Gmail Is Ending POP Email Collection: What Businesses Must Change
Google is retiring the Gmail feature that allows users to collect messages from external email accounts through POP.
Existing users can continue using it until January 2027, but Gmail no longer supports setting it up for new users.
This could affect small businesses that use Gmail as a central inbox for addresses hosted by another provider.
What is actually being removed?
The affected feature is called Check mail from other accounts.
It appears under Gmail’s account settings and periodically retrieves messages from an external mailbox using POP. A business might use it to collect messages sent to addresses such as:
- info@yourbusiness.ie
- sales@yourbusiness.ie
- accounts@yourbusiness.ie
- An older business or personal address
- Email supplied with a website-hosting package
Google is also retiring Gmailify, which applies certain Gmail features to compatible third-party email accounts.
Gmail is not removing all POP or IMAP access
This distinction is important.
Google is not withdrawing general POP or IMAP access to Gmail itself. Supported third-party email applications can still connect to Gmail servers.
The change specifically affects Gmail’s web-based facility for continuously fetching messages from another provider through POP.
The Gmail mobile app can also continue accessing supported external accounts using IMAP.
What happens in January 2027?
Existing POP collection should continue until January 2027. After that, Gmail will stop checking the external mailbox for new messages.
Messages previously downloaded into Gmail will remain there.
The danger is that a business may continue checking its familiar Gmail inbox without realising that new enquiries, orders or supplier messages are accumulating in a separate mailbox.
There may be no obvious website failure. The missing email could simply appear to be a customer who never contacted the business.
Which businesses are most exposed?
The change deserves attention where:
- Website email is hosted separately from Gmail
- One Gmail account collects several business addresses
- An old address still receives customer enquiries
- Staff do not sign directly into the original mailbox
- Nobody documents where business email is hosted
- A web developer configured the arrangement many years ago
- Accounts or order notifications depend on a collected mailbox
Older website-hosting and domain-email packages are particularly worth checking.
What are the alternatives?
Google recommends two principal alternatives:
- Configure the external provider to forward new messages automatically to Gmail
- Add the external account directly to the Gmail mobile app using IMAP
Businesses could also migrate the address and its historical email into Google Workspace or another properly managed business-email service.
The correct approach depends on the number of users, where the domain is hosted, how replies are sent and whether the business needs shared-mailbox or retention features.
Forwarding should not be implemented blindly. Email authentication, reply addresses, spam handling and delivery records should all be checked.
Business Email Continuity Review
Joe Hunter IT provides email configuration and security services for businesses in Ireland and the UK.
A Business Email Continuity Review can identify:
- External accounts currently collected through Gmail
- Who owns and administers each mailbox
- Important addresses that could stop updating
- Suitable forwarding or migration options
- SPF, DKIM and DMARC configuration concerns
- How staff send replies from each business address
- Whether shared or role-based inboxes are managed safely
- Whether the replacement works before POP collection ends
The review focuses on preventing missed messages while improving the security and manageability of the business’s email arrangement.
Do not wait until messages disappear
If Gmail currently collects your website or business email from another provider, the arrangement should be reviewed before January 2027.
Contact Joe Hunter IT at joe@joehunterit.com or visit joehunterit.com to arrange a business-email review.