Gmail makes sending emails fairly straightforward, especially when using the web interface or Gmail’s dedicated mobile app. But if you’re looking to use your Gmail account with third-party apps, configuring the Gmail SMTP server settings can be tricky.
And once you do figure out the configurations, additional issues like account sending limits or authentication problems pop up to slow you down. Then you revert back to step one to see what you did wrong, only wasting more time.
Unfortunately, most online guides don’t help. They’re outdated, missing 2025’s changes like Google’s 2FA rules, so you fumble through setups that don’t work. I’ve sorted it out, tested every step, and cut the clutter so you don’t waste effort.
In this article, I’ll walk you through SMTP Gmail settings with clear steps. By the end, you’ll know how to:
Set up Gmail SMTP in tools like Thunderbird to send and sync emails smoothly.
Configure POP3 and IMAP settings in Gmail for multi-device syncing and offline access to your emails.
Fix errors quickly to keep your outreach on track.
We’ll also offer a reliable Gmail SMTP alternative worth considering for mass email campaigns. Let’s get into it.
What’s Gmail SMTP and why should you care?
Gmail SMTP, or Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, is the tech that allows you to send emails from your Gmail account through third-party apps, websites, or email clients like Outlook.
Think of it as Gmail’s email dispatcher that grabs your message from an external platform and routes it to your recipient’s inbox via Gmail’s outgoing server, smtp.gmail.com.
In simple terms, here’s how it works:
You connect your email app or platform to Gmail’s SMTP server (smtp.gmail.com).
It verifies your Gmail credentials, like your email and password, to confirm that you’re an authorized sender.
Once authenticated, the Gmail SMTP server processes your emails and finds the recipient’s mail server using DNS (domain name system).
Finally, Gmail’s SMTP server hands off the email to the recipient’s mail server, which either lands it in their inbox or flags it as spam depending on security and email deliverability factors.
If you’re a sales pro, marketer, or business development rep, Gmail SMTP makes sending emails from emails from tools like CRMs or automation platforms easy.
You don’t need a separate server to send emails, but with a cap of 500 emails per day (2,000 for Google Workspace users), it likely won’t scale for big campaigns.
Gmail SMTP Server Settings
Here are the key Gmail SMTP server settings you’ll need to know:
SMTP Password: Your Gmail password or app-specific password (if 2FA is enabled)
Security: Requires TLS or SSL
Use Authentication: Yes
Why do you even need Gmail SMTP?
If you’re sending emails directly through Gmail’s web interface or mobile app, you might wonder why SMTP Gmail settings even matter. Google’s got it covered, right?
The truth is that Google’s SMTP server does more than send emails for you. It’s a necessity for anyone who wants to send emails using a Gmail address from applications, websites, or custom email clients without using Gmail’s web interface.
It’s a relatively straightforward process to start using the Gmail SMTP server, especially for non-technical users.
Here’s a quick overview of why you need a Gmail SMTP server:
Manage email accounts across multiple devices (or apps): Allows you to send emails from email clients like Thunderbird and Apple Mail or CRMs like Salesforce on any device. It syncs your Gmail address across platforms without requiring additional logins.
Send bulk email campaigns: Users can send up to 500 emails daily (2,000 with Workspace), perfect for small campaigns or follow-ups without needing a pricey bulk service.
Create custom domain email addresses with Google Workspace: A paid Workspace plan ties your business domain with Gmail’s SMTP server. You can create multiple email accounts for employees for outreach campaigns while leveraging Google’s reliability.
Advanced security & authentication: Google’s SMTP uses TLS/SSL to encrypt your emails and app passwords with 2FA for secure access, while methods like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC protect against cyber threats.
Whether you want to increase your daily sending limits for sales or simply want to access your account easier on multiple devices, a configured Gmail SMTP server is how you can make it possible.
Your emails, actually delivered
Stop guessing if your emails land in inboxes. With Reply.io’s high-deliverability API, you’re always front and center!
