if you want to use a third party email client like microsoft outlook and you want to send and receive emails from your gmail address, popup setup is the way to go.
but what are popup settings and how do they work? we’ll tell you everything you need to know about setting up popups and how you can start using them right away.
what is the pop server for gmail?
Gmail, Google’s Internet-based email service, runs on the Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) system. also provides access to the Post Office Protocol (POP) mail server.
both imap and pop mail servers handle email messages, but in slightly different ways. it is up to the user to determine which one suits them best. this may depend on the mail program on their computer, the mobile device they use, or the type of access they need.
for example, if you only use gmail in your browser, it should be enough to access gmail via the imap protocol. imap stores all your email messages and folders on the server, which means every time you log in, regardless of device, you can access your emails and folders.
on the other hand, the pop email protocol downloads all email messages from the mail server to your device’s email program and then deletes all downloaded messages from the server. therefore, every time you delete a message from your inbox or folder, or send a new message, you won’t be able to see that this has happened if you access the same account from a different device.
In other words, pop is great if you want to access your emails while offline, but it’s not ideal for those who want to access their email account from different devices.
why use pop for gmail?
When you use pop, you will see the following benefits:
1. no internet connection required
Because mail is stored locally, you can access your email without an internet connection. you will only need access to an internet connection to send or receive emails.
2. you save storage space
Because your emails are only temporarily downloaded and then deleted from the server, you can save valuable storage space.
3. you can consolidate multiple accounts
pop allows you to collect multiple email accounts in a single inbox.
further reading: gmail smtp settings
how to configure pop in gmail
step 1: open gmail.
step 2: go to settingsin the upper right corner.
step 3: go to the forwarding and pop/imap tab.
step 4: in the popup download section, select enable pop for all mail or enable pop for mail that arrive from now on.
step 5: click save changes at the bottom of the page.
then make changes to your email client:
go to your email client and make sure that all settings meet the following:
difference between pop, smtp & image
both imap and pop are used to read your gmail messages in other email clients (eg outlook).
imap can be used on multiple devices and emails are synced in real time.
pop, on the other hand, can only be used on a single device. emails are not synced in real time, but are downloaded. you can decide how often you want to download new emails.
simple mail transfer protocol (smtp) is the protocol used by mail servers to send, receive, and/or relay outgoing mail between email senders and recipients.
with an smtp email server, you set its address (formatted as smtp.serveraddress.com). for a gmail smtp server, the address would be smtp.gmail.com.
When you send an email, the smtp server will process your email, determine which service to send your message to, and relay the message to that server. the recipient’s inbox service provider will download the message and place it in their inbox.
further reading: ultimate guide to setting up gmail
pop gmail FAQ
why can’t i log in to my email client?
if this happens, you may have been prompted for your username and password multiple times or received an error message: “username and password not accepted” or “invalid credentials”
- check that your password is correct.
- try to fix the problem:
- update your email client to the latest version.
- use an app password
- allows less secure apps to access your account.
- repeat your gmail account setup if you recently updated your gmail password.
why are my emails not downloading correctly?
When you set up pop in gmail, you can access your emails in batches, which can take a while to appear.
gmail downloads a copy of every email you send and receive (except emails within chats, spam, and trash). therefore, to avoid message duplication, gmail does not download sent emails within your email client. That said, you can still see them once you log into gmail.
if your emails still won’t download:
- go to your client’s popup settings page and find the email address or username field.
- add recent: in front of Your email address. eg recent:username@gmail.com.
Otherwise, remove your gmail address from your email client and add it back.
what do I do if I get a “pop command exceeded account or bandwidth limit” error?
“account exceeded pop command or bandwidth limits” error usually appears because your pop clients have accessed your gmail account too often.
You can fix this by changing your client settings to reduce how often it checks for new messages.
how do I download my emails to multiple email clients?
Imap is preferable if you want to use gmail in multiple email clients. but if you want to use pop instead of imap, set the recent mode, which allows you to see the last 30 days of gmail emails.
- go to your email client’s popup settings page and find the email address or username field.
- add recent:in front of your email address. eg recent:username@gmail.com.
You can also change your popup settings to make sure your emails are left on the server.
- for outlook, go to accounts – advanced – leave a copy of messages on the server.
- for apple mail, go to the advanced tab; uncheck the box next to Delete server copy after retrieving a message.
- for thunderbird, go to server settings tab, check the box next to leave messages on server.
in summary
The gmail pop settings are useful for anyone who is happy to use a single device from which to access their email account, but also wants to limit storage uploads.
With these steps, you’ll be able to configure your popup settings in gmail right away.