Setting up a free Gmail email account in Outlook Express or Windows Mail

Ok now this is going to kill the competition because Gmail email now has IMAP which will allow to to download your emails to any compatible device, including your computer. This means that you can have a free email account with Gmail and collect and read the emails in your Outlook Express or Windows Mail. Therefore you will not have to go to the usual web based inbox to see your new emails. All you have to do is open your Outlook or Windows Mail and the emails will download there.

This is amazing as having this feature usually meant you had to upgrade your account to a paid version. Obviously Yahoo and Hotmail still do no offer IMAP for free to their free email customers, however they might do in the future.

When setting up this free Gmail account in Outlook or Windows Mail there are a few more settings to change, however once you have completed the setup it is well worth it.

To setup a Gmail email account in Outlook Express you will need:

1. You must have a Gmail email account.
2. You must Enable IMAP in your Gmail email account
3. Your username for your email account at Gmail.
4. Your password.
5. The incoming mail server name.
6. The outgoing mail server name.
7. The port settings and details.

What are the email settings for a Gmail email account?

• Account Type: IMAP
• Incoming mail server: imap.gmail.com
• Outgoing Mail Server: smtp.gmail.com
• Incoming mail port: 993
• Outgoing mail port: 465

How to setup a Gmail email account in Outlook Express or Windows Mail?

1. Open Outlook Express or Windows Mail
2. Choose tools from the top menu.
3. Then choose accounts..
4. To make a new account press on add and then mail.
5. Now the new email account wizard will start.

1. Fill in your display name first. This is what people see instead of the ugly email address.
2. Press next.
3. Fill in your email address. Mine is computer.tips.free@gmail.com. Press next.
4. Press the arrow to make the menu drop down and choose IMAP. (see screenshot below)
5. Now type in your incoming and outgoing mail servers. Press next.

1. Now type in your Gmail account username and password.
2. Tick the box that says Remember my password.

1. Then when the wizard is finished we need to add the port details in and change a few advanced settings.
2. Choose tools from the top menu. Then choose accounts..
3. Go to the mail tab.
4. Now make the account you just created blue.
5. Then choose properties from the side menu. (see screenshot below)

1. Now the Properties for your Godaddy email account will come up. See the screenshot below.
2. Go to the Servers tab. Here you can check your incoming and outgoing mail servers and also tick the box that says My server requires authentication.

1. Now go to the Advanced tab. (See screenshot below)
2. Change the outgoing port to 465.
3. Tick the box under this that says this server requires a securer connection (SSL)
4. Also Tick the box under the incoming mail section that says this server requires a securer connection (SSL)
5. Then the incoming port will automatically be set to 993
6. Now press apply and ok.

Username and password errors saying invalid credentials or web login required when I try to send and receive email in Outlook Express or Windows Mail.

When I actually tried to send or receive email with the Gmail account through my Outlook it would not let me. It came up with and error saying that I had invalid credentials, however I knew my username and password were right. Then I searched Gmail help and found this answer which solved my problem immediately.

http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=78754

I had to clear or unlock my CAPTCHA in my Google account. Captcha is the verification letters that come up to verify you are a human and not a computer. If you visit the link above this problem will be easily solved.

Notes:

• Go here to sign up for a free Gmail account.
• If you do not have any previous email accounts setup in Outlook Express the account wizard will open when you open the program. Fill in the details when prompted. You can also go back and check all the settings using the steps above.
• You cannot make your hotmail or Yahoo email open in Outlook or Windows Mail.
• In Windows Vista it is pretty much the same in Windows Mail, however the incoming and outgoing ports may be in different positions so be careful where you enter then.
• When you have an email account that has taken some time to setup you should Backup your Email Account Settings and next time you need them you can simply import them back into Outlook or Windows Mail.