You can add Gmail to other email clients, like Microsoft Outlook, Apple Mail, or Mozilla Thunderbird. When you add Gmail, your messages and labels are synced with the email client.
Changes to Gmail syncing with other email clients
To keep your account more secure, Gmail no longer supports third-party apps or devices which require you to share your Google username and password. Sharing your account credentials with third-parties makes it easier for hackers to gain access to your account.
Instead, look for the option to "Sign in with Google," which is a safer way to sync your mail to other apps. Learn about Sign in with Google.
Gmail users with a personal Google Account
Starting January 2025, the option to choose “Enable IMAP” or “Disable IMAP” won't be available. IMAP access is always turned on in Gmail, and your current connections to other email clients aren’t affected. You don’t need to take any action.
Set up Gmail in another email client
To add Gmail to another email client:
- On your device, open the client.
- Look for an option to "Sign in with Google."
- If you need help setting up Gmail in the email client, reach out to the developer.
Troubleshoot problems
Important: If you can't sign in to your email client, you might find 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: Upgrade to the latest version of your email client
Older versions of email clients, such as Outlook 2016, may not support the modern security standards that Gmail recommends.
If available, upgrade to the latest version of your email client.
Step 2: Sign in with Google
- Remove your Gmail information from your email client.
- When you sign in again, look for an option to "Sign in with Google."
(Optional) Step 3: Check for password issues
- If you recently changed your Google Account password, you might need to re-enter your account information or completely repeat the Gmail account setup on your other email client.
- Use an app password. If you use 2-Step Verification, try signing in with an app password.
- Important: App passwords aren’t recommended and are unnecessary in most cases. To help keep your account secure, look for the option to sign in with your Google Account to connect Gmail to your email client.
You can add Gmail to up to 15 email clients at a time per account. If you have many email clients getting messages from Gmail at the same time, you may get the "Too many simultaneous connections" error.
If you use multiple email clients or devices for the same Gmail account, close them or sign out of some clients.
You may be downloading too many emails at one time.
To fix the issue:
- Update your IMAP settings so you don't sync certain folders.
- Remove your Google 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:
- On your computer, open Gmail.
- In the top right, click Settings
See all settings.
- Click the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab.
- If you have a Google Workspace account managed by an organization, you may not have access to this tab.
- In the "IMAP access" section, under “Folder size limits,” click Limit IMAP folders to contain no more than this many messages.
- Click the dropdown and select the maximum number of emails to sync.
- Click Save Changes.
Related resources
See all settings.