1. Use Gmail IMAP in Microsoft Outlook 2007
We've all been hearing about the new IMAP support in Gmail, but how do we access that from
Outlook? Those of you that have been waiting patiently will be happy to know all the
instructions are on this page.
Using IMAP we can synchronize email across multiple devices, since the mail stays on the
server. You already stopped reading this part and skipped down to the instructions, didn't you?
Enable IMAP in Gmail Settings
Open your Settings panel in Gmail, and then click on the quot;Forwarding and POP/IMAPquot; tab.
Now click the Enable IMAP radio button, and click Save Changes.
Add Account to Outlook
Use the Tools menu you to open the Account Settings panel.
2. If this is your first account you'll be prompted for the wizard, otherwise you'll need to click the
New button under the E-mail tab.
Now select the quot;Microsoft Exchange, POP3, IMAP or HTTPquot; option and hit next.
3. Select the checkbox for quot;Manually configure server settingsquot; and everything on that page will
gray out. Hit the next button again.
Now select quot;Internet E-mailquot; (Didn't we just do this? This wizard is taking too long…)
Finally we can enter some settings! Add in all your personal information here.
Note: If you are outside of the US you may need to use imap.googlemail.com and
smtp.googlemail.com instead of imap.gmail.com and smtp.gmail.com.
4. Note: for Gmail Apps accounts, you'll need to put in your full email address wherever you see an
@gmail.com above. For instance, if your account was geek@howtogeek.com you would put that
in the E-mail address field as well as the User Name field.
Click on the quot;More Settingsquot; button and find the Outgoing Server tab, where you'll need to check
the box for quot;My outgoing server requires authenticationquot;
Now choose the Advanced tab, and enter the following values (Very important)
Incoming Server: 993
Incoming Server encrypted connection: SSL
Outgoing Server: 587
Outgoing Server encrypted connection: TLS
Note: If you are having an issue with your sent email not showing up in Gmail, you can use the
Folders tab, and then select the [Gmail] Sent Mail folder.
Note: Only do this step if your mail is not showing up, otherwise it will duplicate the sent mail.
5. Now that you've closed out that dialog, you can click the Test Account Settings button to make
sure everything is going to work.
If all goes well, you should see a success message.
6. Note: Some ISPs restrict outgoing mail, so if you have a problem sending a test message you'll
need to consult with their documentation.
Accessing Your Mail
Now that everything is working you'll notice a new set of folders for your Gmail account. (I'm
using Gmail apps, which is why you don't see an @gmail.com email address)
All of your labels will show up as separate folders, and the built-in quot;foldersquot; in Gmail will be
under the new [Gmail] folder.
Outlook Flags = Gmail Stars
If you want to star a message in Gmail, you just need to flag it in Outlook. When I flagged this
message from Mysticgeek…
7. It shows up in Gmail as a starred message. (And it works the other way too)
Sending Email from Outlook
To send a new email from your Gmail account, just change the quot;Accountquot; drop-down to your
Gmail address before you send a message.
Note that if you only use Gmail, you won't have this drop-down and it will default to your
Gmail.
Final Thoughts
Here's a few things to keep in mind:
Gmail Labels = Outlook Folders. To label a message, add it to a folder.
Gmail Stars = Outlook Flags.
Do Not move spam messages to the quot;Junk E-mailquot; folder in Outlook, move them to the
[Gmail] Spam folder.
Outlook has a built-in Search Folder for quot;Large Mailquot;, which will let you easily find
messages with large attachments.
8. Now that you can access your starred and labeled messages, you can start using Outlook's
excellent Search Folders to find messages more easily.
