In recent years, Gmail has become one of the most widely used forms of internet communication between customers and businesses or between employees and employers. In 2025, it had more than 1.8 billion active users. It also has the second largest share of the global email client market after Apple Mail. If you use it too, you should be interested in the changes that apply to this service provider from January 2026.

Some time ago, Google announced that connecting your Gmail inbox via POP3 or Gmailify will not be possible from January 1, 2026. So if people have been using these services, they are in for a big change. The company is targeting the use of more modern protocols, mainly IMAP. But what exactly does this mean in practice?

Email communication with servers

To understand the whole issue, two basic concepts need to be explained. POP3 and IMAP are both ways in which email clients communicate with mail servers:

POP3 (Post Office Protocol version 3): POP3 downloads messages directly to the device and deletes them from the server. However, this meant that emails that were on the computer did not have to be on the phone or tablet at the same time. This is an older and very simple system that was complicated for many people working on multiple devices at the same time.

IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol): IMAP leaves messages on the server. So you can access a single message from all your devices, if you delete it from one, it gets deleted everywhere. It’s a more modern, more convenient, but also more secure way to manage your email.

Many of us store a lot of important information in Gmail. But you may not be able to access it from January 2026. ━━ Many of us store a lot of important information in Gmail. But you may not be able to access it from January 2026. ( Source: Solen Feyissa /  Unsplash+ )

You may not be able to access your emails

As of January 1, Gmail’s rules are changing. If you’ve been using POP3, you won’t be able to access your emails from 1 January 2026. But if you’re a Gmail user using IMAP, the changes don’t affect you. You can find out which of these services you’re using by logging into your Gmail and viewing Accounts and Import in your settings. Under the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab, you’ll see if you have POP3 enabled.

In addition to POP3, Gmail has also discontinued the Gmailify service as of January 1, 2026. This allowed users to link third-party email accounts such as Yahoo or Outlook to Gmail. However, this has ended completely as of this year. Many users found out about the changes at the last minute. So they are now dealing with the problems.

If you want to receive all new messages in Gmail even now that POP3 and Gmailify have ended, you need to set up automatic email forwarding. This will ensure that messages are delivered to Gmail immediately, even if you haven’t used IMAP before.

Finally, it is recommended that one should always back up emails and store important messages externally as well. Now, when POP3 goes down, IMAP will ensure that your messages remain in your account, but it is still better to be sure that you have all your important data somewhere safe.