Google removes the setting in January 2027
Check Mail From Other Accounts in Gmail: The Gmailify and POP Alternative
Gmail stops fetching mail from your other mailboxes in January 2027. Connect Yahoo, AOL, iCloud, Zoho, Fastmail and your own domain over IMAP instead, and read them all on one board.
IMAP · App password · Nothing to install
In short
Google is retiring three Gmail features that connect outside mailboxes: Send as for third party accounts, Gmailify, and POP fetching, which is the setting most people know as check mail from other accounts. Google says the notice period began in the third quarter of 2026, that the features keep working through a transition period into the fourth quarter of 2026 while Gmail may restrict new configurations, and that all three are fully removed in January 2027. Mail you have already imported stays in your Gmail mailbox. What is not changing is Gmail own IMAP and SMTP access, which Google describes as fully supported for reading Gmail from other apps. So the replacement Google itself names is a mail client that speaks IMAP and SMTP. Point one at each mailbox, including Gmail, and you get the thing the old setting produced, which is every address in one list, without waiting on a fetch schedule and without losing the ability to reply from the right address.
Last updated September 2026
Google published timeline, in its own terms
What Gmail is removing, and exactly when
Third party coverage of this change disagrees with itself, and several widely shared articles give January 2026. Google support documentation gives January 2027. These are the dates from that page.
| Phase | When | What actually happens |
|---|---|---|
| Notice period | Third quarter of 2026 | Affected users get an in product notification inside Gmail. Nothing breaks yet. |
| Transition | Third to fourth quarter of 2026 | Existing links keep working, but Gmail may restrict new configurations, so adding an account can start failing. |
| Full removal | January 2027 | Send as for third party accounts, Gmailify and POP fetching are all removed. |
| Mail already imported | No change | Stays in your Gmail mailbox. The change affects sending as and syncing going forward. |
| Gmail IMAP and SMTP | No change | Not affected. Google calls these protocols fully supported for accessing Gmail from other apps. |
Three features, one announcement. Send as let you write from an outside address inside Gmail. Gmailify applied Gmail spam protection and inbox organization to an outside mailbox. POP fetching, the setting labeled check mail from other accounts, collected the mail in the first place. They were sold as separate conveniences and they are being withdrawn as one group, which is why people who only used one of them are surprised to find the whole arrangement affected.
The last line of that table is the important one. This is not Gmail closing itself off. Google is explicit that if you use a third party email client, your experience is unchanged, and that IMAP and SMTP remain fully supported for accessing Gmail from other apps. The company is withdrawing the feature where Gmail acts as a collector for other people mailboxes, not the protocols that let software read Gmail.
Google names the replacement itself. The support page lists three options: use the other provider own website or app, use the Gmail mobile app, or set up a mail client that supports IMAP and SMTP. The first splits your mail back into separate tabs, which is the problem the setting existed to solve. The second is a phone. The third is the only one that reproduces what you had, on the machine where you actually work.
Send as is the half that hurts a business. If quotes, invoices or client replies leave from an address at your own domain today, that address is currently borrowed inside Gmail. After January 2027 Google says you will no longer be able to send mail from third party accounts in Gmail on the web or in the Gmail mobile apps. Receiving can limp along on forwarding. Sending from the right address cannot.
There is no rush, and there is a reason not to wait. Nothing stops working today. But Gmail may restrict new configurations during the transition, which means the window for setting things up the old way is closing before the feature does. Moving while your existing link still works lets you run both for a while and check nothing is missed, rather than migrating on the day it breaks.
Every replacement, compared honestly
Six ways to keep your other mailboxes after January 2027
The two columns that decide this are whether everything still lands in one place, and whether you can still reply from the address the sender wrote to.
Swipe to see all columns →
| Replacement | Everything in one list | Send from the right address | Runs on | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inboxes | Yes, one merged board | Yes, each mailbox sends as itself | Any browser, any machine | 29 dollars a month flat, five mailboxes |
| Forward everything to Gmail | Yes, it all lands in Gmail | No, replies go out as your Gmail address | Anywhere Gmail runs | No license fee |
| Each provider own webmail | No, one tab per mailbox | Yes, you are signed in to it | Any browser | No license fee, ads on some providers |
| Gmail mobile app | On the phone only | Send as for third party accounts is removed | Phones and tablets | No license fee |
| Desktop IMAP client | Yes, Thunderbird and eM Client both merge accounts | Yes | Install per machine, and no ChromeOS build | Thunderbird has no license fee, eM Client from 39.95 dollars a year |
| Third party fetch service | Yes, it pushes into Gmail | No, sending is still the Gmail address | Anywhere Gmail runs | Varies, and it is another vendor holding your mail |
If the only thing you used was POP fetching and you never cared which address your replies came from, forwarding is genuinely the easiest answer and it costs nothing. Set it at the other provider, point it at Gmail, and stop reading here. The case for a client starts when you also used Send as, or when the mailbox belongs to a business and the reply address matters, or when you want the messages to stay on their own servers rather than piling into one Google account.
Before you move, check your list
Which of your fetched mailboxes will connect
We sign in with app passwords over IMAP, which covers the providers people usually funnel into Gmail. One category does not work here, and it is better to know now than after you have signed up.
| Mailbox | Connects here | How you sign in |
|---|---|---|
| Gmail and Google Workspace | Yes, over IMAP | App password from your Google account |
| Yahoo Mail | Yes | App password, imap.mail.yahoo.com |
| AOL Mail | Yes | App password, imap.aol.com |
| iCloud Mail | Yes | App specific password, imap.mail.me.com |
| Zoho and Fastmail | Yes | App password from the provider |
| Your own domain | Yes, this is the common case | Normal mailbox password from your hosting panel |
| Outlook.com and Microsoft 365 | No | Microsoft requires OAuth and we do not implement it |
The Microsoft row is the honest limit. If the address you were fetching into Gmail is a Hotmail, Live, Outlook.com or Microsoft 365 mailbox, we cannot hold it, and a client that implements OAuth is the right answer for that one. Everything else on the list is a mailbox that issues an app password, which is the same credential the old Gmail setting was moving toward anyway.
Four steps, and no download
Moving off the Gmail fetch setting
Step 1
List what Gmail is fetching
Open Gmail settings, then the accounts section. Write down every address under check mail from other accounts and every address under send mail as. That list is your migration plan, and it is usually shorter than people expect.
Step 2
Generate an app password each
Sign in to each provider and create an app password in its security settings. It is a one time code you paste into a client, tied to that app, and revocable later without touching your real password.
Step 3
Add the mailboxes here
Add Gmail itself as one of them. The server settings for the common providers are already preset, so for most addresses you paste the app password and the mailbox opens.
Step 4
Leave the old setting until it goes
Run both for a couple of weeks. IMAP leaves the mail on its own server, so nothing is consumed or moved, and you can confirm every address is arriving before Gmail switches the fetch off.
Who this change actually lands on
The people who built a workflow on this setting
A business on its own domain
You read and answer hello at your own domain from inside Gmail, and the customer sees your business address. Send as is what makes that work, and it ends in January 2027. This group has a real deadline rather than an inconvenience.
Anyone with an old Yahoo or AOL address
The address is twenty years old, half your accounts still use it, and Gmail has been quietly collecting it for years. You do not want to migrate it and you do not want to open a second tab for it. IMAP keeps it where it is and puts it in front of you.
People running two or three side projects
One mailbox per project, all funnelled into a personal Gmail so nothing is missed. A client holds them as separate accounts on one board, which also fixes the thing fetching never did, which is replying from the project address.
Anyone tired of the fetch delay
Gmail decides the polling interval from how much mail an account gets, so a quiet mailbox can lag badly. If you have ever found a message an hour after it arrived, that is the schedule, not a fault, and there was never a setting to fix it.
Someone who wants the mail to stay put
POP fetching copied years of mail from other providers into one Google account. IMAP does the opposite: each message stays on the server it arrived at, and the client is only a window onto it. In Inboxes, archiving and spam moves are written back over IMAP; read state is tracked here rather than pushed back to the provider.
People on a Chromebook
The usual advice after this change is to install a desktop client, which is not an option on ChromeOS. A client that runs in a browser tab is, and it is the same answer that already covers locked down work machines.
Where this is the wrong answer
When you should not pay us for this
If you only fetched one mailbox and never used Send as. Turn on forwarding at that provider, point it at Gmail, and you are done at no cost. One address arriving in one place does not need a second product, and pretending otherwise would waste your money.
If the address is a Microsoft one. Hotmail, Live, Outlook.com and Microsoft 365 all require OAuth and we have not implemented it. That is a hard no rather than a limitation you can work around with a setting.
If you want a desktop application. Thunderbird merges accounts through Unified Folders and carries no license fee, and eM Client does the same from 39.95 dollars a year for the personal subscription. Both are good software. Neither runs on ChromeOS, and both install per machine, which is the tradeoff.
If you mainly read mail on a phone. There is no native mobile app here. The board works in a phone browser, but the Gmail and Yahoo apps are better at being phone mail apps and they cost nothing.
FAQ
Questions people ask about this change
What is check mail from other accounts in Gmail?
It is a Gmail setting that signs in to a mailbox somewhere else, pulls the new messages down over POP, and drops them into your Gmail inbox. People use it to funnel a Yahoo address, an AOL address or a mailbox at their own domain into the one Gmail tab they keep open. Google is removing it in January 2027.
Is Gmail removing check mail from other accounts?
Yes. Google states that in January 2027 it will fully remove Send as for third party accounts, Gmailify, and POP fetching from third party accounts. A notice period began in the third quarter of 2026 with an in product notification to affected users, and Gmail may restrict new configurations during the transition through the fourth quarter of 2026.
What is the alternative to check mail from other accounts?
Google names three: use the other provider website or app, use the Gmail mobile app, or point a mail client at the mailbox over IMAP and SMTP. The IMAP client is the only one of the three that keeps every address in a single list the way the Gmail setting did, which is why it is the closest replacement rather than a workaround.
Why is check mail from other accounts not working?
Two causes dominate right now. The older one is authentication: most providers stopped accepting your normal password in POP and need a generated app password instead. The newer one is the retirement itself, because Gmail may restrict new configurations during the transition period, so a setup that used to add cleanly can now fail at the last step.
Is Gmailify going away?
Yes, in January 2027, on the same schedule as POP fetching and Send as for third party accounts. Gmailify applied Gmail features such as spam protection and inbox organization to an outside mailbox. After the removal the mailbox itself is untouched and keeps working normally at its own provider, but Gmail stops linking to it.
Is Gmailify being discontinued?
It is. Google groups Gmailify with two other third party account features it is retiring, and gives January 2027 as the removal date for all three. Anything already pulled into your Gmail mailbox stays there. Google is explicit that messages you have already imported remain in your mailbox and that the change affects only sending as and syncing going forward.
What is the difference between Gmailify and POP3?
POP3 was the transport: Gmail logged in to the other mailbox and downloaded new mail on a schedule. Gmailify was the layer on top, applying Gmail spam filtering and inbox categories to that mail. You could run POP fetching without Gmailify, but Gmailify depended on the connection. Both are being removed together in January 2027.
Does Gmailify work with a custom domain?
It did, and that is the group with the most to lose. A business address at your own domain was one of the common things people linked, often together with Send as so replies still came from the business address. Both halves of that arrangement end in January 2027, so a domain mailbox needs a real client rather than a Gmail setting.
Check mail from other accounts vs forwarding, which is better?
Forwarding is simpler and survives the change, but it is one directional. Mail lands in Gmail and the original mailbox is left behind, replies go out from your Gmail address unless Send as covers it, and Send as for third party accounts is being removed too. IMAP keeps the message on its own server, syncs read state both ways, and sends from the right address.
How often does Gmail check mail from other accounts?
Gmail sets the interval itself, based on how much mail the account usually receives, and a quiet mailbox can go an hour or more between checks. There is no setting that forces it faster. An IMAP client does not poll on a vendor schedule in the same way, which is the practical reason people describe the switch as mail arriving on time again.
Why does Gmail take so long to check mail from other accounts?
Because the fetch is a scheduled job on Google side rather than a live connection, and the schedule adapts to volume. A low traffic mailbox gets checked less often, so a message can sit at the other provider long after it arrived. IMAP holds an open connection to the mailbox instead, so a new message shows up when it lands.
Can I use IMAP instead of POP to check mail from other accounts?
Not inside the Gmail setting, which was built on POP and is being removed. You use IMAP the other way around: instead of asking Gmail to collect the mail, you point a client at each mailbox directly, including Gmail. Google confirms IMAP and SMTP access to Gmail for third party clients is not affected by this change.
Why is check mail from other accounts blank?
A blank or empty list usually means the linked account was disconnected rather than that the mail vanished. An expired app password, a security change at the other provider, or a configuration Gmail no longer accepts will all leave the section showing nothing. Mail already imported stays in your Gmail mailbox even when the link is gone.
Does Gmail send as still work for a custom domain?
Until January 2027. After that Google says you will no longer be able to send mail from third party email accounts in Gmail on the web or in the Gmail mobile apps. If invoices, quotes or client replies go out from an address at your own domain today, that is the piece to plan a replacement for, because it is the half people notice immediately.
Do I need an app password to connect these accounts?
For most providers, yes. Yahoo, AOL, Gmail, iCloud, Zoho and Fastmail all issue a generated code that you paste into the client instead of your real password, and you can revoke it later without changing anything else. A mailbox at your own domain usually takes the normal mailbox password set in your hosting control panel.
Related
Keep reading
Move before Gmail switches it off
Connect Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, iCloud, Zoho, Fastmail and your own domain with app passwords, keep every message on its own server, and reply from the address the sender actually wrote to.