How to Collect Mail from Other POP Accounts in Gmail

After you have used Gmail for some time and learned to love it, you may want to handle all your mail — not just that arriving at your Gmail address — with it.Some email accounts let you forward all incoming mail to your Gmail address, but many do not offer such convenience. Almost all are accessible by POP, however, and that’s all Gmail needs.

Gmail can periodically retrieve mail from up to five POP accounts. You can even send mail from Gmail using these accounts’ addresses in the From: line.

Collect Mail from Other POP Accounts in Gmail

To have Gmail retrieve mail from an existing POP email account:

• Follow the Settings link in the top Gmail navigation bar.
• Go to the Accounts category.
• Click Add another mail account under Get mail from other accounts:
• Enter the account’s address under Email address:.
• Click Next Step ››.
• Type the user name (typically the part preceding the ‘@’ in your email address) under Username:.
• Enter your POP account’s password under Password:.
• If necessary, change the POP server name under POP Server.
  • If the account requires a custom port other than “110″, enter it under Port:.
  • If your account requires SSL in particular, make sure Always use a secure connection (SSL) when retrieving mail is checked and, typically, change the port to “995″.
  • Optionally, keep copies of retrieved messages on the server and label all incoming messages automatically.
    • You can also use Gmail solely as an archive or backup. For this, check Archive incoming messages (Skip the Inbox) and all retrieved mail will go straight to your Gmail Archive.
  • Click Add Account ››.
  • Make sure Yes, I want to be able to send mail as… is selected.
    • This allows you to send mail from Gmail using the POP account’s address in the From: line. Typically, it won’t hurt to turn this on.
  • Click Next Step ››.
  • Click Next Step ›› again.
  • Now click Send Verification.
  • Switch to the main Gmail window and go to the Inbox.
  • Open the Gmail Confirmation - Send Mail as… message as soon as it arrives (this may take a couple of minutes).
  • Copy and paste the Confirmation code into the Enter and verify the confirmation code form.
  • Click Verify.

  • Check Mail Manually

    Depending on how frequently you receive new messages at your email address, Gmail will check for new mail in intervals ranging from every two minutes to once per hour. You can always initiate mail fetching by going to Settings | Accounts and clicking Check mail now under the desired account.