Getting started with Gmail SMTP settings is your first step to sending emails from tools beyond Gmail’s web interface. But before you can use the Gmail SMTP server, you need to follow these steps to set up your Gmail account properly.
Turn on SMTP in Gmail settings
You need to properly adjust your SMTP settings for Gmail before you can use the server to send emails. Here’s how to do it:
Locate Google account settings
First, log into our Gmail account on the web. You can access account settings by clicking on your profile picture in the top right corner, and then by selecting “Manage your Google Account.” This takes you to your Google account’s control hub.
Head to security settings
In the left sidebar, find and click “Security.” This is where you can adjust all account safety settings, including SMTP access.
If you use 2-step verification on your Google account and your mail client doesn’t support verification codes, you’ll have to enable App Passwords before configuring the Google SMTP server settings.
Check your 2-Step verification status
Scroll down to the “How you sign in to Google” section to see if you have 2FA turned on. If you have it on and your third-party mail app doesn’t support verification codes, you need to use App Passwords before you can adjust the Gmail SMTP server settings.
Create App Password
If you have 2FA disabled, you can skip this step. If not, you can find the 2FA tab or search it in the search bar. You can enter the name of the app and click “Create” to generate a new app-specific password.
After clicking Create, your new password will look like this:
You can enter this 16-character code into the app or device you are using. After entering it once, you won’t need to remember it again. Click “Done” to proceed.
Find the necessary SMTP information
Once you connect your Google account to your new email client or app, it’s time to find the correct Gmail SMTP server settings. Here’s what you’ll need:
Gmail SMTP Password: Your Gmail password or app-specific password
Security: Requires TLS or SSL
Use Authentication: Yes
Remember, SMTP authentication provides your email client with permission to relay emails through the Gmail server.
It’s possible you’ll need to pass through additional authentication steps, such as domain verification. Otherwise, your bulk emails will get flagged and labeled as spam.
SMTP is also only the outgoing mail method, meaning you need to configure an incoming mail message server to receive emails. This can be done with POP or IMAP protocols, which we cover in more detail later on.
What are the different ways to use Gmail SMTP?
Google offers three SMTP methods to send emails. We just walked you through the Gmail setup process for Gmail’s SMTP server, but there are two other Gmail SMTP methods:
Gmail SMTP server
Gmail relay SMTP (for Google Workspace users)
Restricted Gmail SMTP server
Here’s a closer look at each of these methods:
Use Gmail’s SMTP server
As we’ve discussed, Gmail’s SMTP server lets you send emails from your personal Gmail account without a Workspace plan. It’s free to use (with sending caps) and works with email clients like Outlook or platforms like WordPress.
It can be sent to any address, not just Gmail or your domain, and it supports Gmail aliases for flexible forwarding. This is your pick for small-scale sends, like cold pitches or follow-ups, covered in our last section.
Use the Google Workspace SMTP relay service
Google Workspace SMTP Relay sends emails through your domain’s servers, like smtp-relay.gmail.com, instead of a single Gmail account.
It’s a paid feature for Workspace users, built to handle bulk sends of up to 2,000 emails daily per user account. You set it up in the Google Admin console with your domain’s IP or authentication.
This method is useful for marketers blasting newsletters or sales teams automating triggered emails. It’s a step in the right direction for companies looking to scale email and outreach campaigns.
Port number: 587 (TLS), 465 (SSL), and 25 (with TLS/SSL)
Use the restricted Gmail SMTP server
The restricted Gmail SMTP Server limits sends to Gmail or Workspace addresses only, using smtp.gmail.com with strict rules. It’s a Workspace feature you activate in the Admin console, locking outbound emails to your organization or Google’s ecosystem.
The setup mirrors Gmail’s SMTP Server, but it’s useless for external leads. It’s perfect for internal communications, such as team updates or secure discussions within the organization. Sales pros won’t use it for outreach, but it’s a solid choice for businesses needing tight email control.
The Gmail SMTP server is Google’s SMTP. It allows users to send email through their Gmail accounts using third-party applications.
