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Google is making a change to Gmail that could disrupt your access to third-party email services if you rely on the POP3 protocol.
In a support page, the company announced that Gmail will stop supporting POP (Post Office Protocol), which lets email programs access a third-party mail server.
“Gmail will no longer support checking emails from third-party accounts through POP,” the company wrote. The change takes effect Jan. 1, and also ends the company’s Gmailify spam protection-related service for third-party email accounts.
Google is dropping POP3, citing security. Although the company didn’t specify the threat, POP3 can be unencrypted, allowing usernames and passwords to be sent over plain text. The protocol also doesn’t support two-factor authentication. Another issue is that POP will download messages from a mail server, which could include malicious attachments.
“Our priority is giving users access to the best features in Gmail with the best security,” a Google spokesperson added. However, the company expects the change to have a minimal impact. That’s because Gmail will still support IMAP, another widely used protocol for an email program to retrieve messages from a third-party mail server.
As a result, Google says the POP3 change won’t restrict usage of third-party email in the Gmail app at all. “We’re notifying the small number of users who access their email this way of the change, and sharing guidance on how to migrate to the more robust and secure IMAP connection, which is supported in the Gmail mobile app,” the company’s spokesperson added.
Still, some users say the IMAP support doesn't appear to involve fetching emails from third-party mail servers. Instead, it looks like the feature is focused on third-party email clients accessing Gmail via IMAP, rather than the other way around.
(Credit: Google)However, Google's support page notes: "You can still link your third-party accounts in the Gmail app," suggesting it's mobile-only. We've reached out to Google for clarification. In the meantime, users can also set up email forwarding as another solution.