Setting Up Remote Gmail Access

To setup access to Gmail from within Kmail, follow these steps:

  1. Login to your Gmail account
  2. In the top right corner, click the settings gear icon and then click “Mail Settings”.
  3. Click “Forwarding and POP/IMAP”.
  4. To enable POP, select either “enable POP for all mail” or “enable POP for mail that arrives from now on”.
  5. Choose an option for “when messages are accessed with POP”.
  6. To enable IMAP, select “Enable IMAP”. Other settings are optional. Now, you will need to configure your Kmail client:
  7. Start Kmail and go to “Settings -> Configure Kmail“
  8. Click the “Accounts” button
  9. In the Receiving tab, click “Add…”
  10. At this point, you will need to decide whether you want to use IMAP or POP (This example will assume you chose POP).
  11. In the “General” tab, enter a name you will use to recognize this account.
  12. For “Incoming mail server” type: pop.gmail.com (for IMAP, choose imap.gmail.com)
  13. For “Username” enter your complete email address: soandso@maketecheasier.com
  14. Enter your password.
  15. Click the “Advanced” tab and select “Leave fetched messages on the server”.
  16. In the “Connection Settings” section, select “SSL/TLS” encryption.
  17. Click “OK” Now click the “Sending” tab and follow these steps:
  18. Click “Add…”
  19. Select “SMTP” and click “Create and Configure”
  20. For “Outgoing mail server” type smtp.gmail.com
  21. Check the box next to “Server requires authentication”.
  22. For “Login” type your full email address
  23. Enter your password
  24. If you want, select “store SMTP password” so that you do not have to enter it each time before you send. Disclaimer: If you use IMAP or have selected to download all of your previous Gmail messages with POP (perhaps as a backup measure), please be advised that it will download everything. That means if you have been in the habit of not deleting any Gmail message, you could spend the next few hours downloading your thousands of emails.

Simplicity and Security

Kmail offers many email features, such as complex templates, that Gmail cannot. Moreover, you can access your messages offline and have full integration with other KDE apps. By keeping your message on your Gmail account as well, you can have the best of both worlds, accessing your Gmail through Kmail on your computer and still using web-based Gmail when you go mobile.