Gmail: Using Gmail For All Your Email

Big Dan

EQ Forum Moderator
Note: This tutorial does not cover using Google Apps for your domain! Google Apps for your domain is a different product then consumer level Gmail, which involves changing MX (Mail Exchanger) records.

With some of Gmail's more advanced features using Gmail to replace your desktop email client is possible and quite easy. The reasons for using Gmail exclusively are varied but most center around accessibility with Gmail your email is available from any place with an internet connection, Gmail even has a mobile interface for smart phones. Gmail's organization features take a bit of getting used to but really make sense after a week or so of using Gmail regularly; Labels instead of folders are much better for work flow. Gmail's world class spam filter is nothing short of amazing. If you're a webmaster and own your own domains using Gmail makes sense to save server resources as you don't have to do anti-spam processing server side.

I am going to walk you through using Gmail for all your email step by step with screen shots. First you have to decide whether you will be using POP Access to grab email or just forwarding email into Gmail. POP access is particularly useful for your ISP based email account as with most companies there is no easy way to forward mail from one address to another. If you're a webmaster with your own domains, I recommend forwarding your addresses into Gmail, thus saving on server resources by not needing a POP daemon running if you're the only one who uses email off that domain. I will cover both POP and Forwarding in this tutorial. You may click all screen shots for bigger version.
Adding a POP Account:

Let's start at your Gmail Inbox:

gmail1.jpg

From here click settings as circled in the top right hand corner and select the accounts tab.

gmailsettings.jpg

In this screen several things will be used and I'll be referring to it more than once in these processes.

For POP Accounts under Get Mail From Other Accounts Click Add New Account. You will get this pop-up.

gmailaddpopaccount2.jpg

Input your email address and press next step. After which you will be presented with this screen.

gmailpopaccount2.jpg

Here you will need to put in your user name, password, and POP server name. All this is available in from your provider or email client if you have already set it up for this account. After plugging in all your information and pressing Add Account you will be presented with this screen.

gmailaddaccountver2.jpg

Leave Yes, I want to be able to send mail as <email address> selected and press Next Step. You will be presented with this screen next.

gmailspecifiyaddressdan.jpg

On this screen you will need to define the sender name and press Next Step.

gmailverifyaddress.jpg

Press send verification, next you will see

gmailconfirm2.jpg

Close the window. You are done now wait about a half hour to an hour for the verification email, sometimes it will come instantly put more often that not it will be about a half hour. When the email comes, open it and click the link. You email address has been setup!
Adding a forwarding Address:

This process is quite a lot easier than adding a POP account. You must setup forwarding at your web host. This is normally done in your web hosting control panel and differs from provider to provider. If you cannot figure it out post and I'll help with what I can. :)

We'll start at the Account Settings Page.

gmailsettings.jpg

Under Send Mail As click Add Another Email Address and you will be presented with this pop up.

gmailforward1.jpg

Input your name and the email address that you've already forwarded into Gmail. Next screen is this:

sendverif.jpg

Asking you to send verification. Click Send Verification and you will get this screen:

gmailconfirm2.jpg

Close the window.

If you have setup forwarding correctly with in seconds you should get a the verification email. Open it and click the link. You've successfully setup a forwarder!
 
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Big Dan

EQ Forum Moderator
Is it possible to store the mails in different folders? Like we do in yahoo or hotmail.

No. Labels are similar to folders and can be used for sorting however they're modular. Labels make a lot more sense than folders once you get used to them. :)
 

EQ Admin

EQ Forum Admin
Staff member
For more information about labels please see Google's guide to Gmail Labels.


