Retrieving Emails from Other Accounts in Gmail: Free Gmail vs. Google Business Starter
In free Gmail, you can retrieve emails from other domain accounts (such as your business or personal domain) using the “Check mail from other accounts” feature in the Accounts and Import tab. Here’s how this works for both Free Gmail and Google Business Starter:
Free Gmail: Retrieving Emails from Other Accounts
- Settings: Click the gear icon, then “See all settings.”
- Accounts and Import: Go to this tab.
- Check mail from other accounts: Click “Add a mail account.”
- Follow prompts: Enter your other email address, configure POP3 settings, and Gmail will fetch emails from this external account into your Gmail inbox.
Google Business Starter (Google Workspace): Can You Do the Same?
Yes, you can retrieve emails from other domain email accounts in Google Business Starter, but with some caveats:
How It Works
- The same “Accounts and Import” tab is available in Google Workspace Gmail.
- You can add external email accounts using the “Check mail from other accounts” feature, just like in free Gmail.
- This allows you to fetch emails from other POP3 accounts (such as your old business domain or another provider) into your Google Workspace inbox.
Important Notes
- Admin Control: In Google Business Starter, the Workspace admin may need to enable this feature for users. The admin must turn on the option to allow importing mail from other webmail or POP3 accounts in the Google Admin console.
- POP3 Only: This method works for accounts that support POP3 access.
- Send Mail As: You can also set up “Send mail as” to send messages from your Workspace account using your other domain’s address.
Step-by-Step: Retrieving External Emails in Google Business Starter
- Admin enables import feature (if not already on):
- User setup (same as free Gmail):
- Open Gmail, click the gear icon, select “See all settings.”
- Go to “Accounts and Import.”
- In “Check mail from other accounts,” click “Add a mail account.”
- Enter your other email address and follow the prompts to configure POP3 settings.
Comparison Table
| Feature | Free Gmail | Google Business Starter |
|---|---|---|
| Retrieve mail from other accounts | Yes (POP3) | Yes (POP3, if enabled by admin) |
| “Accounts and Import” tab | Yes | Yes |
| Admin control required | No | Yes (feature may need enabling) |
| “Send mail as” | Yes | Yes |
Even as a sole proprietor with only one Google Workspace (Gmail Business Starter) account, you will have an admin panel—this is required for all Google Workspace accounts, regardless of size. When you sign up, your first (and possibly only) user is both your regular email account and the administrator for your domain.
- You will use the same email address for both your day-to-day email and for accessing the admin console.
- The admin console is where you manage settings like billing, security, and advanced features, but for a single-user business, you’ll rarely need to access it after initial setup.
- This setup is normal and expected for one-person businesses using Google Workspace.
“You can use a single account as both an administrator, and your ‘normal’ user…”
You do not need to create a separate admin account unless you want to follow best practices for security (which is more relevant for larger organizations). For most sole proprietors, using your one account for both admin and email is standard and fully supported.
Both free Gmail and Google Workspace (Business Starter) accounts allow you to set up external email accounts (using POP3) so you can retrieve mail from other domains into your main Gmail inbox. However, Google does not officially publish a specific numeric limit for the number of external POP3 accounts you can add in either version.
Practical Limits (Based on Current Gmail Behavior)
- In practice, Gmail (both free and Business Starter) allows you to add up to 5 external POP3 accounts for mail fetching in the “Check mail from other accounts” section of Settings.
- This limit is the same for both free Gmail and Google Workspace accounts.
Key Points
- 5 external accounts: You can add up to 5 external POP3 accounts to fetch mail into your Gmail inbox.
- This applies to both free Gmail and Business Starter accounts.
- If you need to check more than 5 external accounts, you would need to use email forwarding from those accounts, or use a third-party email client.
This is a long-standing Gmail limitation and applies regardless of whether you are using a personal or business (Workspace) account.
Both free Gmail and Google Workspace (Business Starter) accounts allow you to set up external email accounts (using POP3) so you can retrieve mail from other domains into your main Gmail inbox. However, Google does not officially publish a specific numeric limit for the number of external POP3 accounts you can add in either version.
