Important news for experienced Gmail users: Google is removing the feature that allows Gmail to collect messages from other email accounts via POP3.
The company hasn't been as forthcoming with the attention it should have been with previous guidance posts. The news appears in a support note that reads " Learn about upcoming changes to Gmailify & POP in Gmail ":
Starting in January 2026, Gmail will no longer support the following features:
Gmailify: This feature allows you to apply special features like spam protection or inbox organization to your third-party email account.
Check mail from other accounts : Retrieving email from third-party accounts to your Gmail account, using POP, will no longer be supported.
Google says there will be “changes” to Gmailify, but that doesn’t mean the Gmailify feature will be discontinued.
Why is Google doing this now? Opinions vary, but some market observers suspect it's related to the fact that POP3 requires passwords to be sent in plain text.
If you're using Gmail to access older email accounts this way, it might be time to switch to using a local email client, the traditional way.
We recommend Thunderbird : it's free, runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux, and can communicate with all kinds of email servers, including Microsoft Exchange Server, as well as the trusty old Usenet. It can chat via XMPP and Matrix.
It's yet another reason why you might still want an email client in the age of webmail.
Using IMAP in Gmail via Outlook or Thunderbird
Set up your email in a program like Outlook or Thunderbird with IMAP:
Incoming server: mail.mydomain.gr (port 993 SSL/TLS)
Outgoing server: mail.mydomain.gr (port 465 or 587 SSL/TLS)
If you use Outlook or Thunderbird, add your Gmail account via IMAP to view both accounts in one environment.
If you want to transfer your old emails, copy them from the POP3 folder to the folders of the new IMAP account.
Although the press releases will range from very select to rare, I said I'd pass...because sometimes the editors hide.
