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How to Check Your Non-Gmail Email with Gmail.

December 1st, 2008

You probably know that Google’s Gmail allows you to access Gmail email from any internet connected-computer, but you may not know that Gmail also allows you to check any of your other email accounts, from any internet computer.

Adding Another Email Account to Gmail!

That’s right, Gmail will work as a POP3/IMAP/SMTP mail client, allowing you to check your other email accounts with Gmail!

Translation: you can use Gmail to check your ISP (like Verizon) email account, your business email account, or whatever email accounts you currently use that doesn’t have webmail, or doesn’t have webmail that’s as easy to use as Gmail. You can use Gmail to check your home email accounts when you’re away from home, and you can even use Gmail to check multiple accounts – up to five.

Using Gmail will also allow you to gWebs MailCloak to protect almost any email address out there – just add an address to your Gmail account, and your account will now support MailCloak!

So here’s the quick and dirty on how to get ‘er done!

1) Create a Gmail Account & sign in.

2) Go to your account settings and click “Add an account.”

3) Gmail has account settings for most major ISP’s already in their database, so all you have to do is give them your login information.

4) We suggest using colored labels to identify accounts.

5) Sending mail from a POP account within gmail is easy too! Just click on your email address (or think link that says “change” right next to it) when composing mail, and select the account you wish to send from.

Some of you tech-savvy geeks are saying “Got’er done, kthxbye!” right now, but if your’re still scratching your head, read on after the break for a super-detailed walk through of the whole process!

K, so if you’re still reading, I am assuming you want to add your POP account to your gmail account, you understand the concepts, but you aren’t exactly sure how to do it. Have no fear! Because below, I walk you through all of the steps, one by one, holding your hand and laying out my jacket on the puddles before you step on them!

So heeeeere we go!

1) Create a Gmail Account

Point your browser to (or just click on) http://mail.google.com or http://www.gmail.com

And click on Sign Up for Gmail

Choose a unique email address and a strong password. See my previous post for tips on choosing a strong password.

After you click next, gmail will create an account for you and take you to a page with an overview of Gmail. Read it and then click “Login to your account”

2) Add an account.

Once you login, click on settings (at the top of the page, near your email address)

Then click “Add another mail account”

now enter your POP mail email address

Gmail knows the pop server information for most popular pop mail providers,

If Gmail doesn’t know your pop settings, you should copy them from your mail client (aka. Outlook/Mail/thunderbird/etc.)

I chose to leave a copy of retrieved messages on the server, so that I could also collect them with my outlook account. If you don’t intend to check your email with other accounts, you don’t need to do this.

I recommend always using a SSL connection when retrieving your email.

And, Very importantly, label incoming messages.

Now click “Add Account”

Some email providers don’t support SSL, if yours doesn’t, you may see an error like this: