Google never shipped one, so this is the honest shortlist
Gmail Desktop App for Windows and Mac: Every Gmail Account in One Inbox
There is no Gmail application from Google on any desktop operating system, and Gmail on the web will not merge your accounts into one list. Inboxes reads every Gmail address you own next to iCloud, Yahoo and your own domain, on one board.
Windows, Mac, Linux · Nothing to install · IMAP mailboxes
In short
Google has never published a native Gmail desktop application for Windows, macOS or Linux, and has announced no plan to. The route Google supports is installing mail.google.com as an app from the Chrome or Edge menu, which gives Gmail its own window, a taskbar or dock icon, notifications and offline reading once you enable it in Gmail settings. That installed app is still one Gmail account at a time: Gmail multiple sign in switches between addresses in separate tabs rather than merging them, so a person with three Gmail addresses ends up with three windows. The other route is a mail client that connects to Gmail over IMAP, which Google still fully supports, using either OAuth or an app password rather than your ordinary Google password. Dedicated Gmail clients such as Mimestream on macOS are excellent at one job and cannot hold anything that is not a Gmail account. A plain IMAP client can hold all of them at once, which matters more from January 2027, when Google removes Gmailify, POP fetching of third party accounts and Send as for non Google addresses, and points users at a desktop client over IMAP instead.
Last updated August 2026
What exists, what does not, and what changes in January 2027
Gmail on the desktop, stated plainly
Most results for this question are installation guides that turn out, several scrolls down, to be describing a browser bookmark. Start with what Google actually publishes, because that decides which of the workarounds is worth your time.
There has never been a Gmail desktop program. Not for Windows, not for macOS, not for Linux, in any year of the product. Google builds Gmail as a web application and native apps only for Android and iOS. This is worth saying flatly because the search results are full of pages titled like downloads, and because sites offering a Gmail installer or exe file are distributing something Google did not write. Treat those as a security problem rather than a shortcut.
The route Google supports is installing the site as an app. In Chrome, sign in at mail.google.com, open the three dot menu, choose Cast, save, and share, then Install page as app. Chrome creates a standalone window with its own icon, which you can pin to the taskbar, the dock or the Start menu. Edge does the same thing under Apps, then Install this site as an app. You get notifications and a window with no address bar, which is most of what people mean when they ask for a desktop app.
Offline works, but only in Chrome. Turn on offline mail in Gmail settings and Chrome keeps up to 90 days of messages on the machine, so the installed app can read, search, compose and archive with no connection. Firefox and Safari do not support it. If offline access on a Mac matters to you and you use Safari, that alone pushes you toward a traditional client that keeps its own local store.
The installed web app still shows one account at a time. This is the limit people hit hardest and the one the guides skip. Gmail multiple sign in lets you add several Google accounts to the browser, but it switches between them rather than combining them: each address gets its own tab or window, its own unread badge and its own notification stream. A merged list across three Gmail addresses is not a setting you have missed. Gmail does not do it.
IMAP is alive and Google recommends it. Gmail continues to support IMAP, POP and SMTP for reading mail in other apps. What changed is the credential: Google stopped accepting a plain Google password from mail clients, so a client now either signs you in with OAuth or takes an app password, and app passwords require 2-Step Verification on the account. Once an app password exists it keeps working until you revoke it or disable 2-Step Verification.
January 2027 is the date to write down. Google is removing three things from Gmail on the web: Send as for third party addresses such as an @yahoo.com or @hotmail.com account, Gmailify, and POP syncing that fetches a third party mailbox into Gmail. The announcement period ran through the third quarter of 2026, the transition period covers the third and fourth quarters, and full removal lands in January 2027. Before then, Google restricts new configurations of the feature, so setting it up fresh is already closing.
Read what Google recommends instead, because it is unusually direct. The replacement Google names is to send mail directly from the third party provider, to keep using the Gmail mobile app, or to configure a desktop client to connect to that account over IMAP and SMTP. Google also states plainly that desktop mail clients using IMAP and POP are unaffected by the change. So the company retiring the feature that pulled your other mailboxes into Gmail is telling you to get a mail client, which is the whole argument for this page.
Gmail specific clients are good and narrow. Mimestream on macOS is built on the Gmail API rather than IMAP, which is why labels, filters and search behave exactly like Gmail rather than approximately like it. It is also macOS only and Gmail only, at 4.99 dollars a month or 49.99 a year. Shortwave is similarly Gmail and Workspace only. If every mailbox you own is Gmail, that narrowness costs you nothing. If one of them is not, it costs you the entire point.
Every route that works today
Seven ways to get Gmail onto your desktop
The column that decides this for most people is not features. It is whether the route can hold a mailbox that is not a Gmail account, and whether it shows several addresses in one list.
Swipe to see all columns →
| Route | Platforms | Non-Gmail mailboxes | Several accounts in one list | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inboxes | Any OS, it runs in a browser tab | Yes, any IMAP mailbox | Yes, one merged board | 29 dollars a month flat, five mailboxes |
| Gmail in a browser tab | Any OS with a browser | Gmailify and POP fetch end January 2027 | No, multiple sign in switches accounts | No license fee |
| Gmail installed as a Chrome or Edge app | Windows, macOS, Linux, ChromeOS | Same limits as the tab it wraps | No, one window per account | No license fee |
| Mimestream | macOS only | No, Gmail accounts only | Yes, across Gmail accounts | 4.99 a month or 49.99 a year, 5 devices |
| Thunderbird | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android | Yes, any IMAP mailbox | Yes, via Unified Folders | Open source, no license fee |
| eM Client | Windows and macOS only | Yes, any IMAP mailbox | Yes, one folder tree | 59.95 dollars once, one device and version |
| Mailbird | Windows and macOS only | Yes, any IMAP mailbox | Yes, unified account view | 2.46 euro per user a month billed yearly |
Vendor prices checked against each publisher directly in August 2026. Mailbird quotes in euro and renders in local currency. eM Client serves a separate US price list that is higher than its euro one, and the figures here are the US ones. Read the eM Client line carefully: the 59.95 dollar purchase covers one device and the version you bought, not future major versions, and the three device figure often quoted belongs to the 39.95 dollar a year Personal subscription.
Where this leaves a browser client
What you actually get here
The pitch is narrow on purpose. This is not a Gmail replacement, it is a way to stop switching between four of them.
Every Gmail address on one board
Personal, work and the address you use for invoices, in a single stream sorted by arrival, with the account each message came from shown on the row. No switching, no second window, no separate unread count to remember.
The mailboxes that are not Gmail, too
Outlook.com, Yahoo, iCloud, Fastmail, Zoho and your own domain sit in the same list. This is the exact job Gmailify and POP fetching used to do inside Gmail, and the one Google is removing in January 2027.
Nothing to install or update
It runs in the browser you already have, so the same board opens on a Windows desktop, a MacBook, a Linux laptop and a Chromebook. There is no build to download for the platform your vendor decided to skip.
A category on every message
Each message arrives with a category and a spam verdict already applied, so a morning of mixed personal and work mail is sorted before you open it rather than after you have read forty subject lines.
Search that crosses accounts
One query runs against every connected mailbox. Finding a receipt when you cannot remember which address it landed on is the case that makes people give up on running several Gmail tabs.
Flat pricing, not per seat
29 dollars a month covers five mailboxes, with larger tiers above it. Per device licenses and per seat subscriptions both get expensive at exactly the point where having several accounts becomes the problem.
Four steps, and no download
Getting several Gmail accounts onto one board
Gmail needs an app password rather than your ordinary Google password, which takes about a minute per account and is the only fiddly part.
Step 01
Turn on 2-Step Verification
Google only offers app passwords on accounts with 2-Step Verification enabled. If it is already on, skip this. It is in your Google Account under Security.
Step 02
Generate an app password
Create one per Gmail address. It is a 16 character string that lets a mail client in without exposing your real credential, and you can revoke it later without changing anything else.
Step 03
Connect each mailbox
Paste the address and the app password. Server settings for Gmail, Outlook.com, Yahoo, iCloud and the other common providers are filled in already, so there is no ports and SSL screen unless you are on your own domain.
Step 04
Read one board
Everything lands in one stream with the source account on each row and a category already applied. Pin the tab, or install this page as an app the same way you would have installed Gmail.
Who this actually helps
The people who search for a Gmail desktop app
Almost nobody wants a Gmail app because Gmail in a tab is broken. They want it because they are running several tabs.
Anyone running a business on Gmail
A Workspace address for clients, a personal address that still gets receipts, and an old address that owns half your logins. Three tabs, three unread counts, and the message you are looking for is always in the fourth one.
People whose Gmailify setup is ending
If you pulled a Yahoo, Hotmail or company address into Gmail with POP fetch or Gmailify, that arrangement stops in January 2027. A client that speaks IMAP to all of them is the route Google itself points to.
Mac users who do not want a Gmail only client
Mimestream is genuinely good, and it is Gmail only. If one of your mailboxes is on Outlook.com or your own domain, a Gmail specific client cannot hold it, no matter how well it handles the ones it can.
Linux and Chromebook users
eM Client, Mailbird, Mimestream, Canary Mail and Spark publish no build for either platform. A browser client removes the question of whether a vendor bothered to compile for your machine.
Anyone moving between machines
A desktop client keeps its state on one computer. If you read mail on a work Windows laptop and a personal Mac, per device licensing and per device local stores both start working against you.
Small teams sharing addresses
A support or billing address that two people watch does not fit a personal Gmail tab. Flat pricing across mailboxes is a different shape from a per seat subscription when the mailbox count grows faster than the headcount.
Where this is the wrong answer
What Inboxes does not do
It does not replicate Gmail label semantics. Gmail labels are not folders, and a client speaking IMAP sees them as folders. Mimestream avoids this by using the Gmail API instead. If your workflow depends on multi label messages behaving exactly as they do in Gmail, a Gmail specific client is the better tool.
It will not connect a managed Microsoft 365 mailbox. We authenticate with an app password, and tenant administrators generally block that. Personal Outlook.com and Hotmail addresses usually connect without trouble, but a work mailbox issued by an IT department will not.
There is no offline mode. It is a browser client and it needs a connection. Gmail installed as a Chrome app does support offline reading, and so does any traditional desktop client, so if you work on planes regularly this is a real difference and not a detail.
There is no native mobile app. The board works in a mobile browser, but if a polished phone client is the deciding factor, the Gmail app on Android and iOS is free of charge and better at that specific job than anything we would ship.
It is not a Gmail account. We are a client, not a provider. You keep your Gmail addresses exactly as they are, and we read them. Nobody gets a new address from us.
FAQ
Questions people ask about a Gmail desktop app
Does Gmail have a desktop app?
No. Google has never published a native Gmail desktop application for Windows, macOS or Linux, and has announced no plan to. Gmail is a web service. What Google supports instead is installing mail.google.com as an app from the Chrome or Edge menu, which gives you a separate window, a taskbar icon and notifications, or connecting Gmail to a third party client over IMAP.
Is there a Gmail desktop app for Mac?
Not from Google. macOS has no official Gmail application in the App Store or anywhere else. Mac users have three real options: install Gmail as a Chrome web app, use Apple Mail or another IMAP client, or buy a Gmail specific Mac client such as Mimestream, which costs 49.99 dollars a year and reads Gmail accounts only.
Is there a Gmail app for Windows 11?
There is no Microsoft Store app published by Google. Anything in the Store using the Gmail name is third party. On Windows 11 the supported routes are Gmail installed as a Chrome or Edge app, or a desktop client such as Thunderbird, eM Client or Mailbird connecting over IMAP with an app password.
How do I get Gmail on desktop?
Open Chrome, sign in at mail.google.com, then open the three dot menu and choose Cast, save, and share, then Install page as app. Chrome creates a standalone window with its own icon that you can pin to the taskbar or dock. In Edge the same thing lives under Apps, then Install this site as an app.
How do I put Gmail on my desktop?
Installing the page as an app is the version worth doing, because a plain desktop shortcut just reopens a browser tab. The installed app gets its own window, appears in your app switcher and can show notifications. Turn on offline mail in Gmail settings first if you want it to keep working without a connection.
What is the best Gmail desktop app?
It depends on how many mailboxes you have. For one Gmail account on a Mac, Mimestream is the strongest dedicated client. For several accounts across providers, a client that speaks plain IMAP is the better answer, because Gmail only clients cannot hold your Outlook, Yahoo, iCloud or company domain mail next to your Gmail.
Is there a Gmail desktop app for Linux?
No, and the gap is wider on Linux because most commercial mail clients skip the platform too. eM Client, Mailbird, Mimestream, Canary Mail and Spark publish no Linux build. What works on Ubuntu, Mint and Fedora is Gmail installed as a Chrome app, Thunderbird or Evolution over IMAP, or a browser based client.
Can a Gmail desktop app handle multiple accounts?
Gmail on the web cannot merge them. Multiple sign in switches between accounts, so each one opens in its own tab or window with its own unread count, and there is no single merged list. To read several Gmail addresses in one stream you need a client that connects each account separately over IMAP and combines the results.
How do I download Gmail for PC?
There is no Gmail installer to download. Any site offering a Gmail setup file or exe is not distributing Google software, and should be treated as a security risk. The legitimate equivalent is the browser install, which downloads nothing beyond what Chrome already has, or a mail client that connects to Gmail over IMAP.
Does Gmail work offline on the desktop?
Yes, in Chrome only. Enable offline mail in Gmail settings and Chrome stores up to 90 days of messages locally, so the installed web app can read, search, write and archive without a connection. It does not work in Firefox or Safari. A traditional IMAP client keeps its own local copy on any platform.
Do I still need an app password for Gmail?
Only if the client does not support OAuth. Google no longer accepts your ordinary Google password from a mail client, so a client either signs you in with OAuth or needs an app password, and app passwords require 2-Step Verification to be switched on. App passwords keep working until you revoke them or turn 2-Step Verification off.
Is Google removing IMAP for Gmail?
No. IMAP, POP and SMTP remain supported for reading Gmail from other apps. What Google removed was the ability to sign in with a plain password. This distinction matters because Google is separately retiring the features that pull other mailboxes into Gmail, while explicitly keeping desktop clients that use IMAP and POP.
What is Gmailify and is it going away?
Gmailify applied Gmail spam filtering and search to a linked Yahoo or Outlook account. Google is removing it, along with POP fetching of third party accounts and Send as for non Google addresses, in January 2027. New configurations are restricted before then. Google recommends configuring a desktop client over IMAP and SMTP instead.
What does a Gmail desktop client cost?
Thunderbird carries no license fee. Mimestream is 4.99 dollars a month or 49.99 a year for Gmail on macOS. eM Client sells a 59.95 dollar one time license covering one device and the version you bought. Mailbird is 2.46 euro per user a month billed yearly. Inboxes is 29 dollars a month flat for five mailboxes.
Related
Keep reading
Every Gmail account, one board
Nothing to download, nothing to license per device, and no vendor deciding your operating system does not qualify. Connect your Gmail addresses alongside iCloud, Yahoo and any other IMAP mailbox, and let a model tag each message before you read it.