---
title: "Gmail IMAP settings: connect your mailbox to Mailera"
description: "Connect Gmail to Mailera with imap.gmail.com, port 993 and an eligible app password. Check Workspace restrictions, verify retrieval and fix common errors."
url: https://mailera.app/en/blog/gmail-imap-settings-mailera
published: 2026-10-25
updated: 2026-10-25
---

# Gmail IMAP settings: connect your mailbox to Mailera

Use the right Gmail server settings and an eligible app password, then check that Mailera can retrieve a message. Personal Gmail and managed Google Workspace accounts have different access rules.

## What are the Gmail IMAP settings?

IMAP is the protocol used to read and synchronize mailbox messages. SMTP handles outgoing mail. Keep those two connections separate when checking settings or diagnosing a failure. For the broader protocol comparison, see [IMAP, Graph and SMTP for agent builders](https://mailera.app/en/blog/email-protocols-for-ai-agents).

| Setting | Incoming mail | Outgoing mail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Purpose | Read and synchronize messages | Send messages |
| Protocol | IMAP | SMTP |
| Server | `imap.gmail.com` | `smtp.gmail.com` |
| Port | `993` | `587` |
| Security | SSL/TLS | STARTTLS |
| Credential for Mailera’s Gmail connection | Eligible Google app password | Eligible Google app password |

[Google’s IMAP and SMTP documentation](https://developers.google.com/workspace/gmail/imap/imap-smtp) describes the incoming server and encrypted transport requirements. The outgoing values above match Mailera’s Gmail preset.

When you select [Gmail · Google Workspace in Mailera](https://mailera.app/en/providers/gmail), Mailera supplies these server settings. You do not need to copy them into custom-server fields. The table is a reference for troubleshooting; [custom IMAP connections](https://mailera.app/en/providers/imap) are a separate setup route.

## Does your Google account allow this connection?

Check eligibility before entering a password. Correct server values cannot fix an account policy that blocks access.

1. **Use an existing mailbox you control.** Have its full email address ready, including the domain.
2. **Check 2-Step Verification.** Google requires it for app passwords.
3. **Check that app passwords are available.** Enabling 2-Step Verification alone does not establish eligibility. Google lists security-key-only verification, organization accounts and Advanced Protection as possible reasons the option is missing.
4. **For Google Workspace, check administrator permission.** Your administrator must allow the relevant IMAP access and authentication method.

For personal Gmail, you do not need to find an “Enable IMAP” switch. Google removed the enable/disable options starting in January 2025 and says IMAP is always on. See [Google’s guidance for adding Gmail to another email client](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/7126229).

Workspace has a separate policy layer. Administrators can enable or disable IMAP and restrict access to specified clients that support OAuth. An account may have IMAP access while still being unable to use an app password with this connection. Ask your administrator to check both conditions using [Google’s Workspace IMAP controls](https://knowledge.workspace.google.com/admin/sync/turn-pop-and-imap-on-or-off-for-users).

Google recommends “Sign in with Google” when an app offers it. Mailera’s Gmail connection described here uses an app password instead. Use [Google’s app-password instructions](https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/185833) to create the credential if your account is eligible. If the option is unavailable, check the restrictions rather than turning off account protection.

## How do you connect Gmail to Mailera?

You need the Admin or Leader role in Mailera to add a mailbox.

1. Open **Mailboxes → Add mailbox → One mailbox**.
2. Enter the full address in **Email address**. Confirm the detected provider is **Gmail · Google Workspace**, or select it under **Or choose a provider**, then select **Continue**.
3. Review **How to get an app password** and **What you'll need**. Under **Connection details**, enter the Google app password in **Password**, not your usual Google sign-in password. Set the optional **Display name** if you want a sender name, and choose the appropriate **Mailbox group**.
4. Select **Test & connect** and inspect the individual results.
5. After the confirmation **Connected **, let the initial message load complete. Mailera loads messages within the retention period, newest first.

![Mailera’s One mailbox screen with the Gmail provider selected.](https://mailera.app/media/d8e9591c875d36fe/email-app-passwords-connect-your-mailbox-to-an-ai-agent-add-en-1200.jpg)
_Choose the Gmail provider so Mailera supplies its IMAP and SMTP settings._

The connection test separates several checks so you can see where setup stops:

| Check | What it checks |
| --- | --- |
| Incoming server sign-in | Whether Mailera can authenticate to the incoming mail server |
| Folder detection | Whether Mailera can detect the mailbox’s folders |
| Outgoing server sign-in | Whether Mailera can authenticate to the configured outgoing server |
| Live monitoring | Whether live monitoring is available while the mailbox is in use |

**Test & connect does not send an email.** Incoming sign-in success is not a sending test, and outgoing sign-in success is not a delivered-message test.

