Gmail provides an ability to download emails via POP3/SMTP. To work with this feature, you require access to email client software such as Microsoft Outlook or Thunderbird. The advantage of the functionality is that your emails will be downloaded directly to your computer. Hence, you can read the email when you prefer. It is also possible to retain the messages on the server even if you opt for POP3/SMTP.
Generally, SMTP stands for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. It is through this protocol your emails are delivered to the concerned recipients. If the SMTP settings are wrong then your emails will not be delivered through the email client software. You should note that SMTP settings are not the same for all providers.
Before we talk about the SMTP settings, you should know about POP3 settings using which you can download emails. There is no point in discussing SMTP without covering POP3. For the purpose of this article, we will be using Microsoft Outlook.
(1) Open Microsoft Outlook
(2) Select Add Account button
(3) Select File | Account Settings and then select new option.
(4) Use the following settings for the incoming (POP3) and outgoing (SMTP) mail servers
POP3 – pop.gmail.com
SMTP – smtp.gmail.com
(5) Select More Settings button
(6) Select Outgoing Server tab and leave the settings as such
(7) Select Advanced tab
(8) Check mark “This server requires an encrypted connection (SSL)” option
(9) Select SSL as the encrypted connection option and provide SMTP value as 465
(10) If you would like to leave the messages on the server, you should check mark “Leave a copy of messages on the server“. You can also set an option which will remove the messages after 14 days.
You can test whether the settings are correct by selecting the test messages option. If the provided credentials and values are correct, your emails will be downloaded from the Gmail server. The important point to note is that you need to enable POP3 by logging onto your Gmail account.