It’s also 100% free to use (with limitations) and integrates with popular email clients, including Outlook, Thunderbird, and Apple Mail. So exactly how does it work?
1. Connection Setup
First, your application or email client connects to the Gmail SMTP server using the hostname smtp.gmail.com. Establishing this connection is the first step in sending email through Gmail’s servers.
2. Port Selection
Next, the server needs to connect to an SMTP port. Choosing the correct Gmail SMTP port settings is super important because it acts as the endpoint for transmitting email data. Gmail supports two primary ports for SMTP connections:
Port 587 (TLS): Ideal for more secure email sending because it uses Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption.
Port 465 (SSL): Works with older email clients that rely on Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption, which is now largely deprecated in favor of TLS.
3. Authentication
Gmail requires users to authenticate before sending emails. This means entering your Gmail address and an App Password (if two-factor authentication is enabled) or your regular Gmail password (if two-factor authentication is not set up).
4. Email Composition and Submission
Once authenticated, your app or client formats the email message according to SMTP standards, including sender, recipient, subject, and body content. The email is sent to the Gmail SMTP server.
5. Email Transmission:
The Gmail SMTP server relays the message to the recipient’s email server using the internet’s mail exchange system. If the recipient’s server is unavailable, Gmail will attempt to resend the message for a period before returning a failure notice.
6. Rate Limits and Restrictions
Anybody using Google’s SMTP server should know the rate limits and restrictions to avoid lockouts. The current Gmail SMTP sending limits are 500 emails per day for free Gmail accounts or 2,000 emails per day for Google Workspace accounts.
Exceeding these limits can result in temporary suspension (up to 24 hours) of SMTP and Gmail access.
7. Error Handling and Delivery Reports
If an email cannot be delivered, Gmail generates a bounce-back message detailing the reason for the failure, such as incorrect recipient addresses or server issues.
What’s SMTP relay and do you need it?
SMTP Relay is a Google Workspace service that lets your apps or servers send emails through Google’s mail servers, like smtp-relay.gmail.com, instead of directly to recipients.
It’s built for businesses needing to send bulk or transactional emails without clogging their own domain. Here’s why it matters and whether you need it:
1. Boosts email deliverability
Staying up to date with how you can boost email deliverability rates is one way to increase your campaign performance. Because Gmail SMTP Relay uses Google’s trusted servers to send your emails, this is one way to cut the odds of hitting the spam filters.
For marketers sending newsletters or sales reps pushing pitches, this means more messages land in inboxes, not junk folders. It also uses TLS encryption for security and supports SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to prove your emails are legit— all important factors to protect your domain’s reputation.
2. Higher sending limits
Unlike Gmail’s SMTP Server, capped at 500 emails daily (2,000 with Workspace), SMTP Relay handles up to 10,000 emails daily across your domain.
That’s a game-changer for big campaigns or companies who manage larger email newsletter lists. You won’t get locked out mid-send like with the standard SMTP server, giving you some power to scale outreach efforts without headaches.
3. Keeps internal communications separate
Businesses love using SMTP Relay because it separates external bulk or transactional emails from internal communications. Not only does this protect your domain as we’ve mentioned, but it keeps internal emails and conversations more secure.
What’s the deal with the restricted Gmail SMTP server?
The restricted Gmail SMTP Server is a special setup for Google Workspace users that limits email sending to only Gmail or Workspace addresses. It’s not for everyone—here’s the breakdown of how it works.
Think of it as a locked-down version of Gmail’s SMTP Server (smtp.gmail.com). Normally, you can send emails to any address including recipients at external domains.
The restricted server shuts that down. Once you turn this feature on and it’s active, only go to people using Gmail (e.g., [email protected]) or your company’s Workspace domain (e.g., [email protected]).
But why bother? Some businesses need an internal communication system for team updates or replies to staff. This server can do exactly that.
It’s built for internal use to keep your company’s email flow tight and secure. Google still encrypts it with TLS or SSL, so it’s as safe as the regular SMTP server and you won’t have to worry about security issues.
