Google@UH - How to Set-Up Gmail on Third-Party Email Clients

Overview

This article provides a instructions on how to configure UH email accounts for third-party email clients.

• Configuring an Email Client Using OAuth 2.0 (Recommended)

• Configuring an Email Client Using an App-Specific Password (Not Recommended)

• A Note on POP

Configuring an Email Client Using OAuth 2.0 (Recommended)

The industry has adopted a more secure method of authenticating third-party applications called OAuth 2.0, this method is supported by most modern email clients via UH Login. This will typically be presented in the mail client as a "Sign in with Google" option on your email client set-up screen. See Google's Set up Gmail with a third-party email client (link) support article for further instructions.

• If you are using Microsoft Outlook Classic on Windows, you may choose to use Google Workspace Sync for Microsoft Outlook (GWSMO) to sign in and set up your account: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gssmo. GWSMO provides additional functionality to Microsoft Outlook users, including the synchronization of your Google Calendar and Contacts.
• If you are using a smartphone, UH ITS recommends that you use the Gmail App, available through the App Store (iOS/iPadOS) or Play Store (Android)
• Thunderbird users may need to manually configure the account settings using the IMAP configuration details below.

Most modern email clients will automatically configure account and server connection information. However, if you need to manually enter account and connection information, you can reference the IMAP configuration details below

IMAP Configuration Information for OAuth 2.0

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Configuring an Email Client Using an App-Specific Password (Not Recommended)

This method is inherently less secure and is not recommended by UH ITS and Google. Instead, it is recommended to configure your mail client using OAuth 2.0 via Sign in with Google which is supported by most modern email clients, including Outlook, Thunderbird, and the Gmail app for Android and iOS. If your email client does not support OAuth 2.0 via UH Login, you can choose to do configure your email client using an App-Specific Password by following the instructions below:

1. Enable Google 2-Step Verification (2SV) (link)
2. Create a Google App Password (link) 
   • You are able to remove App Passwords (link) at any time
   • If you forgot the App Password, you will need to generate a new one
3. Once you perform Step 1 and 2, you will now be ready to configure your email client for IMAP/POP​​​​​​ using the tables below

IMAP Configuration Information for App-Specific Password

A Note on POP

POP or Post Office Protocol is an older protocol used to retrieve emails from mail servers. Compared to IMAP, which continuously and dynamically synchronizes data between the email client and mail server, POP fetches email data from the mail server but will not communicate any changes you make to messages within the mail client back to the server. If you check your email from multiple clients (including from the web), any actions you take using a POP-configured client - like marking a message as read or unread, deleting a message, moving a message to a different folder or label - will not be reflected when you go to check your email from another client.

For these reasons, ITS generally recommends against configuring mail clients using POP. However, specific use cases may benefit from the simpler, static nature of email retrieval that POP provides and if your use-case calls for it, you can find POP configuration information at Google's support article "Read Gmail messages on other email clients using POP" (link).

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