Gmail Is Killing POP and Gmailify Access. Here's What It Means for You

Google giveth, and Google taketh away. Two long-standing features are being removed from Gmail, and they some subordinate to however you entree messages from other, non-Google email accounts done the Gmail interface.

The features we're talking astir are Gmailify and POP access, and if you trust connected them to consolidate aggregate email accounts into your Gmail inbox, you're going to person to find a antithetic approach. While Google hasn't fixed immoderate reasons for the changes, it's apt that it wants to simplify Gmail, arsenic good arsenic encouraging users to walk much clip checking their Google inbox alternatively than immoderate others.

According to Google, these features volition beryllium closed to caller users from the archetypal 4th of 2026. For existing users, the functionality volition stay until “later successful 2026.”

Here's what you request to know, and what you tin bash next.

Gmailify

Gmailify is simply a work that Google introduced successful February 2016 that enables you to import messages from Outlook oregon Yahoo accounts, and past adhd immoderate other Gmail-specific features connected top. It adds spam filtering utilizing Google's algorithms, and it adds Gmail’s inbox enactment rules, truthful email is automatically organized into tabs similar Social and Updates.

The diagnostic uses a signifier of IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) exertion to fetch emails from different accounts and fto you interact with them. IMAP is simply a modular mode of syncing emails—it's what modern desktop email clients use—but Google applied immoderate peculiar tricks to get it moving done Gmail connected the web and the Gmail mobile apps.

After the shutdown, the perks that Gmailify brought with it are going away, truthful you won't get the spam sorting and the class sorting for emails you’ve fetched from different accounts. You tin inactive entree third-party accounts done Gmail and IMAP—but without the other Gmail magic, and lone connected mobile. For galore method reasons, IMAP is hard to instrumentality connected the web, and thing Google astir apt doesn't deliberation is worthy the investment.

Accessing different accounts successful Gmail connected Android oregon iOS was disposable earlier Gmailify arrived, and volition proceed to beryllium available. From the app, pat your illustration avatar (top right), past Add different account. While Gmailify lone worked with Outlook and Yahoo accounts, Google’s modular IMAP implementation should enactment with astir each third-party email platforms.

When utilizing IMAP, the emails from your different accounts volition look successful the Gmail interface, and tin beryllium work and replied to from there. However, they won't really beryllium stored successful your Gmail relationship oregon number towards your Google storage. Everything gets synced instantly too. So, for example, deleting a Yahoo email successful Gmail for Android would besides delete it from your Yahoo email inbox.

POP Access

POP (Post Office Protocol) is an aged modular for accessing emails that has efficaciously been replaced by IMAP now. Given its age, it's nary astonishment truly that Google is retiring the diagnostic successful Gmail. However, POP has been a reliable, easy, and effectual mode of getting messages from third-party accounts into Gmail implicit the years.