getting messages from Gmail at the same time, you may see the "Too many simultaneous connections" error.
If you use multiple email clients or devices for the same Gmail account, try closing or signing out of some.
Try the options below if you see this error: "The server you are connected to is using a security certificate that could not be verified. The certificate's CN name does not match the passed value."
- Make sure you've set up your mail client for IMAP and not POP.
- Check your Incoming Server setting to make sure it says
imap.gmail.comand notpop.gmail.com.
You might be downloading too many emails at one time.
To fix this:
- Update your IMAP settings so you don't sync certain folders.
- Remove your Gmail account from your email client, then try adding it again.
- In your Gmail IMAP settings, set IMAP to only sync folders with 10,000 emails or fewer.