Gmail Stops Fetching POP Mail and Ends Gmailify in January 2027: Switch to Forwarding or IMAP

Short answer: Google says existing users can use Gmail's "Check mail from other accounts" (POP) and Gmailify only until January 2027 (no exact day given). After that, new mail from the other account stops arriving in Gmail. Set up forwarding with DKIM on your domain, or read that mailbox over IMAP.

WhoGoogle
Statusconfirmed
Dates
  • 2026-04: No longer available to new users (Google: after the first quarter of 2026)
  • 2027-01: Existing users lose POP fetching and Gmailify (Google gives the month, not a day)

Who is affected

People who use Gmail on a computer to pull mail from another mailbox over POP, often a domain mailbox at a web host, and people who linked another account with Gmailify. Google's notice names only these two features.

What you will see

Check your setup today

  1. In Gmail on a computer, open the settings tab Accounts and Import. If an account is listed under Check mail from other accounts, you are affected.
  2. Run our checker on that account's domain and read the DKIM line. Google warns that forwarded mail often fails SPF, so a passing DKIM key for your own domain is what keeps it out of spam.
  3. In the same report, check that SPF and DMARC exist and are valid for the domain.
  4. Ask your old provider whether its forwarding rewrites the envelope sender to the forwarding domain (often called SRS), filters spam before forwarding, and can add ARC headers.

How to fix it

  1. Simplest long-term fix: point the domain's MX at a mailbox provider you read directly (for example Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 or Zoho Mail), so nothing has to be fetched.
  2. Or do what Google suggests: set up automatic forwarding at the old provider to your Gmail address. Have the envelope sender rewritten to the forwarding domain, filter spam before forwarding, and don't change the subject, body or headers on the way, or DKIM breaks.
  3. Turn on DKIM for your domain at that provider. Keep one SPF record that lists it (SPF generator) and publish DMARC (DMARC generator).
  4. If the forwarding host can add ARC headers, turn that on: ARC keeps the earlier SPF and DKIM results of a forwarded message.
  5. Or skip forwarding: on a phone, add the account to the Gmail app (it uses IMAP); on a computer, use any IMAP mail client.
  6. Google's notice doesn't mention "Send mail as". After switching, send a test reply to confirm it still works.

Check your domain now

After the fix, send a test email to see SPF, DKIM and DMARC pass on a real message, then keep an eye on it: free DMARC monitoring shows every service that sends mail as your domain and which ones fail, in plain English.

Rather not touch DNS? I set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC without breaking your other senders, with a before/after report.

Get it fixed on Fiverr

Prefer to do it yourself? Get the step-by-step Fix Kit ($15) – 28-page guide, checklist, 20+ providers.

Related pages

Sources

Other upcoming changes