Practical Limits (Based on Current Gmail Behavior)
- In practice, Gmail (both free and Business Starter) allows you to add up to 5 external POP3 accounts for mail fetching in the “Check mail from other accounts” section of Settings.
- This limit is the same for both free Gmail and Google Workspace accounts.
Key Points
- 5 external accounts: You can add up to 5 external POP3 accounts to fetch mail into your Gmail inbox.
- This applies to both free Gmail and Business Starter accounts.
- If you need to check more than 5 external accounts, you would need to use email forwarding from those accounts, or use a third-party email client.
This is a long-standing Gmail limitation and applies regardless of whether you are using a personal or business (Workspace) account.
If you only set up “Check mail from other accounts” (POP3 fetching) in Gmail or Google Workspace, Gmail will retrieve messages from your external account and deliver them to your inbox. However, when you reply to those messages, Gmail will send replies from your main Gmail address by default, not from the external address the message was originally sent to.
To reply from your external address (so your recipients see the reply as coming from that address), you must also set up the “Send mail as” function for each external account in the “Accounts and Import” settings. This allows you to choose the correct “From” address when composing or replying to emails fetched from your external accounts.
Summary:
- Only “Check mail from other accounts” set up: Replies will come from your main Gmail/Workspace address.
- Both “Check mail from other accounts” and “Send mail as” set up: You can reply from the external address, matching the original recipient’s expectation.
If you want replies to appear as if they come from your external account, you must configure both features.
When you set up “Send mail as” in Gmail or Google Workspace, you typically need to enter the SMTP server information for the email address you want to send from. This allows Gmail to send outgoing mail using that external address properly.
What happens during “Send mail as” setup?
- You provide the SMTP server address (often
smtp.gmail.comif using Gmail’s servers, or the SMTP server of your external email provider if different). - You enter the SMTP username (usually the full email address).
- You enter the SMTP password (your email account password or an app-specific password if using 2-step verification).
- You select the SMTP port (usually 465 for SSL or 587 for TLS).
- Gmail uses this SMTP info to send emails as that external address, ensuring the “From” address matches your external account and improves deliverability.
Why is this needed?
- If you only set up “Check mail from other accounts” (POP3 fetching), Gmail can receive emails from your external account, but when you reply, it will send from your main Gmail address by default.
- Setting up “Send mail as” with SMTP info lets you send emails appearing to come from your external address, matching the original sender identity.
Summary
| Setup Step | What You Enter | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Check mail from other accounts | POP3 server, username, password | Retrieve incoming mail from external account |
| Send mail as | SMTP server, username, password, port | Send outgoing mail using external address |
Typical Gmail SMTP Settings (if using Gmail’s SMTP)
- SMTP server:
smtp.gmail.com - Port: 465 (SSL) or 587 (TLS)
- Authentication: Yes (your Gmail or Workspace email and password)
- Secure connection: SSL or TLS
If you use a non-Gmail external account, you enter that provider’s SMTP details instead.
In short: Yes, the “Send mail as” setup requires you to enter SMTP details to send mail from that address properly. Without it, replies to fetched emails will come from your main Gmail address, not the external one.
When you set up an external account with POP in Gmail (either free Gmail or Google Workspace/Business Starter), Gmail will fetch emails from that external account’s mail server. Whether Gmail fetches all existing emails or only new ones depends on the POP settings you choose during setup:
- If you choose “Enable POP for all mail” in the source account’s settings, Gmail will attempt to download all emails currently on the external account’s server.
- If you choose “Enable POP for mail that arrives from now on,” Gmail will only fetch messages received after you enable POP in the source account.
During the setup in Gmail, you’ll also have the option to:
- Leave a copy of retrieved messages on the server (so emails remain on the original account after being fetched), or
- Remove them from the server once fetched.
After setup, Gmail will periodically and automatically check and download any new incoming emails from the external account. You can also manually trigger a fetch by clicking “Check mail now” in the Accounts and Import settings
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