Big news for Windows 10 users! You can now view your Google emails in a way that is hassle-free and comparatively cleaner. Yes, this method involves using your Gmail on your Windows 10 Mail app.
And not just that, you can also view your Google Calendar and all your contacts through the built-in Window 10 Mail app, so you don’t have to use Outlook.
Outlook can be a good option for businesses to use, but for personal email – not so much. But now, you can use both through the same app!
Thanks to Windows 10, you no longer have to keep a Gmail tab open on your browser at all times or use Outlook. How?
Gmail can be synced to Windows Mail, your Google contacts can be synced with Windows People, and your Google Calendar with the Windows Calendar!
So now, you need not log in separately; just access your Google services through the dedicated windows app!
If you’re confused regarding how to go about it, let us help you!
This article will discuss how to set up your Gmail account with your Windows 10 Mail App, how to get the most out of it, and some pros and cons of doing this:
Table of Contents
Adding Your Gmail Account To The Windows10 Mail App
First off, you will need to activate and set up the Mail app. It’s pretty simple, type Mail after clicking on the start button on your desktop. The results will show up, with the top one being the Windows Mail app.
The application is split into three sections:
- The pane on the right: Shows each email
- The one in the middle: Shows short descriptions of the emails present within the folder
- A sidebar at the left: Shows all your folders and email accounts
Proceed to follow these steps to add your Gmail account to the Windows 10 Mail application:
- You will see the Accounts tab on the sidebar on the left-hand side; Click on it
- Select ‘add account’ in the panel that will appear. A popup box will appear, showing you options for different email services you can select
- Select Gmail and put in your credentials. Once you click allow, Windows will have access to all its subsequent emails, contacts, and calendars
- If you follow the steps correctly, you will receive a message that will indicate that you have successfully added your Gmail account to the Windows 10 Mail App
Upon completing these steps, your emails should be viewable in the Mail app. However, you may notice that, by default, the Windows app will only show you your inbox folder.
Furthermore, if you have many other labels on your Gmail, you can access them as a folder in the Windows 10 Mail app. Do this by selecting the ‘More’ option, which will make the rest of your labels appear.
This panel will disappear if you use any other feature; thus, if you have to access your other Gmail labels frequently, you should right-click and ‘Add to Favorites.’ This will display the labels in your inbox, so you can easily access them at any time.
Due to its default setting, the Windows 10 Mail App only shows you the last three months’ worth of emails. If you would like to access all of your Google emails, do this:
- Go to settings
- Expand the left sidebar by selecting the expanding tab situated at the top left-hand corner of the sidebar
- Select the ‘gear icon,’ which you can find on the sidebar’s bottom right. A small panel will appear on the right-hand side
- Here, you must click on the ‘Manage Accounts’ button near the top of the panel
- Select Gmail
- A dialog box will pop up, and from there, you will be able to change account settings (such as syncing the mailbox, editing the account name, or even deleting it.)
- Switch ‘3 months to ‘Any Time’
Following these steps will prompt the app to download all your emails, irrespective of their dates.
You also have the option of turning off contacts, email, or calendars individually. You can also adjust the settings to achieve this in both the Contacts and Calendar app as well.
How To Sync Your Gmail Account With People And Calendar Apps
Following the instructions stated above will result in your Gmail being set up to the Windows 10 Mail App. Now, let’s help you set up your People and Calendar apps to display your Gmail Calendar and contacts.
The default setting of the Mail App automatically selects all your calendars. However, you can manually deselect or select calendars you would like to view. And the ‘People’ App functions similarly.
And there you have it; just like that, your Gmail account is now successfully synced with the Windows 10 Mail app. Easy to use and convenient, this integration will allow you to use all your services in the same place!
Getting The Most Out Of Your Windows 10 Mail App
Windows Mail has been an expected (but welcome) addition for Windows users as it offers better services than most other cloud email services.
Even though you can access your Yahoo, Gmail, or iCloud separately – and they are good enough for what they promise to do – it is great to have a dedicated Mail App that helps you sort stuff out.
A dedicated mailing app for outgoing and incoming emails assists in the process of organizing your mailbox.
And Windows 10 mail works the same way, putting all your email accounts in a single app so that you can access all your accounts and not have to switch constantly.
So, if you want to know how to make the most of the Windows 10 Mail app, keep on reading:
Setting Up Different Email Accounts
As soon as you launch the Mail app for the first time, you will see a dialog box that lets you add as many email accounts as you would like. Select the ‘Add Account’ option to get the process started.
Webmail accounts are the easiest to add; select whichever service you would like to – like Yahoo or Gmail – and enter your credentials when they ask you.
You can add IMAP and POP accounts and select the ‘Other Account’ option, which will prompt you to enter server details.
