What to Do if Outlook Cannot Connect to Gmail Account?

In this article, we will consider what you need to do if Outlook cannot connect to the Gmail account. Connecting Gmail to Outlook is a simple process, but due to some security nuances, you may end up with Outlook not being able to connect to Gmail. The most common issue with Outlook and Gmail is that Outlook keeps asking you for a username and password, no matter how many times you enter it correctly.

Long story short. This problem is the most common for Outlook 2016 users and Gmail accounts with two-factor authentication being enabled and is not an issue with the Google password. Outlook 2016 does not support 2FA thus it forces users to go through a bit more cumbersome process of setting up a Gmail account in Outlook. In this article, we will show you how to fix Gmail Account connection issues in Outlook.

Configuring Gmail Account for Microsoft Outlook Client

You need to complete some preliminary settings in your Google Mail account before you can set up a Gmail connection in Outlook.

Gmail supports connections from Outlook clients using both IMAP and POP3 protocols. IMAP is the preferred mailbox connectivity protocol. It allows the server to sync your mailbox between all the devices and keep everything up to date.

1. Log into your Gmail account and click on a small gear in the window’s top right corner;
2. Select See all settings;
3. Go to the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab. You need to make sure the IMAP Status is set to Enabled. As to POP, ignore this ancient protocol. This one is severely outdated, and nobody should keep using it.

Gmail allows you to restrict access to some mailbox folders from IMAP clients. You can configure the list of allowed and blocked folders in the Settings > Labels. All folders that you want to see in Outlook must have the Show in IMAP option enabled.

You must configure one of the following Gmail authentication types, depending on the version of the Outlook client that you are using:

• Microsoft Outlook 2019/2021 and Outlook for Microsoft 365 — modern versions of Outlook natively support Google two-factor authentication (2FA). Follow this guide from Google to learn how to enable two-step verification for your Google account;
• Microsoft Outlook 2016/2013/2010 — modern OAuth authentication i)_s not supported in these versions of Outlook. Therefore, to connect them to your Gmail mailbox, you need to configure Google Apps passwords. This app password will be used to access your mailbox instead of your primary Google Account password. You can create a 16-character app password here https://myaccount.google.com/apppasswords.

How to Connect Gmail to Outlook 2019/2021 and Outlook 365

Connecting Gmail accounts in Outlook 2019, 2021, and Outlook for Microsoft 365 is much easier than in previous versions. All of these versions support OAuth 2.0 for Gmail accounts.

1. Open Outlook and click File in the top-left corner;
2. Hit Add account.
3. Enter your Gmail address. For example, user@gmail.com. Click Connect;
4. Outlook will open a new Google Account sign-in prompt. Enter your password and later enter your verification code from your authenticator app.
   
   
5. Allow Outlook access to your account. Now your Gmail account is ready for work in Outlook.

How to Add Gmail Account to Outlook 2016/2013/2010

Now let us talk about Outlook 2016, 2013, and 2010. Things are a bit different in there since it does not support 2FA. The account setup process is mostly the same, but you need to use an app-specific password to log in.

1. Open Outlook. Click on File > Add Account;
2. Select Manual setup;
   
3. Select POP or IMAP;
   
4. Now type in your name (this name will be displayed in the emails you send), and the email address of your Gmail mailbox. The incoming mail server should be imap.gmail.com. The outgoing mail server (SMTP) is smtp.gmail.com.
5. Also, you should fill in the Logon information. Use this app-specific password (the 16-character password you created earlier) instead of your main Google Account password. Then click on More Settings;
   
6. Leave the option Require logon using Secure Password Authentication (SPA) blank because this is a proprietary Microsoft protocol based on NTLM authentication, which Gmail does not support;
7. Go to Outgoing Server and tick on My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication;
   
8. Go to the Advanced tab and select SSL to encrypt your connection for the Incoming server (IMAP). The port number for IMAP should be 993. For the outgoing SMTP server select TLS/STARTTLS as an encryption protocol and change the port number from 25 to 587. Click on OK and proceed to the next window.
   

Outlook will try to run several connectivity tests. If you configured everything correctly, you should see that the next task has been completed successfully.

• Log onto the incoming mail server (IMAP)
• Send a test e-mail message

After this Outlook should properly verify your account and successfully connect Gmail to Outlook.

Hint. Since 15 July 2014, Google has blocked applications that use simple validation to access Gmail. You will not be able to connect to your mailbox if you have entered your Google account password instead of the generated app-password. Otherwise, you will see the following error in Outlook error:

Task youraccount@gmail.com – Receiving reported error (0x800CCC92): ‘Your email server rejected your login. Verify your username and password for this account in Account Settings. The server responded: -ERR [AUTH] Username and password not accepted.”

