The end of handy Gmail features
Do you use Gmail to send or receive emails via a different email address? If so, you’ll face a number of changes next year. Google has announced that it is discontinuing several features for external email accounts, including the ability to send emails from a different address via, for example, the web version of Gmail. The changes will come into effect in January 2027.
The most significant change is the removal of the ‘Send As’ feature. This allowed you to send emails from Gmail using a different email address, such as a work address or an alias with another email provider. According to Google, this feature requires too much maintenance. It will therefore be discontinued permanently.
In addition to ‘Send As’, the ability to retrieve emails from an external account via POP3 in Gmail will also be removed. POP3 is an older technology that allowed Gmail to fetch messages from other email services. A number of additional features for external mailboxes will also be discontinued. Among other things, the ability to use Gmail’s spam protection for email accounts from other providers will be removed.
Google is also removing the option to add or synchronise new external email accounts in the web version of Gmail. That does not mean, however, that you can no longer use multiple accounts at all. According to Google, the Gmail app on Android and iOS will continue to support multiple email accounts, which you can manage and synchronise side by side.
Alternatives and a delay
As an alternative, Google advises users to use the mobile Gmail app if they wish to manage multiple email accounts. The company also mentions other email programmes as a possible solution. It is worth noting that Google had previously announced these changes for January 2026. It is now clear that support will not end until a year later, in January 2027.
Via Tweakers
