10. Why won't Outlook work seamlessly with Gmail?
Gmail can be used as a POP3 client, just like any other ISP. But users have complained that they can't get Outlook to work properly with Gmail because of the complexity of configuration. Is there any way it can be done more simply?
Yes, it's confusing to configure Outlook to work properly with Gmail. But I'm here to report that it can, in fact, be done - and to show you how to do it.
First, you'll need to tell Gmail you want to use it as a POP account. In Gmail, click 'Settings', and then click 'Forwarding' and 'POP/IMAP'.
Select 'Enable POP for all mail' if you want to download all mail to Outlook - including existing mail - in your Gmail account. If you only want to download mail that you receive in the future, select 'Enable POP for mail that arrives from now on'.
Next, select how you want Gmail to handle incoming messages - whether to keep copies of messages in your inbox after they've been downloaded to Outlook, delete the messages or archive them. After you've done that, click 'Save Changes'.
With that done, you're ready to tell Outlook how to work with Gmail. Here's how to do it:
In Outlook, select 'Tools', followed by 'Account Settings', then click 'New'.
From the screen that appears, select 'Microsoft Exchange, POP3, IMAP, or HTTP' and click 'Next'.
On the screen that appears, type in your name, Gmail email address and your password in the appropriate boxes. Check 'Manually configure server settings or additional server types' at the bottom of the screen and click 'Next'.
From the screen that appears, select 'Internet Email' and click Next.
Under 'Account Type', select POP3. For Incoming mail server, enter pop.gmail.com. For Outgoing mail server (SMTP), enter smtp.gmail.com. In the 'Logon Information' area, enter your username and password. Check the box next to 'Remember password'.
Click 'More Settings' and select the 'Outgoing Server tab'. Check the box next to 'My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication'. Then select 'Use same settings as my incoming mail server'.
Click the 'Advanced' tab. Check the box next to 'This server requires an encrypted connection (SSL)' under 'Incoming Server (POP3)'. In the box next to 'Outgoing server (SMTP)', enter 587. Select 'TLS' from the drop-down menu next to 'Use the following type of encrypted connection:'.
Make sure that 995 is in the box next to 'Incoming Server' (POP3).
Click 'OK'. From the screen you're returned to, click 'Test Account Settings'. Then click 'Close'. From the screen that appears, click 'Finish'. You're now ready to use Outlook with Gmail.
It's ironic - or perhaps prophetic - that we end with Gmail, since surveys indicate that more and more people are switching to web-based mail. In the meantime, Microsoft Office continues to dominate in corporate environments, which means workers must find ways to make peace with Outlook.