If you’re upgrading from Outlook 2003 to 2010, you might want to use IMAP with your Gmail account to synchronize mail across multiple machines. Using our guide, you will be able to start using it in no time.

Enable IMAP in Gmail

First log into your Gmail account and open the Settings panel. Click on the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab and verify IMAP is enabled and save changes.

Next open Outlook 2010, click on the File tab to access the Backstage view. Click on Account Settings and Add and remove accounts or change existing connection settings.

In the Account Settings window click on the New button.

Enter in your name, email address, and password twice then click Next.

Outlook will configure the email server settings, the amount of time it takes will vary.

Provided everything goes correctly, the configuration will be successful and you can begin using your account.

Manually Configure IMAP Settings

If the above instructions don’t work, then we’ll need to manually configure the settings. Again, go into Auto Account Setup and select Manually configure server settings or additional server types and click Next.

Select Internet E-mail – Connect to POP or IMAP server to send and receive e-mail messages.

Now we need to manually enter in our settings similar to the following. Under the Server Information section verify the following.

• Account Type: IMAP
• Incoming mail server: imap.gmail.com
• Outgoing mail server (SMTP): smtp.gmail.com

Note: If you have a Google Apps account make sure to put the full email address ([email protected]) in the Your Name and User Name fields.

Note: If you live outside of the US you might need to use imap.googlemail.com and smtp.googlemail.com

Next, we need to click on the More Settings button…

In the Internet E-mail Settings screen that pops up, click on the Outgoing Server tab, and check the box next to My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication. Also select the radio button next to Use same settings as my incoming mail server.

In the same window click on the Advanced tab and verify the following.

• Incoming server: 993
• Incoming server encrypted connection: SSL
• Outgoing server encrypted connection TLS
• Outgoing server: 587

Note: You will need to change the Outgoing server encrypted connection first, otherwise it will default back to port 25. Also, if TLS doesn’t work, we were able to successfully use Auto. Click OK when finished.

Now we want to test the settings, before continuing on…it’s just easier that way incase something was entered incorrectly. To make sure the settings are tested, check the box Test Account Settings by clicking the Next button.

If you’ve entered everything in correctly, both tasks will be completed successfully and you can close out of the window. and begin using your account via Outlook 2010.

You’ll get a final congratulations message you can close out of…

And begin using your account via Outlook 2010.

Conclusion

Using IMAP allows you to synchronize email across multiple machines and devices. The IMAP feature in Gmail is free to use, and this should get you started using it with Outlook 2010. If you’re still using 2007 or just upgraded to it, check out our guide on how to use Gmail IMAP in Outlook 2007.