I want to use Gmail with Outlook Express – how do I do that? Can I send Gmail emails from Outlook Express or do I need to log in at my Gmail account every time? Can I download all Gmail emails to my computer? Is it possible to keep one copy of the email on Gmail and one on my computer?
Wilfred Jose
Lots of questions… and the answers follow.
To use Gmail with Outlook Express, you first need to set up the account in the email program. This is quite a simple process. After configuring the Gmail account in Outlook Express you need to connect to the internet and download messages from the online Gmail web server. The email messages would then be stored on your computer and accessible by opening the Outlook Express program.
Sponsored Links
FYI, Outlook Express can use two email protocols to connect to the Gmail server – POP3 and IMAP. I be discussing only the former option. POP3 (also called Post Office Protocol 3) is the technology used by email programs such as Outlook Express to download messages from the web server to your computer. All Gmail email accounts come with free POP3 access.
How to use Gmail with Outlook Express
Outlook Express is an email client – a program that lets you download and store messages on your computer. Though there are many popular free email clients, Outlook Express is probably the most famous of them all because it came preinstalled with the Windows operating system (till Windows XP) and was also bundled with the Internet Explorer web browser (till version 6).
Google’s Gmail is a web-based email service. Anyone can get a free Gmail email address now that special invitations are no longer required. As mentioned before, the first step is to set up the email account in Outlook Express which is a straightforward process; for step by step instructions with screenshots, please refer how to add Gmail on Outlook Express. Once this is done you would be able to send messages from your Gmail account through the Outlook Express client.
Store Gmail messages on your computer
The greatest benefit of using Gmail with Outlook Express (or any other email client) is ability to store emails on your computer. You don’t need to login at your account every-now-and-then because all the emails are now downloaded from the Gmail server and stored on your system (an active internet connection is required to download new messages).
Remember, when you enable POP, which is a required step when setting up Gmail on O.E., you can do so for all email messages in your account or only those that arrive henceforth. You can also choose to retain a copy in the online Gmail account or have the message deleted once it’s downloaded to your computer – refer image below.
Problems using Gmail with Outlook Express
The most common problem is when users are not able to send Gmail email from Outlook Express. Though the process of receiving messages is generally smooth, sending emails can lead to errors or it may not work at all! I’ve detailed these problems in other articles and urge you to read these.
