How to set up Gmail in Outlook 2013

How to set up Gmail in Outlook 2013

Written by Hayder Abbass on January 20, 2013 in Software

 

 

 

With an intuitive interface and a plethora of useful features, Gmail is no doubt the best platformto manage your mails. Still, there are reasons why people would want to set up their Gmail account in Microsoft Outlook. Like, when you have several email accounts to manage, you will prefer a single platform on Microsoft Outlook to do that. You might also want to use outlook as a backup software to store your Gmail messages locally on your computer.

For whatever the reasons, here’s how you can set up your Gmail in Outlook 2013 using either POP3 or IMAP.

POP3 and IMAP: Which one to choose?

POP3 and IMAP are both protocol that allows you to connect to a mail server and fetch your emails. With POP3, all your emails are downloaded to your computer first before you can view them in an email client such as Microsoft Outlook or Thunderbird. When you read an email in Outlook, your email will be marked as read automatically in the software, but it will still be marked as unread on the mail server, e.g. in your Gmail account. The same applies if you delete an email in Outlook – you will still see the email through the web-based version in Gmail, although you have already deleted it in Microsoft Outlook.

In contrast with POP3, IMAP syncs all the changes you’ve done on your mail client (Microsoft Outlook). You should use IMAP if you access your email through multiple devices such as your office computer, laptop, tablet or your mobile phone. This is because if you have deleted an email when you were accessing your inbox on your laptop, and then log into your inbox again on your tablet, you wouldn’t want to see emails that you have previously deleted, right? Your previously read emails will also be marked as read across all your devices.

I recommend you to use IMAP over POP3 as it will save you both time and space if you use multiple devices to reach your inbox. If you intend to use Outlook for back up purposes, then use POP3.

Set up Gmail using POP3

1.Before you set up Microsoft Outlook, you will first need to enable POP on your Gmail Account. To do that, navigate to the small gear-shaped icon at top right corner of your screen. Click on Settings from the drop down menu. Then go to Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab.

2.In the second section related to POP download, enable POP and choose from the first two options, Enable POP for all mail or Enable POP for mail that arrives from now on.

Depending on what your needs are, tweak the settings related to action taken when mail is accessed with POP.

3.Start Microsoft Outlook and navigate to File at the top and click on the button Add Account under Account Information.

4.In the Add account window, check the option at the bottom, manually configure server settings, and then click next.

5.Select the first option Internet Email and click next.

6.Enter your name and email address under user information. In the server Information, select POP3 as the account type. Enter the incoming and outgoing mail server. For Gmail, the incoming mail server is pop.gmail.com and outgoing server is smtp.gmail.com. Under the Login information, enter your username (your Gmail email address) and your Gmail password.

 

Setting up Gmail in Outlook 2013 – (Click to Enlarge)

 

7.Now, go to More Settings. Navigate to Outgoing server and enable the first option My Outgoing server requires authentication. Select the first option Use same settings as my incoming mail server.

8.Navigate to Advanced tab and enter the appropriate port numbers. For the incoming mail server, enter 995 and enable the option this server requires an encrypted connection. In the outgoing mail server, enter the number 465 and choose SSL from the drop down list.

9.Once you’re done with that, click OK and return to the Gmail settings window. Under the Test Email Accounts settings, enable the option Automatically test account settings when Next is clicked.  Then click on  Next. Outlook will send a test email message to your account. If the email was set up successfully, you will receive the test email in your inbox.

Once you set it up successfully, you don’t need to fuss with the settings again. It’s time to sit back and relax while you can use the simple interface of Microsoft Outlook to send and receive emails from your Gmail address.

Set up Gmail using IMAP

Setting up Gmail in Outlook 2013 using IMAP is almost the same as for POP3 except that it uses a different incoming mail server address and ports.

1.Repeat step 1 as for POP3 and next to IMAP access in your Gmail account, chooseEnable IMAP.

2.Repeat step 2-5. In the Add Account window, select IMAP as your account type.

Use the following settings:

Incoming mail server: imap.gmail.com
Outgoing mail server: smtp.gmail.com

3.Then click on More Settings, go to Advanced tab.

Use the following settings:

Incoming server(IMAP): 993
Type of encrypted connection: SSL

Outgoing server(SMTP): 25
Type of encrypted connection: TLS

Then click Ok.

4.Now you should be back on the Add Account screen. Click Next to complete the set up of your Gmail account in Outlook 2013.

Fetching your emails

Whatever the protocol you have chosen above to connect with your Gmail in Outlook 2013, the steps to fetch your emails from Gmail servers is the same. On your Outlook main window, click on Send/Receive tab at the top. Then click on Send/Receive all Folders.

That’s all folks! I know it’s a long process in order to set up Gmail in Outlook 2013 but it’s worth the pain.