If you’re connecting Gmail to Outlook, Thunderbird, or another email client, you need two things: the correct IMAP and SMTP server details, and the right authentication method. Google has phased out plain password sign-in for mail clients over the past couple of years — that’s the part that trips up most setups, not the server address.
Quick Gmail IMAP Settings
| Setting | Value |
| IMAP server | imap.gmail.com |
| IMAP port | 993 |
| IMAP security | SSL/TLS |
| SMTP server | smtp.gmail.com |
| SMTP port | 465 (SSL) or 587 (TLS/STARTTLS) |
| SMTP security | SSL or STARTTLS |
| Username | Your full Gmail or Google Workspace address |
| Password | App password (with 2-Step Verification) or OAuth sign-in — not your regular Gmail password |
| Authentication | Required for both IMAP and SMTP |
These values are the same for personal Gmail and Google Workspace accounts — Workspace just replaces the @gmail.com address with your organization’s domain, and a Workspace admin can additionally restrict IMAP access at the domain level through the Admin console.
Table of Contents
What Is Gmail IMAP?
IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) keeps your email synchronized between Gmail’s servers and any client you connect — Outlook, Apple Mail, Thunderbird, a mobile app, and so on. Read a message on your phone, and it shows as read everywhere else, because IMAP leaves the message on the server and just mirrors its state.
That’s the key difference from POP3, which is primarily designed to download messages to a mail client rather than keep them synchronized with the server; whether a copy remains on the server afterward depends on the specific client and account settings. If you check Gmail from more than one device, IMAP is generally the better choice, which is why it’s the default protocol behind Outlook, Thunderbird, Apple Mail, and virtually every modern email client.
How to Enable or Check IMAP in Gmail
For personal Gmail accounts, IMAP is now always enabled at the account level, and the manual “Enable IMAP” toggle no longer exists. Google removed that setting for personal accounts in mid-2024 as part of its shift toward OAuth-based authentication — so if you don’t see an option to turn IMAP on or off, that’s expected, not a sign something’s broken.
To check your account:
- Open Gmail in a web browser and sign in.
- Click the gear icon, then See all settings.
- Look for a Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab.
- This tab still lets you configure POP-specific behavior and some IMAP folder options, but for most personal accounts there’s no longer an IMAP on/off switch to set — IMAP access itself is on by default.
- If IMAP still isn’t connecting, the issue is almost certainly authentication (see below) rather than a disabled setting — proceed to the password/OAuth section.
Google Workspace accounts: Workspace administrators retain more granular control than personal accounts. If IMAP isn’t connecting, ask your admin to confirm IMAP access is allowed under Admin console → Apps → Google Workspace → Gmail → End User Access.
Gmail IMAP Password: What Password Should You Use?
This is where almost every failed setup goes wrong, so it’s worth being precise.
Your regular Gmail password will not work in a mail client. Google has been phasing out “less secure app” access — basic username-and-password sign-in — over the past two years, on a staggered timeline:
- June 2024: Google removed the Less Secure Apps on/off setting from the Workspace Admin console, and removed the IMAP enable/disable toggle from Gmail settings. Existing connections kept working for the moment, but new basic-auth connections were blocked.
- September 30, 2024: Access to less secure apps was fully turned off for Google Workspace accounts. IMAP, SMTP, POP, and CalDAV/CardDAV stopped accepting plain passwords for Workspace users from this date.
- March 14, 2025: Google turned off less secure app access for all Google Accounts, personal and Workspace alike, closing out the transition entirely. From this date, IMAP, SMTP, POP, CalDAV, and CardDAV no longer accept a regular account password for any Gmail user.
This isn’t a bug or a temporary glitch; it’s a permanent security change.
You have two working options:
Option 1: OAuth sign-in (recommended when supported). Modern versions of Outlook, Apple Mail, Thunderbird, and the Gmail mobile app support “Sign in with Google,” which authenticates through your browser instead of a stored password. Use this whenever your client offers it — Google itself recommends OAuth over app passwords where a client supports it, since it’s more secure and doesn’t require generating or storing a separate credential.
Option 2: App passwords (fallback for clients that only support basic authentication). If your client doesn’t support OAuth, you’ll need an app password:
- Turn on 2-Step Verification on your Google account, if it isn’t already on.
- Go to myaccount.google.com/apppasswords.
- Choose “Mail” as the app type and give it a name (e.g., “Outlook Desktop”).
- Google generates a 16-character password. Copy it — you enter it once and won’t see it again.
- Use that app password, not your regular password, when your client prompts for authentication.
