How to set up Gmail in Apple Mail

Summary

Sync Gmail with Apple Mail for a streamlined experience and convenient access to multiple accounts.
Signing up for Gmail is quick and easy — it offers 15GB storage, which is suitable for both personal and professional use.
Setting up Gmail in Apple Mail on iPhone and computer varies, with simple steps below for both.

Having all of your things together makes life a lot easier. If you could combine all of your chores or tasks in a day into one place and be able to knock them all out one-by-one in an organized manner, wouldn’t you do it? That’s kind of how it feels to integrate your email addresses and keep all of your emails in one place.

You probably have a personal account and a work account — you might even have several others. If you want to stay up on your emails and not have them near the dreaded 1,000 unread tally, you should use one app to keep track of them all. For Apple users that either have a Mac computer or an iPhone, you can integrate different email addresses to Apple Mail. The native Mail app is already on the iPhone and in macOS for your computer.

How I use Gmail to see if my emails were opened and read

Sometimes, waiting for an email reply can be nerve-wracking. Fortunately, you can know whether your message has been read and soothe your impatience.

Syncing Gmail with your Apple Mail is a simple process and allows you to keep all of your email addresses under one roof, if you will. That way, you don’t have to have multiple email apps on your iPhone or visit your browser to access your inbox when you’re on your Mac. Here’s how to set up Gmail in Apple Mail and reasons why you should.

Gmail

Gmail is Google’s email service. It is the most popular email platform in the world and offers users email addresses with up to 15GB of free storage.

How to set up Gmail in Apple Mail on a computer

The process is different on a phone

Smart Reply in Apple Mail with iPadOS 18.1

Apple / Pocket-lint

If you’re on your Mac computer, macOS includes a native Mail app on the Dock at the bottom of your screen. When you click into it for the first time, it’ll ask you to choose an email provider. You can use your iCloud email address which comes with your Apple ID. But it also offers the options of Microsoft Exchange, Google, Yahoo!, AOL, and other mail accounts. You can click on Google to start the process of setting up Gmail in Apple Mail.

You can sync multiple email addresses in the Native mail app. If you want to use the Gmail app, you will need to forward mail from one account to the other to see all the mail in one app.

Going through these prompts will allow you to set up Gmail as the only email in this app. You will click Google and then sign in to your Google account and that’s all you need to do. But, if you already have another account set up in the native Mail app and you want to add Gmail to the app, there are steps you need to take in the app:

Open Mail.
Click Mail at the top of your screen to open the menu and then click Add Account.
Google is one of the options. Click it and click Continue.
Safari will promptly open it to the Google log-in page, and you’ll need to log into your Google account.
Enter your email address and password and click Next.
It may ask you to grant permission to your account. Click Allow.
Click Done.

You’ll be prompted whether you want to install the Gmail app to your Dock or if you just want to use the native Mail app — that’s up to personal preference. You can sync multiple email addresses in the Native mail app, but if you want to use the Gmail app, you’ll have to forward mail from one account to the other to see all the mail in one app.

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How to set up Gmail in Apple Mail on an iPhone

The steps are a bit different than a computer

The email accounts on an iPhone with Gmail.

If you have an iPhone and you want to set up your Gmail in the Mail app, it makes sense. It’s quite literally one of the first apps you see at the bottom of your iPhone when you turn it on. If you don’t want to use it, you can add your own email app and log into that promptly. For those that do want to use the app that’s already there, it’s simple to set up and different from doing so in macOS.

You don’t even need to open up the Mail app to set up Gmail in it. What you do need to do is open up Settings and start there:

Open up Settings.
Tap on Apps and then tap on Mail.
Tap Mail Accounts.
Tap Add Account and then choose Google from the list of email providers.
Type in your Gmail email address and password.
Tap Next so that Mail can authenticate your account.
Tap Save.

Once you’ve done this, open the Mail app, and your Gmail inbox will appear. Tap Mailboxes at the top of the screen to see all the email accounts linked to the app. If you only have Gmail, you’ll see Mailboxes with stats like unread and flagged emails, followed by Gmail and all your Gmail folders. If you’ve linked other email addresses, their folders will show up as well.