If you’ve just signed up for a new Gmail e-mail address you’ll probably now want to configure Outlook or Windows Mail to handle your new Gmail e-mail. One reason to do this is that Outlook and Windows Mail can manage multiple email addresses which allows you to manage all your emails from one central place.
In setting up Outlook or Windows Mail you aren’t making a permanent commitment to using any application in particular because Gmail is a web mail service. So you can use Outlook for managing your e-mail for everyday use and use Internet Explorer when you are away from home and all your mail will be in both places for you.
We’ll start out by showing you the general Gmail setup which you will need to do regardless of what e-mail software you use. Then we will look at e-mail setup in Outlook and then, in Windows Mail.
Start in Gmail and click the small gear icon in the top right of the screen. From the menu choose Settings.
Now click Forwarding and POP/IMAP which is a tab at the top of the window. Select Enable IMAP, leave the other settings as they are, and click Save Changes.
In Outlook choose File > Info and click Add Account to display the Add New Account dialog box. Type your name and your new Gmail e-mail address in the boxes and then type the password for your Gmail account in the two boxes. Click Next.
Outlook will connect to Gmail automatically for you and complete the setup process. When it is done you will see a confirmation that your IMAP e-mail has been successfully configured.
Click Ok and then Finish. When you do this Outlook will test your account to make sure everything is in order, click Close and you’re done. Look in the left hand panel in Outlook and you will see your Gmail inbox and you can manage your e-mails here.
To launch Windows Mail click the Start button, type Windows Mail and click to open the mail application – it will be called either Windows Mail or Windows Live Mail. To add an account click the Windows Live Mail blue icon in the top left corner of the window and choose Options and then E-mail Accounts.
Click Add, then E-mail Account and click Next. Type your e-mail address and your password into the boxes provided. For your Display name type your name and, if you want Windows Live mail to remember your password so you won’t have to type it each time, click the Remember this Password checkbox.
Provided you performed steps 1 & 2 on the previous page, your Gmail account should already be set up for IMAP so ignore the message on the right of the box and simply click Next. The dialog will confirm that your e-mail account was added so click Finish and then Close.
Wait as Windows Mail downloads your e-mails from the server. You can then click the Inbox to read your messages.
Once you have set up Windows Mail or Outlook to manage your Gmail e-mail you can now send and receive e-mail from this application. You can also use the Contacts feature in each program to store the e-mail address of people you frequently e-mail so you can easily e-mail them in future.
