Do you know that you can use Gmail Spam Protection for your Non-Google email account? Do you know that you can avail Gmail’s powerful spam filters without going through the hassle of changing your email address?

Google’s Gmail Spam Protection may not be perfect, but it is one of the powerful and reliable spam protectors. Only a handful of unsolicited emails make it through, and the number of false positives is too low. When you link a Non-Google email account to your Gmail, it acts as if your emails were hosted on Google’s data servers.

In this tutorial, we’ll explore how you can protect your Non-Google email account using Gmail Spam Protection. Let’s begin.

The Rising Tide of Spam Emails

Revolution in technology often means that technology has made people’s lives easier, better and quicker. The Internet has a tremendous influence on people’s lives. It has changed people’s lives in every aspect, such as education, office work, entertainment, marketing, data management & sharing, and the list goes on. The Internet has eliminated the hurdle of time and distance. However, despite the countless aspects the Internet has benefited humanity, it has also had its drawbacks. Spam emails, for example, are one of the most hated ones.

Spam emails are degrading people’s experience on the Internet. The growing volume of uncontrolled spam has made people afraid of trusting electronic mails. They are hurting real businesses. People often miss critical emails because their inboxes are flooded with dozens of unsolicited messages. It becomes a challenge to classify the work emails and junk. It wouldn’t be exaggerated to say that it’s rare to find an Internet user who hasn’t encountered spam emails ever.

Who Can Use Gmail Spam Protection?

You can use Google Spam Protection if—

• You’re using a free Non-Google email service (such as Outlook or Yahoo!);
• You’re using a paid Non-Google email service;
• You’re using an email service from a hosted domain (such as contact@your-domain-name.com).

To use this feature, you need to first route your emails.

What is Email Routing?

Typically, when you receive a new email, it goes through your email provider’s spam filter. If the spam filter approves, it is sent to your mail server. As simple as that.

Email routing goes one step ahead. When you route an email, you’re authorizing the routing service to redirect or copy your emails.

Email routing is a common practice in large organizations. For instance, when a potential customer shows interest in a product, it is forwarded to the sales department. When an existing customer makes a complaint, it is routed to the customer support or other relevant department. Email routing increases the efficiency and productivity of the organization.

Using Gmail Spam Protection for your Third-Party Email Address

Prerequisites

When you set up an email address on a custom domain that you own, you get your email configurations straight away. You need to have those POP3 and SMTP configurations at hand to receive and send emails. You may also find them in your email settings or cPanel, in most cases. If you don’t have, contact your email or hosting service provider and ask for your email configurations.

Step 1: Create a Free Gmail Account

You must have a Gmail account to route your emails through Google. If you don’t have, create one for free.

Step 2: Set POP/ IMAP Forwarding Configurations

You’ll need to enable POP/ IMAP forwarding features to route your third-party emails via Gmail.

1. Open your Gmail inbox and click on the “Settings” icon on the upper right corner.
2. Click on the “Forwarding and POP/ IMAP” tab.
3. Select the option “Enable POP for mail that arrives from now on”. You’ll find it under the “POP Download”.
4. In the “IMAP Access” section, select “Enable IMAP”.
5. Leave other settings unchanged and click on “Save Changes” to apply the new configurations.

Step 3: Add your Non-Google Account

Now, let us add your Non-Google email account (including login credentials) to enable Google to access your emails.

1. In the same Gmail Settings page, click on the “Accounts and Import” tab.
2. Click on “Add another email address you own” under the “Send mail as” category.
3. Type your name and the Non-Google email address you want to connect with your Gmail account.
4. Click on “Next Step”.
5. Type the SMTP Server address and login credentials of your Non-Google email account. Specify your Port number.
6. Select “Secured connection using TLS (Recommend)” if your third-party email service provider supports it.
7. After you’re done, click on “Add Account”.

Step 4: Change POP3 Configurations

We’ll need to tell Google to periodically check your Non-Google email server to find if any new emails have arrived. Unfortunately, you cannot change the interval. Google will do it on its term.

1. In the same “Accounts and Import” tab, click on “Add a POP3 account you own”. You’ll find it under the “Check mail from other accounts (POP3)” section.
2. Type your Non-Google email address, and click on “Next Step”.
3. Type your Non-Google email account login credentials.
4. Type your POP Server address and the Port.
5. You might want to check “Always use a secure connection (SSL) when retrieving mail” for added security.
6. It’s best to uncheck “Leave a copy of retrieved messages on the server” and “Archive incoming messages (Skip the inbox)”.
7. Click on “Add Account” to confirm.

Step 5: Add your Non-Google Account in your Email Client (Optional)

You don’t need to download an email client to access your emails. You can access them straight from your browser. But it’s worth setting up. An email client will allow you to view an offline copy of your conversations and give incoming email notifications.

There are plenty of email clients available. For the purpose of this tutorial, we’ll be using popular free email client Thunderbird.

1. Download and install free Mozilla Thunderbird.
2. Press the “Alt” key of your keyboard to show the menu bar.
3. Click on the “File” menu.
4. Select “New”, followed by “Existing mail account”.
5. In the new dialog that appears on your screen, type the following email credentials:
   • Your Name: Type a display name for your account that you want the recipient to see.
   • Email Address: Enter your Non-Google email address.
   • Password: Enter the password of your Gmail account, instead of the Non-Google account.
6. Make sure to tick “Remember password”.
7. Click on “Configure manually”.
8. Thunderbird will prompt you to enter additional Incoming and Outgoing Server configurations for your email account. Type them carefully.
   • Account Type: POP3
   • Incoming Mail Server: pop.gmail.com
   • Outgoing Mail Server: smtp.gmail.com
   • User Name: Enter your Gmail email address.
9. Once you’re done, click on “Re-test”.
10. If your login credentials and server configurations are valid, Thunderbird will add your email account.

Step 6: Send Test Emails (Optional)

Poorly set-up email routing can disrupt your ability to receive important emails. This is why you must send a few test emails to ensure your emails are routed.