Big news has come in!
2026年1月、GoogleはGmailでPOPによる外部サーバーからのメールの取り込み機能を停止するとの事。

Xsetverでも公式にお知らせを出していて、GmailのPOPサービス提供について以下のお知らせを発表しています▼

[Important] Notice regarding Gmail specification changes (termination of external email import function)

An official announcement has also been made on Lolipop ▼

Information regarding email usage due to changes in Gmail specifications from January 2026

Looking at this information alone, you might be wondering, does this mean that email addresses using custom domains acquired on a server will no longer be usable with Gmail?

There is also information about paid services that can be used as is if you migrate to WorkSpace.

Regarding the POP3 service being discontinued by Gmail

What I want you to realize here is that although you will no longer be able to receive email using POP3, you will still be able to send email using SMTP.
This does not mean that you will no longer be able to use Gmail to send emails from your own domain.
As long as you can receive emails, you can send emails using SMTP without any problems, just as before.

Alternative solutions following the Gmail POP3 service outage

The measure we took this time was to forward emails to Gmail using the server forwarding settings, and if you can receive emails from your own domain, you will be able to send and receive emails as before!

Now, I would like to explain the settings that will allow you to continue sending and receiving emails using Gmail even after POP3 service is discontinued.

Check if Gmail is set up to send emails via POP3

First, open Gmail and click the gear icon in the top right corner.

Then click the Show all settings button to open the advanced settings.

Open [Accounts and Import] and the email address you receive via POP3 will be listed in the [Check email from other accounts] section.
Because this POP3 receiving service will be provided, it will no longer be possible to receive emails through Gmail after January 2026.

Configuring email forwarding on the server

You'll be surprised at how easy the next step is: all you have to do is set up email forwarding to Gmail on the server.

Configuring email forwarding on the Xserver

For Xserver, there is a "Forwarding" setting in the email account settings.

 Simply enter your Gmail address here and set it up, and emails from your own domain will be delivered to your Gmail.

Email forwarding settings on Lollipop

There is a forwarding setting in the email settings, so set up Gmail here.

Check the SMTP sending settings from Gmail

If you have been using Gmail to send and receive emails up until now, you should have already completed the SMTP sending settings, but just to be sure, we will explain where to check if the sending settings are correct.

Click the gear in the top right corner of Gmail.

Click Show all settings to open the advanced settings.

In the [Accounts and Import] tab, under [Name], you can find the setting for sending emails from an external email address. If the email address you want to set up is entered here, there is no problem.

[Important] Finally, delete the original POP3 settings.

*Please proceed at your own discretion.
Since emails can be received via POP3 until December 2025, it will be difficult to tell whether they are being forwarded from the server or received via POP3, so I think it would be better to switch to forwarding settings while POP3 is still available.
You will need to delete the POP3 settings in Gmail and test whether the forwarding settings are actually working properly, but if the forwarding settings do not work after deleting the POP3 settings, please be careful if you are unable to set up POP3 yourself.

Automatically labeling forwarded emails is convenient.

Create a new filter in Filters and Blocked Addresses, located to the right of Accounts and Imports.

Set the email address of your own domain to receive in the To field 

Set up your custom domain to automatically label emails sent to it.
Enter an email address with your own domain in the To field and click [Create filter].

Check the box for Add label, select the label you want to add, and click the [Create filter] button.

Sending and receiving test

Test the flow by sending an email from another email address to the custom domain email you just set up and replying to the email you received.
When doing so, open the ▼ mark next to the To field of the email to check which email is being sent and received. Once you have confirmed this, the setup is complete!

How to continue sending and receiving emails with Gmail even after the POP3 service is discontinued

I've explained how to continue using Gmail even after the POP3 service has ended, but this is just a method I came up with myself, so please configure it at your own discretion.

WorkSpaceを使っている場合

Workspaceは外部サーバーからのpop3の通信ではないので、2026年1月以降もメールの受信に関して問題ありません！

If you cannot set up Gmail forwarding in-house

HanamiWEB provides online support. Please register on our official LINE account and feel free to contact us!