If you have a Gmail account or Google business email account (Workspace), you might want to use its free SMTP service. Aside from using your hosting’s portable SMTP server or other third-party email clients, you can send emails with Google’s SMTP server as it’s reliable, secure, and fast.
However, not a lot of people are familiar with Gmail’s SMTP server and how to use it.
In this tutorial, we will show you how to activate Google’s SMTP server from your Gmail account and WA Sniper Email Marketing System. We will also walk you through Gmail SMTP settings.
What is SMTP?
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is a set of commands that directs the transfer of emails. When you send an email, it will be forwarded from your email client (such as Microsoft Outlook, Gmail, or Mozilla Thunderbird) to the SMTP server. The server will then relay the mail to the recipient’s email server.
The recipient will receive the mail once it’s downloaded from the email server via POP3 or IMAP. There are two types of SMTP servers — internal and external.
However, you should consider using an external SMTP server, such as Google’s SMTP server. It provides several benefits that you might want to consider:
- Reliable. Google SMTP server doesn’t use port 25to avoid spam flagging. Hence, it gives better email deliverability.
- Convenient. No need to set up your own outgoing mail server (if you use VPS).
- Secure. It requires two-factor authentication, and emails will be backed up in Google’s servers. In addition, Google requires you to have a secure connectionfor sending mails.
Keep in mind that Google limits outgoing emails to 500/day for trial accounts and 2,000/day for GMail and GSuite. Still, it’s a great deal for sites with low email volumes.
How to Use Google SMTP Server?
In this section, we will show you how to send emails using Google’s SMTP server through a custom domain via your Gmail account or with a plugin in WordPress.
Before we continue, keep in mind the following details to configure your Google SMTP server settings:
- Gmail SMTP server: smtp.gmail.com
- Gmail SMTP username: Your fullGmail address, such as youremail@gmail.com
- Gmail SMTP password: Your Gmail password.
- Gmail SMTP port: 465 (SSL)/587 (TLS)
- TLS/SSL: Required.
Using a Custom Domain
If you have a custom email address, the process to connect to Google’s SMTP server is simple. But first, make sure that you have an email address with a custom domain and a Gmail address.
Before proceeding, you need to prepare a Google password – which will give your custom email address permission to access a Google account. Make sure to activate the two-factor authentication on the Gmail address beforehand.
Once you have the Google password, log in to your Gmail or Google workspace account and follow these steps:
- Navigate to Gmail Settings by clicking the “gear icon” in the top right.
- Hit the Accounts tab and click on Add another email address.
- A pop-up window will appear. Fill the required information and press the Next Step button.
- Enter Google’s SMTP server, your Gmail address, and the app password you’ve created earlier in the respective fields.
That’s it! Now your custom email address has been linked with Google’s SMTP server. You can also start sending emails from the custom address through your Gmail account.