Accessing All Your Email Accounts
If you have more than one account that you use frequently, don’t be alarmed. One of the great things about the Windows Mail app is that it allows you to access all your email accounts in one place, so it is better to add each of them.
The process to add more accounts is effortless, and you can do it whenever you want:
- Click the Accounts option (which you can find on the left side of the Mail app)
- Select ‘Add Account’
- Type in your credentials
Linking Your Inboxes
Once you’ve added all your email accounts to the Windows mail app, ask yourself if you want to combine the inbox and outbox of each account.
The Mail app keeps emails from different email accounts separate by default, making you switch between inboxes.
To make it so that you can see all your emails simultaneously:
- Go to the Account settings
- Select ‘Link Inboxes’
Keep in mind that you can select over two accounts.
- Create a name for your combined inbox
- Press Save so that Windows Mail applies all your changes
The navigation is on the left-hand side and can be pretty handy when you want to switch between different accounts or if you have many mail folders that you constantly jump between.
However, you do have the option to hide the navigation bar if you want to clear up the on-screen clutter.
All you have to do is:
- Click the icon on the upper left-hand corner of the Mail app window (the icon is three horizontal lines)
- Once you click on it, the pane will collapse, allowing you more space on your screen
- If you click the icon again, you can reaccess the navigation bar
- Also, even if the menu is collapsed, you can navigate the different folders
Sending, Receiving, and Replying To emails
It is pretty simple to compose and send emails. All you have to do is click ‘New mail,’ located on the panel on the left-hand side.
Likewise, dealing with incoming emails is also effortless. When a new email arrives, you have to select whichever inbox you need to and then select the message you would like to view from the preview panel located at the right of the screen. The unread messages will be highlighted with bold text.
When you enter an inbox – be it linked or separate – you will find options to reply to emails, delete them, flag them, etc., right at the top of the preview panel.
Opening Multiple Emails At The Same Time
You may want to view two or more emails at the same time. However, the preview panel, by default, shows one email at any given time.
To work around this, all you have to do is:
- Select the email you would like to open
- Choose the ‘Open Message In New Window’ option, which will appear towards the right side of the App
- Next, choose the other email you want to view and select the same option.
- You can then reposition the windows as you see fit
Quick Actions
It is not necessary to open a specific email to perform tasks. By hovering your cursor over the email you would like to access, three icons pop up on the screen.
These can be used to flag, delete or archive emails. Flagging an email can be helpful if you want to read and reply to that email later.
Additionally, by right-clicking an email, you can also view the ‘context menu, allowing you to perform other quick actions.
Favorite Folders
The Windows Mail app also lets users create folders to organize their inbox better. Your inbox will probably be divided into folders as soon as you add your accounts. However, you have the option to create more if you would like to.
All you have to do is:
- Click on the ‘Folders’ option from the left-side panel
- Select the ‘+’ option in the options that will appear
- Name your folder
- Press the Enter key on your keyboard
- To add a folder to favorites, right-click and then select ‘Add to Favorites’
Other Useful Email Options
The Mail App enables users to play around with settings and provides them with a genuinely unique email experience!
Choosing the personalization option in settings, for instance, can help you customize the background image and color themes of the App.
There is also a font section that can help you spruce up the appearance of the emails you send through all of your email accounts. Also in these settings is the ‘Signature’ option that can help you customize your email signatures.
An In-depth Review Of The Mail App
In essence, the Windows 10 Mail App is an email program that allows you to securely and easily add multiple email accounts to access them in one place.
However, it lacks some of the more advanced features that we will discuss. Therefore, keep reading as we review the Mail App and its offerings:
Exchange, POP, And IMAP Accounts In Windows 10 Mail
Windows Mail allows you to add email accounts that abide by various protocol:
- POP: This is the age-old, dependable variant that is also rapidly disappearing
- Exchange accounts: These are accounts on apps like Outlook 365
- IMAP: These are email services such as iCloud or Gmail
Exchange and IMAP allow all folders and messages to be on the server, so Mail synchronizes them to add them to the Mail App. Once you add an account, Mail only shows you messages from up to three months ago.
Microsoft was wise to do this as people rarely view emails that are older than three months old. Thus, since these emails are not downloaded to the computer locally, your processor saves a lot of time, creates more disk space, and helps faster bandwidth synchronization. It also keeps the inbox cleaner and organized as you do not have to deal with ancient emails.
Meanwhile, Mail does allow you to view all your old emails alongside maintaining your privacy and security.
And you can further strengthen security by configuring the Windows Mail App to not automatically transfer remote content to the accounts in the App.
An Easy To Use Message Editor
Windows Mail is conscientious about streamlining all your email functions. Message checks are conducted at a reasonable rate, and you can also choose your schedule with the ‘smart schedule’ option.
Moreover, it also controls the frequency of the emails you receive and when you would like to deal with them.
