Major Changes Coming to Gmail: Goodbye Gmailify & POP3 Fetching (January 2026)
Google is going to make a change to the way Gmail works with mail from other places.
Starting in January 2026 Google will stop using two features in the Gmail website.
These are Gmailify and the part that checks mail from accounts using something called POP3.
Lots of people have used these to see all their email in one place, inside their Gmail inbox.
Now Google is stopping these old features to use newer ways of doing things instead.
Google wants to use these ways because they are better than the old ones.
The old features, Gmailify and the POP3 “Check mail from accounts” feature will not be available, on the Gmail website anymore.
What Is Changing?
1. The Gmailify feature is going away it will not be available anymore the Gmailify option is being discontinued.
Gmailify was a feature that allowed users to connect email accounts, such as Yahoo or Outlook to Gmail. This meant users could use Gmails features with these other email accounts, like Yahoo or Outlook without having to leave those inboxes. Users could enjoy Gmail features, on their Yahoo or Outlook accounts.
So with Gmailify you get the kind of protection from spam that you get with Gmail. This means your inbox is organized in a way. You also get to use search to find emails.. You get better notifications. The good thing is you can have all these features on your email accounts without having to move them to Gmail. You can still use Gmailify on email accounts, like Yahoo or Outlook.
After January 2026:
Gmailify is going away so third-party accounts will not get Gmail features like spam filters, categories or enhanced search when you use them with Gmail. This means you will not have these Gmail features, on your third-party accounts when you access them through Gmail.
2. The Gmail service is stopping its POP3 fetching feature. This means that Gmail will not be able to fetch emails from email accounts using POP3. The Gmail service is making this change to its POP3 fetching feature. Users of the Gmail service will need to find a way to fetch emails, from other email accounts. The Gmail service is ending its POP3 fetching feature.
Gmail has been letting you use something called POP3 which’s like a way to check mail from other accounts. This means Gmail can regularly go and get emails from email providers and bring them into your Gmail inbox. Gmail does this so you can see all your emails, in one place, which’s your Gmail inbox.
After the change:
The Gmail website is going to stop doing something. It will not be able to get mail from accounts using POP anymore. If you have already gotten emails from accounts into your Gmail they will still be there.. If you were using this feature you will not get new emails from other accounts, in your Gmail anymore. The Gmail feature is stopping so Gmail will not be able to pull in mail from accounts using POP.
* I want to know why Google is getting rid of some features. What is going on with Google removing these features? Google is always making changes. Now Google is removing some features that people like. I am wondering why Google is doing this to the features that Google had before.
Google has not said why they are doing this but if we look at what is happening with technology it seems that security and making things more modern are probably the main reasons. Google is likely doing this because of security and to make things more modern like what Google’s doing with security and modernization.
The POP3 system is really old. The problem with the POP3 protocol is that it does not support getting emails in time and it is not very safe when it sends your login details. These days people use IMAP to get to their emails because the IMAP protocol’s better, at syncing emails and it is more secure.
People do not need Gmailify. Pop features as much as they used to. This is because more email providers and clients are now supporting methods like IMAP. The Gmailify and POP features are not as important now because email providers and clients are using methods, like IMAP.
* So what are you going to do after things change? You have an options to think about after the change. The change is going to affect a lot of things so you need to consider what options you have after the change. Let us look at the options you have after the change. What are the options you have after the change?
The old features are going away. You can still manage your email workflows. You can do this in a few ways to manage your email workflows. Managing your email workflows is still possible.
* Use IMAP Instead
Internet Message Access Protocol will continue to be supported in Gmails app and on most email clients like Outlook and Apple Mail and Thunderbird. Internet Message Access Protocol is the way to sync email in real time, between devices and services.
* Set Up Forwarding
You can set up your email accounts, like Yahoo or your domain mail to send all the new messages to your Gmail address. This way you will still get all your emails, in your Gmail account even though you do not get all the benefits that Gmailify has to offer. Your email accounts will keep on sending you messages. They will all go to your Gmail address.
* Use a Dedicated Mail Client
If you want an inbox for multiple email accounts you can use mail programs on your computer, such as Mozilla Thunderbird or Microsoft Outlook to connect multiple email accounts in one place. This way you can manage email accounts, including multiple IMAP accounts all in one spot using mail desktop clients, like Mozilla Thunderbird or Microsoft Outlook.
* Consider Workspace Migration
For business setups or heavy use cases, migrating to Google Workspace and using its data migration tools to bring all mail into one system is another option.