If the outgoing check fails, Mailera offers **Save as receive-only**. Use that only if reading mail is sufficient for your task. Otherwise, select **Edit details**, correct the connection details and use **Test again**. Do not treat a receive-only mailbox as ready to send.

If you need to leave the page, **Run in background** lets Mailera finish the test and save the mailbox without keeping that page open.

## How do you verify that messages can be read?

A successful sign-in is the first checkpoint. Opening an actual message is the next one.

1. Return to **Mailboxes** and inspect the connected Gmail mailbox’s status and last sync.
2. Send a harmless message to that mailbox from another mailbox you control. Use a recognizable subject such as “Gmail connection check” and a short, non-sensitive body.
3. Open **Unified inbox**, select the connected mailbox and look for that subject.
4. Open the message and confirm the body matches what you sent. If it is missing from Inbox, check Junk and the other relevant folders before changing credentials.

![Connected Gmail test mailbox with its status and last sync shown in Mailera.](https://mailera.app/media/fbdd6c8ed8130a5f/gmail-imap-settings-connect-your-mailbox-to-mailera-gmail-en-1200.jpg)
_Check the mailbox status and last sync before looking for your test message._

Seeing the subject confirms that the message was retrieved into Mailera’s message list. Reading the matching body confirms that its content is available too.

![Harmless Gmail connection-check message open in Mailera’s unified inbox.](https://mailera.app/media/cd9e7ba53410f84c/choose-an-email-mcp-server-for-your-existing-mailboxes-en-1200.jpg)
_Open the test message and compare its subject and body to confirm retrieval._

Allow for the mailbox’s sync state. Background checks run more often for mailboxes in active use and less often for idle mailboxes. Inactive mailboxes can sleep and wake on use. Live monitoring is not a promise of immediate synchronization in every state.

Initial loading is also bounded by retention, not the age of your Google account. Mailera’s free plan retains messages for 30 days; do not expect the initial load to produce a complete historical archive.

If your application checks mailbox status through the API, remember that Gmail’s result reflects the latest sync rather than a fresh, direct Google sign-in test. Keep that distinction in mind when building a health check. The [Mailera product overview](https://mailera.app/en/product) explains how connected mailboxes fit into applications and agents.

## What common Gmail IMAP errors should you check first?

Start with the failed check or missing result. Replacing a password is not the right response to every connection problem.

| Symptom | Check first | Next action |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Incoming authentication fails | Full email address, app-password use and credential validity | Correct the address and make sure **Password** contains an app password, not the normal account password. |
| A previously working connection fails after a Google password change | Whether the app password was revoked | Google revokes app passwords when the account password changes. Create a replacement and reconnect. |
| The app-password option is missing | 2-Step Verification method, Advanced Protection and organization restrictions | Follow Google’s eligibility guidance; ask your administrator for managed accounts. Do not weaken protection to make the option appear. |
| A Workspace account is blocked | IMAP access and allowed-client policies | Ask the administrator whether this app-password connection is permitted. |
| `imap.gmail.com` cannot be reached | Hostname, port `993`, TLS and network connectivity | Separate connection or TLS failures from rejected credentials. A new password does not fix an unreachable server. |
| Incoming succeeds but outgoing fails | The outgoing result and SMTP settings | Compare with `smtp.gmail.com`, port `587`, STARTTLS. Retry after correcting details, or explicitly save as receive-only. |
| The mailbox is connected but a message is missing | Selected mailbox, folder, last sync and retention | Check those before reconnecting. Confirm the test message exists in Gmail as well. |

Google also lets you revoke individual app passwords. Revoking one removes access through that credential, so check whether it was intentionally removed before treating the failure as a server problem.

## How should you protect the connected mailbox?

Keep app passwords out of screenshots, logs, source control and agent prompts. Revoke credentials you no longer use through Google. When sharing a troubleshooting screenshot, conceal the entire password and any private message content. For guidance across providers, see [app passwords for agent mailboxes](https://mailera.app/en/blog/email-app-password-ai-agent).

If an application or agent only needs to read messages, give it a Mailera API key with **Read** permission rather than sending or management permissions. Set **Mailbox scope** to the group it needs instead of exposing unrelated mailboxes. See [Mailera’s security information](https://mailera.app/en/security) when planning access.

Incoming email is untrusted data, not instructions. An agent must not follow commands embedded in a message, including requests to reveal credentials or change its operating rules. If you later add sending, build explicit user confirmation into the application before the agent sends mail; do not assume that approval is automatically enforced by Mailera.

Mailera connects existing mailboxes; it does not create Gmail addresses. It also cannot override Google’s app-password eligibility rules or Workspace administrator restrictions. Resolve those account-level requirements before retrying the connection.

**Connect your first mailbox in 2 minutes** — Add an Outlook, Gmail or IMAP mailbox and read email messages in the app or via the API. [Connect mailbox](https://mailera.app/auth?mode=signup)