Gmail SMTP vs POP3 vs IMAP – what’s the difference?
In short, Gmail SMTP handles sending emails, while POP3 and IMAP take care of receiving and storing them. The real difference between POP3 and IMAP is how they manage your email inbox.
POP3 operates as a down download-and-delete protocol. When you set it up with Gmail, it connects to the pop.gmail.comserver, downloads new emails to your device, and then deletes it from the server. You can work offline because POP3 provides full offline email access but those emails won’t show up elsewhere on other devices unless you download them again with internet access.
If you want to keep emails on the server, Google has a workaround for Gmail users. Go to the “Forwarding and POP/IMAP” settings page and turn off “Delete Gmail’s copy” or “Archive Gmail’s copy.” Click “Save changes” and proceed.
IMAP works a little differently in this regard. Instead of downloading messages and then removing them from the server, IMAP keeps them on the server and syncs everything two ways via imap.gmail.com. For example, if you read an email on your email client’s mobile app, it’ll also display as read in your web browser.
The concern for IMAP users is storage. Since it keeps everything, it uses server storage to do so. That means if your Google account runs out of storage space, you could stop receiving new emails until there’s more space on the server.
With this in mind, here is how Gmail SMTP, POP3, and IMAP stack up:
Feature
SMTP
POP3
IMAP
Purpose
Sending outgoing emails
Retrieving and downloading emails
Synchronizing emails across multiple devices
Server Storage
Does not store emails
Deletes emails by default (optional retention)
Stores emails permanently on the server
Multi-Device Sync
N/A
Limited (local storage unless configured)
Excellent (full synchronization across devices)
Offline Access
Sent folder only
Full offline access
Partial offline access (unless cached)
Ports (Gmail)
587 (TLS), 465 (SSL)
995 (SSL)
993 (SSL)
How do you set up POP3 in Gmail?
Here’s how to set up POP3 in Gmail, step by step.
1. First, you should log into Gmail in your web browser and click the gear icon in the top right corner of the screen. From there, select “See all settings.”
2. Then, click the “Forwarding and POP/IMAP” tab to view POP3 and IMAP settings.
3. Look for the “POP Download” section, choose “Enable POP for all mail” (everything) or “Enable POP for mail that arrives from now on” (new stuff only), then hit Save Changes.
4. Next, you should log in to your preferred third-party app or email client. Once you do, find the POP/Incoming mail message server settings and enter the following details:
Server timeouts: more than 1 minute (5 minutes is recommended)
5. Click continue and allow your Gmail account to sync with the app.
How do you set up IMAP in Gmail?
To set up IMAP in Gmail, you’ll follow similar steps as we did with POP3.
1. Repeat the same first two steps by logging into your Gmail account and locating the account settings page.
2. In the IMAP access section, you can view default settings. If you select “Auto-Expunge on,” “Archive the message” is auto-selected. You can also choose your preferred folder size limits.
3. After adjusting your settings, you can enable IMAP by logging into your third-party email client. The supported options for “Sign in with Google” users include Outlook, iPhone, Thunderbird, and Apple Mail.
4. Once you log in to your email app, enter the following details in the Incoming mail message server/IMAP section:
Even though the configuration of SMTP settings for Gmail seems easy, it’s possible to run into some issues. I decided to see what the most common issues are that users ask for help with and cover how to fix them in detail. Below are the three most common and their fixes.
Authentication Errors
Users commonly report issues with their username and password. Error code 535-5.7.8 (username and password not accepted) occurs when Gmail rejects your login details. It’s a security block to stop unauthorized access.
First, check your username and make sure everything is correct. If it looks good, you’ll need to generate an app password to gain access.
Go to Google Account > Security > App passwords and generate a 16-character code for “Mail.” You can now use that code instead of your regular password to log in to your third-party email client to bypass this error code.
Connection Timeouts
If you are experiencing connection timeouts, it’s usually an error code: 421-4.7.0 (Temporary failure, try again later). This happens when your app can’t reach smtp.gmail.com, often due to network issues or Gmail throttling your sends after too many attempts.