Using labels


Labels do all the work folders do and give you an extra bonus: you can add more than one to a conversation. Once you've created a label, you can view all the messages with that label by searching, or by clicking the label name along the left side of any Gmail page. You can easily create, edit, and delete existing labels. Here's how:
To create a label:

  1. Select the message(s) you'd like to label by checking the box(es) next to the sender's name.
  2. Select New label from the More Actions... drop-down menu.
  3. Enter the name of the new label in the text box, and click OK.
The selected messages will automatically be categorized under the new label. If you'd like to keep organized, you can remove a labeled conversation from your inbox by archiving it and view it later by clicking All Mail, or by clicking the label name along the left side of any Gmail page. To edit a label name:

  1. Click Edit labels at the bottom of the Labels box.
  2. Click rename next to the label you want to edit.
  3. Enter the new label name, and click OK.
All the messages categorized under your old label name will now be categorized under your new label. To delete a label:

  1. Click Edit labels at the bottom of the Labels box.
  2. Click remove label next to the label you want to delete.
  3. Confirm that you'd like to remove the label by clicking OK.
* Removing a label doesn't delete the messages previously categorized with that label.
 

EQ Admin

EQ Forum Admin
Staff member
I have to admit I've been slowing transitioning all of my email to Gmail over the last several months and I couldn't be happier with the result.

I also don't have to put nearly as much effort into my spam filtering.

-Raymond
 

Big Dan

EQ Forum Moderator
Glad to hear (if there were a thumbs up emoticon here, I'd use it :) ).

I tried switching back to an old school desktop email client a couple weeks ago and it was like going back to 1999. I really think Gmail did to Email what the iPod did to music.

The only issue remaining for me is privacy issues which I'm not all too worried about Gmail is a valuable enough service for me to sacrifice my usage habits and search queries to.

All in all I love Gmail the scariest thing is getting locked out which I've read some horror stories of but all whom have been locked out regained access with a couple of support emails.

For what it's worth, I love all of Google's services they're just simple and smart.
 

EQ Admin

EQ Forum Admin
Staff member
Heh, that's interesting wording.

I made a joke about an hour for what Google should use as their slogan.

Google -- We're smarter than you, get over it!


-Raymond
 

zepcom

Valued Member
All in all I love Gmail the scariest thing is getting locked out which I've read some horror stories of but all whom have been locked out regained access with a couple of support emails.

There's a way to protect against that... actually.

(when I get enough posts in I will send along the link as this website is currently preventing me to do so...)

anyways ... you can search for this and find it yourself I'm sure:

Windows/Mac/Linux: Gmail Backup saves and restores complete archives of your Gmail email account using Gmail's built-in IMAP capability. The Windows version comes with a simple graphical interface — just enter in your email address and password, select a backup folder, and click the Backup button. It will save your messages in Microsoft's EML format complete with attachments. The Linux version (which also works with Mac OS X) is command-line only. Besides enabling offline access to your archives, you can use the restore feature to upload messages to another account, making it easy to transfer old messages to a new account. I supports regular Gmail accounts as well as Google Mail in Germany and Apps For Your Domain email accounts, as long as POP/IMAP access is enabled under Settings. Don't want to risk using a backup tool that's still in development? Try our guides to backing up your mail accounts to your computer with Thunderbird, Fetchmail or Getmail. Gmail Backup is a free download for Windows, Mac and Linux.
 
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zepcom

Valued Member
(when I get enough posts in I will send along the link as this website is currently preventing me to do so...)

I think I'm past that threshold now...

Here's the software. It's GPL so it's free to download and backup your message stores. If your gmail.com account ever gets deleted or suspended, simply create a new one and upload all your old emails back up into the new one. Nice thing is that it preserves all your labels if you use them to sort.

Featured Download: Gmail Backup Archives Your Email Account


hth
--zepcom
 

seaowls

New Email
Hi Dan, thanks for your patience...wow....you are very detailed....greatly appreciated.

i told you i'm computer illiterate....so i need help with the following:

"You must setup forwarding at your web host. This is normally done in your web hosting control panel and differs from provider to provider. If you cannot figure it out post and I'll help with what I can. "

how do i do that?

thanks,
seaowls
 
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