Don’t try to work around this by disabling 2-Step Verification or hunting for a “less secure apps” toggle — Google has removed that option entirely, and re-enabling weaker security isn’t a real fix.
Gmail IMAP Settings for Outlook
Modern Outlook (Microsoft 365): the simplest path is adding your Gmail account through Outlook’s built-in Google sign-in flow (File → Add Account, enter your Gmail address, and follow the Google authentication prompt). This uses OAuth automatically and skips manual server entry.
Outlook Classic or manual IMAP setup:
| Field | Value |
| Incoming server (IMAP) | imap.gmail.com, port 993, SSL |
| Outgoing server (SMTP) | smtp.gmail.com, port 587, TLS/STARTTLS (or 465 with SSL) |
| Username | Full Gmail address |
| Authentication | OAuth / Sign in with Google where supported |
| App password | Only needed if the client doesn’t support OAuth |
Common Outlook errors and fixes:
- “Cannot connect to server”: double-check the port (993 for IMAP, 587 or 465 for SMTP) and confirm SSL/TLS is enabled — not left on “None” or “Auto.”
- Password rejected repeatedly: you’re almost certainly entering your regular Gmail password. Generate an app password, or switch to the OAuth sign-in flow instead.
- Outlook keeps prompting for a password after it worked once: this usually means the OAuth token expired or was revoked. Remove and re-add the account using the Google sign-in flow rather than manual IMAP.
- Mail sends but doesn’t receive (or vice versa): IMAP and SMTP authenticate separately — an issue with one doesn’t necessarily affect the other. Re-check both server sections independently.
Gmail IMAP Settings for iPhone and iPad
The recommended method is adding the account through Settings → Mail → Accounts → Add Account → Google, then signing in with your Google credentials. This uses Google’s own authentication flow and avoids manual IMAP entirely.
If you need to configure it manually (for example, in a third-party mail app):
| Field | Value |
| IMAP server | imap.gmail.com, port 993, SSL |
| SMTP server | smtp.gmail.com, port 587, TLS |
| Authentication | OAuth if the app supports it; otherwise an app password |
If iOS reports a password or authentication error, remove the account and re-add it using the Google option so authentication goes through Google’s sign-in flow rather than a stored password. If you’re configuring a third-party mail app that only supports manual IMAP, check whether it offers OAuth first — an app password is only needed when the app doesn’t support Google’s modern sign-in method.
Gmail IMAP Settings for Android
If you’re using the Gmail app on Android, no manual configuration is needed — sign in with your Google account and IMAP-based sync happens automatically in the background.
Manual IMAP settings only apply if you’re using a third-party email app (not the Gmail app):
| Field | Value |
| Incoming server | imap.gmail.com, port 993, SSL |
| Outgoing server | smtp.gmail.com, port 587, TLS |
| Authentication | OAuth where the app supports it; app password otherwise |
Gmail IMAP Settings for Thunderbird
Thunderbird supports OAuth2 authentication for Gmail directly, which is the easiest route:
- File → New → Existing Mail Account.
- Enter your name, Gmail address, and password (you’ll be redirected to Google’s sign-in page).
- Thunderbird auto-detects the IMAP and SMTP servers.
For manual configuration, use the same imap.gmail.com (993, SSL) and smtp.gmail.com (587, STARTTLS) values from the quick-reference table, with an app password if OAuth isn’t completing successfully.
Common Thunderbird issue: if Thunderbird reports a login failure, first confirm the account is set up to use OAuth2/Google authentication rather than a plain password. If it is and the error persists, remove any stale saved password under Account Settings → Server Settings and re-authenticate.
Gmail SMTP Settings
SMTP handles outgoing mail — sending — while IMAP handles incoming and cross-device synchronization. They’re configured separately, even though both point to Google’s servers.
| Field | Value |
| SMTP server | smtp.gmail.com |
| Port | 465 (SSL) or 587 (TLS/STARTTLS) |
| Authentication | Required |
| Username | Full Gmail address |
| Password | App password or OAuth |
If your client offers both 465 and 587, either works; 587 with STARTTLS is the more common default in modern clients.
Gmail IMAP vs. POP3
| Feature | IMAP | POP3 |
| Synchronization | Full two-way sync across devices | One-way download to the client |
| Multiple devices | Built for it | Poor fit — read status and folders don’t sync |
| Server-side storage | Messages stay on Gmail’s servers | Server copy retention depends on client/account settings |
| Best use case | Checking Gmail from a phone, laptop, and webmail | A single-device, offline archive |
For nearly all everyday use, IMAP is the right choice. POP3 still has narrow uses — a one-time export to another system, for instance — but it’s not a good fit for anyone accessing Gmail from more than one device.
