If you’ve been running several email accounts through your Gmail, you might want to double-check your settings this month—that’s because Google is ending support for the POP3 protocol that can sync emails from third-party accounts. And while there are some other solutions, they don’t work quite the same.
POP3 is an older standard of syncing emails between multiple accounts that allowed users to import emails from a third-party account and manage them in one spot. It’s also a less secure method of transferring emails, so it’s not a total surprise that Google is phasing it out, but the company hasn’t broadcast the change too loudly, so it might come as a surprise to some users.
How to keep your third-party accounts working in Gmail
If you’re still using POP3 to fetch your emails from a third-party account, there are a couple of ways to fix it before Google pulls the plug:
-
Forward emails from your other accounts. Rather than having Gmail reach out to your third-party accounts, you can set up automatic forwarding on the other end. How to do this will depend on which email providers you use, so check your third-party account settings for forwarding options.
-
Use IMAP to check your email from the Gmail apps. In the Gmail app for Android and iOS, you can log into third-party email accounts that support IMAP connections.
The IMAP protocol works a bit differently than POP3. While POP3 would import messages into your Gmail but leave the original, IMAP syncs between your accounts. So if you use the Gmail app to check your email and delete some messages, they’ll be gone if you check the original account later.
What do you think so far?
Google’s support doc says this change will take effect “Starting January 2026” with no more specific time frame. At time of writing, POP3 support is still working on my own email accounts, so it’s not disabled just yet, but it’s a good idea to update your email setup sooner rather than later.