2-Step Verification should be also enabled for your Google account in order to connect to Gmail mailbox in Outlook 2016, 2013, 2010, and even 2007 after 30 May 2022.

Check Gmail TCP Ports Connectivity

If the connecting Outlook to Gmail test fails, you need to check whether your computer or Internet service provider is not blocking the network ports used to access Gmail. You can use the Test-NetConnection PowerShell cmdlet to check for open and closed ports.

Check that the following Gmail server ports can be accessed from your computer:

• IMAP over SSL (993)
• SMTP over TLS (587).

Open the elevated PowerShell using Win + X – Windows PowerShell (Admin) and run the commands:

Test-NetConnection imap.gmail.com -port 993

Test-NetConnection smtp.gmail.com -port 587

If you are using alternate Gmail servers in Outlook, check the connectivity using the commands:

Test-NetConnection imap.googlemail.com -port 993

Test-NetConnection smtp.googlemail.com -port 587

If the command returns TcpTestSucceeded = False, then access to your Gmail email account is blocked by a firewall. Check your Windows Defender Firewall settings or third-party firewall settings on your computer (many modern antiviruses have built-in network filtering). Allow the outlook.exe process to send outgoing traffic over the TCP ports 993 and 587. If TCP ports are not blocked on your computer, contact the technical support service of your Internet service provider. Some network equipment may be blocking access to the required ports.

Fix Revoked Gmail Access to Outlook

If you somehow or intentionally revoked Gmail account access, you may end up with a lot of trouble connecting your account. Here is how to re-establish it and connect the Gmail account to Outlook again.

If you have another account set up in Outlook, launch the app then click File – Account Settings and select Manage Profile from the drop-down;

1. In the new window, click Email Accounts;
   
2. This action will open a new window called Account Settings. Go to the Email tab and click New;
3. Enter your email account details — a username, an email address, and an app-specific password. Hit Next and wait for the Outlook to establish a connection and check your credentials;
4. After that, you will see another new window with Gmail account verification. Enter your primary password and 2FA-code. Grant access to the account.
5. Done. Now Gmail is up and running in Outlook.

Unable to Add Gmail Account to Microsoft Outlook: Could Not Sign You in to Google

There is another known bug in Outlook 365 and Outlook 2019. It appears after you add your Gmail account to the Outlook configuration, and are prompted for a username and password.

Then you select Allow for Microsoft Apps & Services and get the following error:

“Sorry, we could not sign you in to Google – IMAP. Please try again later.”

Also, the following error may appear in the Outlook connection log:

Synchronizer Version 16.0.12122.20830

Synchronizing Mailbox your_email_here

Synchronizing server changes in folder ‘Inbox’

Error synchronizing folder[800CCC0E-0-0-560]

Done

In order to fix this error, open the Outlook and dismiss the sign-in window.

Then click File > Office Account > Account Privacy > Manage Settings.

Check the box “Enable optional connected experiences” and hit OK.

Restart Outlook and proceed to configure the Gmail account.

Other Options to Restore Outlook Connection to Gmail

Everything described above should be enough to connect the Gmail account to Outlook properly. If you still have problems connecting Gmail to Outlook, try the things described in the list below. Those are some tips from users who successfully set up their Gmail accounts in Outlook.

• Uncheck the option Enable connected experience in the Outlook settings located in Outlook > File > Office Account > Account Privacy > Manage Settings and restart Outlook;
• Try to change the IMAP server in the Account Setting from imap.gmail.com to imap.googlemail.com and the Outgoing server from smtp.gmail.com to smtp.googlemail.com;
• Disable the simplified account creation dialog in Outlook 2016, Outlook 2019, and Outlook for Office 365 by creating a new DWORD (32-bit) parameter called DisableOffice365SimplifiedAccountCreation in the registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\setup. Set the parameter’s value to 1. You can use the following command to do this quickly:

  REG ADD HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Setup /v DisableOffice365SimplifiedAccountCreation /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

• Disable all Outlook add-ins in File > Options > Add-ins;
• Create a new Outlook configuration. Go to the Control Panel > Mail > Show Profiles > Add. After that, launch Outlook and try setting up your Gmail account again.
• If you receive the error message “Could not sign you into Google”, this means that Outlook is unable to authenticate your Google Account. This can occur due to incorrect login credentials, disabled IMAP settings in Gmail, or issues with two-factor authentication. To resolve this issue, ensure that you have entered the correct email address and password, enabled IMAP in your Gmail settings, and used an application-specific password if your account has 2FA enabled.