If you use Microsoft Outlook, and want to set it up with your Gmail address, you’re in luck. Newer versions of Outlook make this easier than ever. You’ll need to enable a couple of settings on the Gmail website, and then connect to your Gmail account in Outlook. Let’s take a look.
Step One: Prepare Your Gmail Account
Before you connect your Gmail account to Outlook, you must prepare your Gmail account so that it’s ready for the connection. Start by heading to the Gmail website in your desktop browser and signing in. You can’t do this in the mobile apps.
Click the gear icon in the top right corner.
Choose “Settings” from the dropdown menu.
Switch over to the “Forwarding and POP/IMAP” tab.
In the “IMAP Access” section, select the “Enable IMAP” option.
And then click the “Save Changes” button.
That’s all you have to on the Gmail end of things. Now, it’s time to connect your Gmail account to Outlook.
Step Two: Connect Outlook To Your Gmail Account
After setting Gmail up to allow IMAP connections, Outlook makes it very easy to add your Gmail account.
In Outlook, open the “File” menu.
Click the “Account Settings” button.
On the dropdown menu, click the “Account Settings” option.
In the Account Settings window menu, click “New…”
Type in your Gmail address and click “Connect”.
Type in the password for your Gmail account and then click “Connect”.
Note: If you use two-factor authentication on your Gmail account (and you really should), then you’ll need to set up a specific app password for Outlook to connect to your Gmail account (check out that page for several troubleshooting tips for connecting Outlook to Gmail). If you don’t use two-factor authentication, and Outlook won’t connect to your Gmail account after entering your regular password, then you’ll likely need to change a setting that allows less secure apps to connect to your Google account.
Wait for your account setup to complete. Unless you want to set up Outlook Mobile on your phone, too, you can deselect that option, and then click the “OK” button.
You should see your Gmail account added to your Outlook Account Manager menu. You can go ahead and close that window.
And now you can use your Gmail account right inside Microsoft Outlook.