Gmail IMAP Not Working? Quick Checks
Work through these in order:
- Confirm the address. Typos in the username are more common than they sound.
- Rule out the password. Are you using an app password or OAuth, not your regular Gmail password?
- Verify server and port exactly match imap.gmail.com:993 and smtp.gmail.com:587 or 465.
- Confirm SSL/TLS is enabled — an unencrypted connection attempt will be rejected outright.
- Check Google account security alerts at myaccount.google.com/security for a blocked sign-in attempt that needs manual approval.
- Regenerate the app password if it’s old or was accidentally revoked.
- Check for oversized folders. Very large IMAP folders can cause clients like Outlook or Thunderbird to slow down or freeze during sync. Gmail lets you cap how many messages a single IMAP folder will show a client if this becomes an issue.
- Remove and re-add the account rather than editing an existing broken configuration.
- For Workspace accounts, check with your admin — IMAP access and third-party app access can both be restricted centrally.
- Confirm Gmail itself is receiving mail by checking the web interface — if messages aren’t arriving there, the problem isn’t your client.
Is Gmail IMAP Being Discontinued?
No — and this is worth clarifying directly, because two unrelated changes get conflated in search results.
Gmail’s own IMAP and SMTP access (the servers and settings in this guide) are not being discontinued. They remain fully supported for connecting Gmail to Outlook, Thunderbird, Apple Mail, and mobile apps.
What is changing is Gmailify and “Check mail from other accounts.” That’s a different feature: Gmail’s ability to pull in mail from other providers (like Yahoo or Outlook.com) using POP and apply Gmail’s spam filtering and inbox tools to it. Google began blocking new setups of this feature in the first quarter of 2026, and existing users who already had it configured can keep using it until January 2027, after which it’s retired entirely. If you use Gmail to consolidate other email accounts this way, you’ll eventually need to switch to accessing those accounts directly via IMAP in each provider’s own app, set up forwarding, or migrate them into Gmail properly. Already-imported messages stay put either way; only future syncing from third-party accounts via this feature is affected.
If your only goal is connecting Gmail itself to a client like Outlook or Thunderbird, none of this affects you — that continues to work exactly as described in this guide.
If You’re Setting This Up Because You’re Moving Platforms
If configuring Gmail IMAP is one piece of a larger move — consolidating multiple inboxes, switching between Google Workspace and Microsoft 365, or backing up mail before a transition — manual IMAP setup gets a lot more complicated at scale. Folder structures, labels, shared mailboxes, and permissions don’t always translate cleanly between platforms through IMAP alone.
That’s the kind of project SkyMigrate’s Gmail migration and Google Workspace migration services are built for — moving full mailboxes, not just reconfiguring one client at a time. If you’re specifically backing up Gmail data before a switch, our email backup guide covers what IMAP-based backup can and can’t preserve compared to a proper migration.
FAQs
What is Gmail’s IMAP server? imap.gmail.com, using port 993 with SSL encryption.
What is the Gmail SMTP server? smtp.gmail.com, using port 465 with SSL or port 587 with TLS/STARTTLS.
How do I enable IMAP in Gmail? For personal accounts, IMAP is already enabled by default and there’s no toggle to switch it on — that setting was removed in 2024. Workspace admins may still control IMAP access at the organization level.
What password do I use for Gmail IMAP? OAuth sign-in if your client supports it, or an app password generated at myaccount.google.com/apppasswords if it doesn’t. Your regular Gmail password no longer works for any Google account as of March 14, 2025.
Does Gmail still support IMAP? Yes. IMAP itself isn’t being discontinued — only Gmail’s POP-based fetching of other providers’ mail (Gmailify and “Check mail from other accounts”) is being phased out, with new setups already blocked and existing users losing access in January 2027.
Why does my IMAP password keep getting rejected? Almost always because you’re entering your normal Gmail password instead of an app password or OAuth sign-in, after Google’s phase-out of basic password authentication.
How can I tell if IMAP is enabled in Gmail? For personal accounts, it’s on by default and can’t be turned off. If you’re on Google Workspace and IMAP isn’t connecting, check with your administrator.
Conclusion
The server and port values for Gmail IMAP rarely change — the part that actually breaks setups is authentication. If you remember one thing from this guide, make it this: use OAuth sign-in where your client supports it, an app password where it doesn’t, and never your regular Gmail password. Most “IMAP not working” problems resolve immediately once that’s sorted out.
