How to import email from other accounts into Gmail

If you’re thing similar me, you walk a batch of each time jumping betwixt aggregate email accounts — and aggregate email apps — trying to get to inbox zero. Anything that tin beryllium done to trim the fig of places wherever messages are piling up tin prevention clip and trim confusion. Gmail tin import emails from different accounts similar iCloud oregon Outlook truthful you don’t person to needfully cheque aggregate inboxes aggregate times a day. 

Setting up an email import isn’t peculiarly difficult. I’m going to commencement with a small spot of mentation archetypal and past spell connected to item respective ways to stitchery each your emails successful your Gmail account. There is besides a mode to usage your mobile Gmail app to work and reply emails from different accounts; I’ll screen that arsenic well.

Your import options

There are 3 ways that astir radical usage to negociate a non-Google email relationship done Gmail. Which 1 you’ll privation to spell for depends connected the benignant of relationship you’re adding and the features you privation entree to.

POP/IMAP/SMTP: This is the old-school option, utilizing the technologies POP (Post Office Protocol, sometimes called POP3 to bespeak the latest version), IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol), and SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol). Those archetypal 2 are for receiving emails, portion the past 1 is for sending emails. You tin person up to 5 accounts imported successful this way.

POP is the astir basal prime arsenic acold arsenic checking emails goes — it downloads the email, past either does oregon doesn’t permission a transcript connected the server managed by your email provider, depending connected however you’ve configured your apps. POP tin easy permission you with the aforesaid email downloaded connected aggregate devices if you don’t negociate it carefully.

IMAP is newer, and adds immoderate other bells and whistles successful presumption of syncing: changes you marque connected 1 instrumentality are automatically synced connected different devices, whether that’s reading, deleting, oregon archiving messages — it solves that email server duplicate contented too. However, POP and IMAP some enactment copies of your emails wrong Gmail, counting towards your Google storage.

SMTP is for sending messages and works with some POP and IMAP (though the finer details beryllium connected some the email supplier and your email app). If you lone privation to cheque and work emails from different account, without immoderate sending involved, you don’t request to interest astir SMTP.

Gmailify: This has been astir since 2016, truthful it’s a batch newer than POP/IMAP/SMTP. It works a spot similar an enhanced mentation of IMAP, with added Gmail extras: spam filtering, enactment for precocious hunt operators, and the automatic sorting that puts emails successful tabs. It fundamentally turns a third-party email relationship into a Gmail account.

So what’s the catch? Because of the deeper entree Gmailify needs, it lone works with definite email accounts. Officially, Google says this covers “Yahoo, AOL, Outlook, Hotmail oregon different prime non-Gmail accounts.” There’s nary definitive database for “select non-Gmail accounts,” but iCloud is presently 1 of them, based connected my testing.

You tin lone Gmailify 1 non-Google relationship astatine immoderate 1 time, but it beauteous seamlessly syncs everything with your Gmail messages and works crossed some desktop and mobile. If you’re lone adding 1 other account, and it supports Gmailify, this is astir apt the mode to go.

Okay, truthful present that we person the definitions set, here’s however you adhd an relationship to your Gmail.

Import an relationship connected the web

Using Gmail’s desktop web interface, you tin bash a afloat import of messages from different accounts, either utilizing Gmailify oregon POP/IMAP/SMTP. 

The options you spot volition beryllium connected the relationship type.  If you usage POP oregon IMAP, you’ll request circumstantial server and larboard details, which should beryllium provided by your email work determination connected the web. You tin find the Yahoo Mail details here, for example.

If you besides privation to nonstop emails arsenic good arsenic person done Gmail from these accounts, you request to configure this separately via SMTP (in the lawsuit of Gmailify, it’s acceptable up automatically). 

From Gmail:

If Gmailify is supported, you’ll spot a Link relationship with Gmail (Gmailify) enactment alongside the options for POP and IMAP (if those standards are supported by the relationship you’re adding). Choose that and you’ll beryllium prompted to log into your 2nd relationship arsenic you bash usually connected the web oregon successful the authoritative app: with a username and password, and immoderate two-factor authentication that’s acceptable up.

You tin besides acceptable up Gmailify from the Gmail mobile app:

Adding accounts connected mobile

You tin usage the mobile Android oregon iOS Gmail app arsenic a lawsuit for sending and receiving messages from different relationship without really importing the emails. The vantage to this is that, portion you tin show messages from each your accounts successful 1 unified presumption wrong the app, the emails from the different relationship aren’t really saved to your Gmail archive, truthful they don’t number towards your storage. Up to 5 accounts tin beryllium added successful this way. And these added accounts won’t amusement up connected the web mentation of Gmail — it’s a mobile-only option. 

(Note that immoderate accounts you’ve actually imported via the methods I described antecedently volition automatically amusement up successful the mobile app. This lone applies to outer email accounts you are not importing.)

Here’s what you do:

You’ll request to motion into the relationship arsenic you would successful immoderate different app oregon connected the web, with your username and password, positive immoderate two-step authentication that’s required.

When the setup is complete, you tin power betwixt your accounts by tapping your relationship representation (top right) and past choosing the caller account. You don’t get the afloat Gmail acquisition with different accounts (labels and astute replies, for example), but you tin bash each the basics.

To spot each of your emails connected 1 screen, pat the paper fastener (three lines, apical left), past All inboxes: This lists messages from each your accounts successful chronological order.