Mail. Connecting a mailbox to Gmail on Android

The Gmail app on Android can read and send mail for third-party mailboxes over IMAP and SMTP, so you can work in it with a mailbox created with BeAdmin next to your regular Gmail. This article is a continuation of Mail. Connecting a mailbox to a mail client: it does not repeat the common server settings or the answers to typical problems, only the steps in the app. The table of server settings is in the Server settings section.

What you need

You will need the mailbox address and password and the mail server address, for example mail.example.com. The password is shown only once, in the "Mailbox created" dialog, so you need to save it when you create the mailbox; if you did not, change the password. You can open the server address and the login at any time in the expanded mailbox — see Where to find the settings.

Typing a long password on a phone is awkward, so move the values to your phone beforehand, for example through a password manager.

Adding the mailbox

Your mail server is not in Gmail's list of providers, so the mailbox is added as another account, with the settings entered manually.

1. Open the Gmail app.
2. At the top right, in the search bar, tap your profile icon.
3. Tap "Add another account", then "Other".
4. Enter the full mailbox address, for example info@example.com, and tap "Next".
5. Choose "Personal (IMAP)": IMAP keeps messages on the server, so the mailbox looks the same in Gmail and on your other devices.
6. Enter the mailbox password and tap "Next".
7. Gmail asks for the incoming mail server settings. Enter:
   • server — the mail server address, for example mail.example.com;
   • port — 993;
   • "Security type" — SSL/TLS;
   • username — the full mailbox address, password — the mailbox password.
8. Tap "Next". Gmail asks for the outgoing mail server settings. Enter:
   • SMTP server — the same mail server address;
   • port — 465;
   • "Security type" — SSL/TLS;
   • username and password — the same as for incoming mail. If the screen has a switch or checkbox for signing in to send mail, leave it on.
9. Tap "Next" and follow the on-screen steps.

Checking that it works

Send a message to the same mailbox: this checks both directions at once. It should go out without errors and appear in the "Inbox" folder — that means both outgoing (SMTP) and incoming (IMAP) mail work.

If Gmail warns about security or the certificate

During manual setup, Gmail may show the messages "Certificate not trusted" or "Certificate subject and hostname mismatch". Do not turn off protection to get around them: do not set the "Security type" parameter to "None", and do not agree to options that accept all certificates. The server accepts the password only over an encrypted connection, and a certificate message points to a cause that needs to be fixed.

First check that the server field contains the mail server address, not the primary domain or an IP address. For other causes and how to fix them, see If the mail client warns about the certificate.

What's next

• Mail. Connecting a mailbox to a mail client — server settings and what to do if the mail client does not connect.
• Mail. Mailboxes, aliases, and domains — creating a mailbox and changing its password.