Gmail gets IMAP

Filed under: Business, Internet, E-mail, Web services, Google

Gmail gets IMAP

by Chris Gilmer Oct 23rd 2007

It appears that Google is working on integrating IMAP into Gmail. Download Squad reader eD! Thomas sent in a tip letting us know he came across the new IMAP setting while snooping around Gmail. However, it is only appearing in select few Gmail and Google Apps for domains accounts at the moment.

When we checked Gmail Help database this evening, Gmail had said that they support POP, but not IMAP. Then a few minutes later, that doc was gone, and a stack of IMAP related help docs were up. The new pages explain how to integrate the new mail feature. It's as easy as setting up POP, but with huge benefits.

Why is IMAP integration a good thing for Gmail? POP was a stepping stone, but IMAP pushes Gmails benefits over the top. With IMAP, users can now access their email via a desktop application like Outlook or Thunderbird, read emails, make changes, delete, and have the changes made across platforms. So if you now log into your Gmail account, the message which you read in Thunderbird, will now be marked accordingly. No more wasting time trying to sift through emails that had already been answered.

Take a peek under your Settings in Gmail, and click into your 'Forwarding and POP IMAP' tab to see if you are one of the lucky ones who got IMAP first.

UPDATE: Some users are reporting that if they log out and back into Gmail accounts, IMAP settings are showing up! There is hope!

UPDATE 2: Dont worry if you IMAP isn't appearing in your account, Google will be rolling it out to everyone over the next few days.

Tags: email, gmail, imap

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)

David Chartier said 9:22PM on 10-23-2007

WANT!

Wow I've been begging for this for over a year now. Don't see it in my prefs yet. Cmon Gmail I wuv you!! Hook a geek up, mmk?

Rishabh Kumar said 9:30PM on 10-23-2007

My super old gmail address (okay not too old but from 2005) has the IMAP option!!! Too bad it's become a spam account :(

David Truong said 9:37PM on 10-23-2007

Woot I got IMAP.. now i gotta go mark all my messages as read =)

Chris Gilmer said 9:38PM on 10-23-2007

Why does Google tease people by only releasing these kinds of features randomly?

Brent said 10:08PM on 10-23-2007

No luck here darn it! I'll now be checking way to often until this feature arrives. I've wanted this for a while now...

Kimberly said 10:21PM on 10-23-2007

Cool, I have it in my account

Michael Rose said 10:25PM on 10-23-2007

The Big G has thoughtfully added a setup walkthrough page for iPhone owners:

https://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=77702

If you are trying IMAP Gmail on your iPhone, let us know over at TUAW:

http://www.tuaw.com/2007/10/23/gmail-flips-the-switch-on-imap-support/

michael said 10:25PM on 10-23-2007

I don't want to be a downer, but Live Hotmail has already had this feature for a while.

Just saying that Microsoft isn't always behind and the company that always copies everyone. Not in this case.

Chris Pereira said 10:26PM on 10-23-2007

Just looked, and I've got it. Funny how I get it when I didn't know what IMAP was before checking this story out. XD

Steve said 10:35PM on 10-23-2007

Cool. About time. Someone already said that Live Hotmail has IMAP, and actually AIM and AOL Mail have had IMAP support for literally years.

Gonna go change my Thunderbird config....

David Chartier said 10:52PM on 10-23-2007

Google, like many sites, often roll out features slowly like this to ensure a smooth ride for both their servers and the users. You can't always test every angle of software like this and sometimes ya just gotta roll it out slowly and carefully to make sure it sticks right.

Pharisee said 10:55PM on 10-23-2007

Cool. I got it. Can't wait to start copying all my "before Gmail" email to gmail from outlook. Should be very straight-forward from Outlook.

jP said 11:17PM on 10-23-2007

I don't have it yet and I have used pop since forever. I also think I was a beta tester, so it has nothing to do with that. I hope to see this new feature by tomorrow!

nitish Jha said 11:19PM on 10-23-2007

how do u enable IMAP in windows live email ?

Robby Valles said 11:22PM on 10-23-2007

it worked on my iPhone!

dpratt said 11:30PM on 10-23-2007

Nooooo!

Who do I email/beg/bribe to get this enabled for my gmail account? I've been waiting for gmail IMAP for years!

pons said 11:32PM on 10-23-2007

I haven't got the upgrade, but I have some idea on how to enable it for user who don't have the option in their panel.
For someone who's got imap, please put your mail in basic HTML mode (on the bottom of the page) and then go to the settings and select Forwarding and POP/IMAP.
The url should show something like ?v=prfap, but not exactly the same.. That's maybe the point to get it

kme said 11:43PM on 10-23-2007

Wow. I just checked and I have IMAP access too. It's a 2005 account, I think.

Great...

Rudy C said 11:50PM on 10-23-2007

I tried the log out relogin and it showed up!!
I did have POP enabled before.
Now time to change settings!

Jason H said 11:57PM on 10-23-2007

Grr my account isn't enabled yet! Tried logging out and back in. Had POP enabled already. Had the account since 2004. I've been waiting forever for this!!! I can finally dump my clunky forwarding system!

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