To solve this, test your internet connection. A weak Wi-Fi signal or firewalls can block port 587 or 465. Try switching ports in your Gmail SMTP port settings if one fails. Then, wait 5-10 minutes before trying again.
Afterward, you can send a test email to see if it’s working. If the problem persists, check Gmail’s status page for outages.
Network Access Denied
If you see the error code 550-5.7.0 (Email relay denied), this means Gmail is blocking your attempt to send emails because the IP or domain in your app isn’t registered with your Workspace account.
For example, if you’re sending from [email protected] via smtp.gmail.com, but your Workspace only knows [email protected], it denies the relay because Google sees it as unverified.
To fix this, log into your Workspace Admin console (admin.google.com) as an admin. Go to Apps > Google Workspace > Gmail > SMTP Relay Service, and add your sending device’s IP address under “Allowed senders.”
Save, then test a send with smtp.gmail.com, port 587. If it works, your IP’s cleared. If not, you need to match your email domain to your Workspace setup.
Deliverability so good, it feels like magic
No more wondering where your emails go. Reply.io’s API delivers them like clockwork. Pure inbox magic!
While Gmail SMTP can be useful for small teams, it has notable limitations that can seriously slow down your campaign and damage its performance. Below, we examine these limitations in more detail.
Free Gmail accounts cap at 500 emails per day, roughly 15,000 per month. Paid Google Workspace users get a bump to 2,000 daily or approximately 60,000 monthly, depending on your pricing tier.
If you hit your send limit, Google can potentially shut down your account with zero heads-up. That leaves you locked out for a full day before you can send again.
If you’re planning to send over 15,000 emails a month, Gmail SMTP isn’t your friend. You’re better off with a hosted SMTP relay or an API solution.
Lack of reporting and analytics
Most senders need data to make campaign-related decisions. For example,
Did the email successfully send and reach the recipient?
Did the email end up in the spam folder?
Did the email bounce? If so, how many and why?
What are my email open or click-through rates?
The problem with Gmail SMTP is that it lacks true reporting and analytics functionality, meaning you’ll have a hard time finding the metrics needed to answer questions like these.
That makes it nearly impossible to track email deliverability, identify email performance issues, and make data-driven decisions that can improve your campaigns.
Imagine you’re a marketer managing the company’s newsletter. Without proper data, there’s no way to test subject lines or email design without open rates. Instead, you’re relying on guesswork or tracking things manually.
Limited scalability for API users
We’ve identified why Gmail SMTP is not built for bulk campaigns. In addition, Gmail API limits scalability and lacks key features for bulk sending.
It doesn’t offer mail merge, multi-channel integration (SMS or LinkedIn), or advanced automation. There’s also no programmatic access for tracking or reporting.
For sales teams or marketers, that’s a huge problem. You’re stuck with basic email sends and no way to blend channels or handle big sequences efficiently.
To have any chance at scaling campaigns with success, you’ll need a more capable alternative. Consider comparing an API vs. SMTP to see the differences.
SMTP alternative for cold outreach – API by Reply.io
An SMTP server works fine if you’re just sending out occasional newsletters to a small list or plan to use it for outreach to generate a handful of leads.
But if you want to scale your email game, Gmail’s SMTP caps free accounts at 500 emails daily which is far too low for serious email campaigns. That’s where an API stands out as a superior choice.
For instance, Reply.io’s API offers unlimited email sending along with integrated multichannel outreach through LinkedIn, SMS, and voice calls. Users can create automated workflows to trigger a personalized SMS message after a lead shows interest in your brand. Reaching contacts across different channels is not an option for Gmail SMTP users.
Using an API to send emails helps limit inbox fatigue as well. Reply.io offers inbox rotation so you can send emails from multiple accounts within a single campaign. That keeps inboxes under their daily send limits, helps avoid spam flags, and keeps your deliverability high.
Need to scale cold outreach fast? Reply.io’s API beats Gmail SMTP if you’re sending thousands of emails per day or managing a large list.
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