Consolidate multiple email accounts using Gmail

Post date: May 14, 2018 5:22:23 AM

It is not uncommon to have several email accounts, but checking multiple accounts in different places is tedious. Hence, many people revert to a desktop email client like Thunderbird or Outlook to manage all their mail from one place. 

However, I found that Gmail can do the same and it can do it much better. Since I switched, I no longer have to worry about backing up or moving my profile, I save a bit of RAM as my browser is running anyway, I save several gigabytes of hard drive space, and no matter where I check my mail, it’s always the same familiar inbox and setup greeting me.

Besides, Gmail has an ingenious search feature, some fun and very useful Google Labs plugins, and with browser extensions you can get even more cool features. In other words, it’s bliss and I would like to share that with you.

Let Gmail become your one account to rule them all! 

STEP1: Import Email Accounts Into Gmail

The best way I recommend is that instead of importing email from other accounts, its best that you forward the email from those accounts to your main Gmail account. For more detailed instructions, Click Here

Much like a desktop client, Gmail can handle multiple email accounts. Moreover, it makes importing mail from POP3 accounts fairly easy, by automatically filling in the required POP server information for you.

Let’s say you want to import email from an old Hotmail account, what would you need to do?

1. Open Google Mail, click the wheel icon in top right and select Settings from the drop-down menu.

2. In your Gmail settings, go to the Accounts and Import tab.

3. Under the header Check mail using POP3 click Add a POP3 mail account you own.

4. Fill in your email address and click Next Step.

5. In the next window, add your password, check the boxes that apply, and click Add Account.

6. For more detailed instructions, Click Here

The video below illustrates how to do this easily.

STEP2: Configure your Main Gmail account to send email as other account

If you are using the paid G-Suite account and get the following error you may need to enable this functionality from your Administrator Console.

How do I allow or disallow users to use an outbound gateway?

By default, users cannot use an outbound gateway; the G Suite mail servers deliver all outgoing mail, including mail that uses alternate From addresses.

To allow users to use an outbound gateway:

• 1. Sign in to the Google Admin console.

  2. From the dashboard, click Apps, then click G Suite > Gmail > User settings.

  3. In the Allow per-user outbound gateways section, select Allow users to send mail through an external SMTP server when configuring a "from" address hosted outside your email domains.

  4. When this check box is selected, users who associate additional email addresses with their accounts have the option to enter connection information for an alternate SMTP server. (Learn more about the required steps for the user.) When the check box is not selected, users cannot specify an SMTP server for the additional address.

  5.  

  6. Click Save changes.

It can take up to an hour for the changes to propagate through Google systems.