Gmail is dropping POP3 mail fetching on the web

Google has quietly kicked off 2026 with a change that will hit a specific (but very real) group of Gmail power users: starting January 2026, the web version of Gmail will no longer support two features that helped people pull third-party email into Gmail:

• “Check mail from other accounts” (POP) — Gmail will stop fetching messages from external providers (Outlook/Hotmail, Yahoo, custom domains, etc.) via POP in your browser.

• Gmailify — the feature that used to “wrap” certain third-party inboxes with Gmail-like perks (spam filtering, categories, better notifications, faster search) is also being discontinued.

If you relied on Gmail as the “one inbox to rule them all” on desktop, this is the moment you’ll feel it.

What’s changing in January 2026

From January 2026:

• Gmail will no longer support checking emails from third-party accounts through POP.

• The “Check mail from other accounts” option disappears from Gmail on your computer (the web interface).

So the old workflow—where Gmail periodically logged into another mailbox and pulled new messages into your Gmail inbox—is effectively over on desktop.

What happens to the emails you already imported

The good news: you don’t lose what’s already there.

Google explicitly says that messages synced before the deprecation stay in Gmail.

So your historical mail remains searchable and organized the way you left it—only the continuous “keep pulling new mail” part stops.

Gmailify ending means fewer Gmail “extras” for non-Gmail accounts

Gmailify used to make certain external accounts feel more “Gmail-native.” With Gmailify gone, Google says you won’t be able to apply specific Gmail features to your third-party mailbox anymore, including:

• Gmail-level spam protection

• better mobile notifications

• inbox categories

• faster search with advanced operators

In plain terms: you may still be able to access that external account, but it won’t get the same “Gmail magic” layered on top.

What you can do instead

Google points to two practical paths, depending on how you want things to work.

Option 1: Use automatic forwarding

If your goal is: “new messages should appear in my main Gmail inbox like before,” forwarding is the closest replacement.

• Set up automatic forwarding at the other email provider (Outlook/Yahoo/custom domain provider).

• New mail will arrive to Gmail as standard incoming messages.

Trade-off: forwarding rules vary by provider, and sometimes forwarded mail can behave differently with filters/labels than “native” mail. But functionally, it restores the “one inbox” experience on desktop.

Option 2: Add the account in the Gmail mobile app (IMAP)

Google says you can continue to read and send emails from your other account in the Gmail app on Android/iPhone/iPad using a standard IMAP connection.

Trade-off: this is primarily a mobile solution. It keeps access convenient, but it’s not the same as having those messages continuously fetched into your Gmail inbox on the web.

A detail many people miss: web import still exists, but it’s one-time

Google also clarifies something important:

You can still import mail and contacts from third-party accounts in Gmail on the web, but it’s a one-time import—it won’t keep syncing going forward.

So if you see “import” options still present, don’t confuse that with the old always-on POP fetch behavior.

Why Google is likely doing this

POP3 is decades old. Even when used over encrypted connections, the model is still clunky by modern standards:

• It’s built around downloading mail, not true multi-device synchronization.

• It doesn’t map cleanly to modern authentication expectations and account security flows.

• It encourages “pulling mail by logging in elsewhere,” which is exactly the kind of legacy behavior big platforms have been phasing out.

IMAP fits today’s reality much better (folders, sync state, multiple devices), but Google is clearly drawing a line between “Gmail as a client on mobile” and “Gmail web as a universal inbox aggregator.”

Image(s) used in this article are either AI-generated or sourced from royalty-free platforms like Pixabay or Pexels.