Using GMail to access your website email makes a lot of sense if you want to...
This page shows how to use a GMail account to send and receive your website based mail.
The instructions on this page assume you have a POP3 mailbox for your website email and might otherwise use Outlook or Windows Live Mail or similar to manage it. The alternative is simply to use your GMail account as your business email address - the easy way out but not very professional!
To follow these instructions you will need access to your website email. If you already use Outlook or Windows Live Mail or similar this will be straightforward. If you don't already use an email program you might find webmail the easiest solution for reading the verify email that GMail sends you in step 11.
Open www.google.co.uk in your web browser and sign in to your Google account.
Click the GMail link near the top right, or click the menu button and choose GMail.
Click the gear wheel icon at top right.
Choose 'Settings'.
Click the 'Accounts and Import' heading.
Click the 'Import Mail and Contacts' link.
In the dialog box that appears, enter the email address you want to import.
Click 'Continue'.
Enter your password for this email account.
Enter the POP3 username - this is the same as the email address.
Enter the mail server name - this is either your domain name or mail., eg. mail.abbeydale.net.
Click 'Continue'.
Tick 'Import Mail'
Untick 'Leave a copy on the server' (but see below)
Untick 'Archive Incoming Messages'
Untick 'Add Label to Imported Mail' (tho this does no harm)
Click 'Start Import'.
If you are using JUST GMail to read your email messages then definitely untick 'Leave a copy on the server'. If you are using Outlook and/or another device to read email as well as GMail then you should tick this. BUT... at least one of your devices MUST delete email messages from the server once they have been read. If not your mailbox will fill up and refuse further messages.
That's it.
Your messages are now being imported and you'll soon be able to read them in GMail.
Click 'OK' to close this dialog box.
You can use GMail to send via your domain based email address too tho if you've previously just redirected messages into your GMail account you've probably been sending as your GMail address. If you're happy to send emails, including both new emails and replies, from your GMail address then you've finished. Otherwise read on...
Back in the 'Settings' - 'Accounts and Import' page find the section headed 'Send mail as'.
Click the 'Add another email address' link.
Enter the name that you want recipients to see as the sender of your emails. If this is a business email address used for sales or other enquiries you might want to use your company name rather than your personal name - or maybe both: eg. 'Mike from Abbeydale Web'.
Tick the 'Treat as an alias' box if this email address also represents you. This is usually the case.
Click 'Next Step'.
Enter the SMTP mail server to use - this will usually be either just your domain name or mail., eg. mail.abbeydale.net.
Enter your username for your domain based email address - this is usually the same as the email address.
Enter your email password.
Click 'Add Account'.
When you clicked 'Add Account' above Google sent an email to the address you gave.
When you receive this message look for the nine digit confirmation code Google has sent you and type or paste it in here.
Click 'Verify' to continue.
This is to confirm that the email address you gave really is yours. The email may take a minute or two to arrive, or may end up in your junk folder so make sure you check there if you don't find it in your inbox.
By default GMail will send emails from your GMail address but you may prefer to send them 'from' your website email account.
Back at the 'Accounts and Import' page find the 'Send mail as' section again.
Click the 'make default' link next to your website email address. Which ever you choose here you always get a choice of which address to send from when you compose a new email.
Just below there you will find another option labelled 'When replying to a message'. Tick 'Reply from the same address...' to ensure that you reply to messages sent to your website email from your website email, and messages sent to GMail, from GMail.
That's it - you're done. You can now go to your GMail inbox page to send and receive emails as if from your website email address while retaining all the convenience and vast storage space of your GMail account.
page last updated: 28/10/2017
Abbeydale.Net
Sheffield
S20 4SS