However, there is one aspect of Windows Mail that performs better than other functions: its editor. It is a convenient, valuable, and easy-to-use editor that lets you format your email without a hitch.
Users can seamlessly attach both attachments and images.
A slight downside is that the Windows Mail app has to rely on OneDrive to send files that exceed the sending limit.
On the other hand, you can also add signatures to the end of your email and are only allowed one signature restricted to the standard text symbols (there is no option for adding links or images).
You can either automatically include your signature when you send emails or turn off the feature entirely. There is no option to select from several different signatures when sending an email.
Not Much Automation
Windows Mail does not offer much in the way of automation. Signatures cannot be used as snippets of text in the App, and there are no suggested replies, message templates, or text modules available when sending out emails.
There are also no mail filtering features, and the Mail App does not mark or sort mail automatically based on the senders. Windows Mail App also can’t file messages automatically based on the email’s recipient.
Useful Search, Despite No Labels
Since there aren’t any filters, you cannot make categories or labels. You also cannot postpone messages.
To keep your accounts organized, Windows Mail does separate inboxes and accounts in different folders and provides a search bar to ease navigation between them.
These folders are already easy enough to navigate, and you can comfortably move messages by dragging and dropping or using the toolbar.
Oddly, however, there is no keyboard shortcut to do so, and you cannot move messages in between different accounts or copy messages.
On the other hand, the search option works well. This is because of its simplicity. Just type what you want to search, press enter, and there you go. You can search on a specific account (it does not search all accounts simultaneously) or the folder you are using currently.
Mail allows you to search through the server online and fetch all results based on your query. Doing this, you can access emails that have not been synced to your computer, which can be pretty useful.
Unifying Email Accounts Into One
Some users may miss the sorting options while navigating the inbox. However, you do have the option to sort them as flagged or unread.
The option to unify or link all your email accounts into one – ultimately creating one inbox with emails across different platforms – can be pretty handy.
Once you have linked accounts, you can search through all of them at once. But, the results can be a bit confusing as you do not know where the messages have originated from.
Controlling The Windows 10 Mail App By Swiping, Keyboard, And Clicking
Users can configure actions on the Mail App, regardless of whether their inboxes are merged or not. This means you can choose an action – such as swiping – to mark the mail as junk or archiving mail.
Unfortunately, such configuration options are not available for the context menu and toolbars.
Some that are available are a bit confusing. Even though they do work well, you can perform only a few necessary actions. Sadly, you cannot do the same for keyboard shortcuts.
There are some familiar shortcuts in distinct places, but there are some ‘gaps’ as well, like with moving mail, as we discussed before, or using space as a way to read mail.
Cannot Open Drafts and Mails Separately
No matter what device you are using, there isn’t a way to move away from a draft message, refer to the original one, and return to it. This can be quite problematic for some people.
You cannot open an email you are reading in a separate window with another email open. However, these are a few features that diminish the Mail App user experience.
Pros and Cons Of The Windows 10 Mail
Having discussed all the features in-depth, here is the list of pros and cons of using the Windows 10 Mail App:
Pros
- It has an easy-to-use editor that allows you to format your emails effortlessly
- You can easily access Exchange, POP, and IMAP accounts
- Frequent actions are swift to carry out through quick-action toolbars and swiping gestures
- You can set up an email signature per account
Cons
- Lack of automation and the inability to filter mail makes the experience a little more complex than using email accounts separately.
- You can only see a portion of your emails, and Windows does not indicate whether there are more emails incoming from the server.
- Some keyboard shortcuts and actions are missing, making it tedious to navigate through the App.
In Conclusion
Syncing your Gmail to your windows 10 Mail app can be convenient and useful. No longer do you have to log in separately through the web or sift through various inboxes to find the email you’re searching for!
Even though some cons may get in the way of you having the perfect emailing experience, they will probably be aired out eventually. In the meantime, begin integrating your emails to the Windows Mail app to make your life easier!
FAQs
What If My Gmail Has The Two-Factor Authentication Feature Turned On?
The Windows 10 Mail App does not support the two-factor authentication feature. If it is turned on for your Gmail account, create an “application password” specifically for that account. The app password is used for other applications such as the Mail App, which does not support the two-factor authentication and is used in place of your original password.
What Can I Do If Gmail Is Not Working On Windows 10 Mail?
Some may experience technical issues when integrating their Gmail with the Mail App. A quick way to solve the problem may be to remove the account from the app and add your Gmail account manually through the Other Account section (IMAP/POP) instead.
Why Is My Mail Not Syncing Correctly?
For those that have trouble with their email accounts synchronizing, they should check their third-party security software such as BitDefender, Avast, or AVG. They can cause difficulty in allowing apps to sync together. To resolve this, check your security software’s settings to understand the issue and what is causing it.
