Logo - Full (Color)
Skip to content

Can you use Gmail with Outlook? Yes. 

In fact, setting up a Gmail account in Outlook is a great way to manage all your emails in one place.

Here’s how you can set up Gmail in Outlook.

 

Table of contents

  1. Enable IMAP in Gmail
  2. Set up multifactor authentication
  3. Link Gmail to Outlook

Enable IMAP in Gmail

To start setting up a Gmail account in Outlook, you need to configure the email server access. You have two options: IMAP and POP. Each of these allows you to access an email server via a third party (Outlook in this case).

Typically, you use IMAP if you want to access the copy of an email server while keeping the original and POP if you want to download the emails and delete the emails from the original server. 

For data safety, we recommend using IMAP.

Let’s see how to enable IMAP in your Google account. 

  1. Log into your Gmail account.
  2. In the top right corner of your screen, select the gear icon and click See all Settings.

    Clicking See All Settings in a Gmail account.
  3. Go to Forwarding and POP/IMAP.
  4. Click Enable IMAP under IMAP Access.

    Clicking Enable IMAP under IMAP access.
  5. Click Save Changes to finalize your settings.

Set up multifactor authentication

Before connecting your Gmail account to Outlook, you should enable multifactor authentication to ensure your connection remains safe.

You can do this in a few easy steps:

  1. In Gmail, select your profile icon at the top right and click Manage your Google Account.

    Clicking on the Manage your Google Account page.
  2. Click the Security tab.

    Clicking into the Security tab from the My Google Account page.
  3. Scroll down to Signing in to Google. If 2-Step verification isn’t already enabled, do so now.

    The Google Security tab and 2-step verification

Link Gmail to Outlook

Now that you’ve enabled IMAP and 2-step verification in Gmail, you can start connecting your Gmail account to your Outlook inbox.

First, log into the Outlook desktop app (you can’t sync your Gmail account using Outlook web app).

Next, follow the steps outlined below.

  1. Tap File and make sure you’re in the Info tab.
  2. Under Account Information, click Add Account.

    Clicking File and Add Account to set up Gmail in Outlook
  3. Add your email address to the provided field and click Connect.

    Adding the Outlook email address to the required field
  4. Verify the email you entered and click Next. 

    Make sure the email you entered is correct.
  5. Enter your Gmail password and click Sign in.

    Enter your password to set up Gmail with Outlook.
  6. Google will ask you to verify your identity by 2-Step verification. Do so by responding from your phone or entering a text code sent via SMS or email. 

    Verify your identity by the security method.
  7. Click Allow to give Outlook access to your email server. 

    Click Allow to let Microsoft read your emails from your Gmail account.

And it’s done. You’ll start seeing your Gmail inbox here:

You can see the Gmail account you added in Outlook.

If changes don’t come into effect immediately, restart Outlook. 

Once you’ve learned how to link Gmail to Outlook, you can also learn how to add Yahoo email to Outlook to further condense your emails.

Woman creating a signature using HubSpot's Email Signature Generator

If you want to customize your email settings even further, you can also add a custom signature. This will help you tell your Gmail and Outlook emails apart on the fly.