Third-Party Mail Clients or Apps and U-M Google Mail

Environment

U-M Google Mail (Gmail)

(Applies to both individual email accounts and U-M Google Shared Accounts)

Issue

  • How do I set up or configure a third-party mail client (e.g., Microsoft Outlook, Apple Mail, Thunderbird, etc.) to access my U-M Google Mail?
  • How do I sign in to U-M Google Mail using a third-party mail client?

Resolution

Recommended Ways to Access U-M Gmail

ITS recommends using only clients/apps created and supported by Google to connect to U-M Google accounts.

Thunderbird for Accessibility Needs

  • Thunderbird can be used to accommodate accessibility needs for U-M Google users having issues with the web-based Gmail experience
  • It is only recommended when needed for accessibility, as Google does not support the use of third-party clients like Thunderbird
  • Refer to Setting up Third-Party Mail Client (Thunderbird) with U-M Google Mail for more information
  • While ITS provides an easy way to configure Thunderbird, support for the day-to-day use of Thunderbird is not provided
  • Thunderbird self-service support information can be found on Mozilla's support page

Other Third-Party Mail Clients

  • You are not restricted from signing in and/or using third-party mail clients or apps (e.g., Apple Mail, Microsoft Outlook, etc.) with your U-M Gmail account
  • However, ITS does not provide configuration assistance or additional support for using any third-party mail clients other than Thunderbird (mentioned above).
IMPORTANT NOTES
- ITS does not recommend using third-party clients other than Thunderbird (and only for accessibility needs).
- Using a third-party mail client with your U-M Google account is unsupported and is done at your discretion.
- Only mail clients that can sign in directly to your U-M Google account (via Google login and OAuth2) can be used
- Any configurations other than signing in with your U-M Google account (e.g., SMTP/IMAP) will stop working in the future when Google turns off "Less Secure Apps." (Date TBD)

Additional Information

  • For assistance or questions regarding third-party mail clients, please contact the specific vendor's help center
  • For other topics, contact the ITS Service Center

Details

Article ID: 8670
Created
Fri 8/12/22 11:00 AM
Modified
Mon 10/10/22 1:17 PM

Related Articles (3)

This article explains how to access your U-M Google Mail via a mobile phone or tablet.
This article explains how to access your U-M Google Mail account via the web.
This article provides information on how to easily configure the Mozilla Thunderbird mail client to connect to a U-M Google Mail account.

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