Gmail is ending “Send as” and POP for other addresses: what to do before January 2027

In January 2027, Gmail stops sending as addresses that aren’t Google accounts (“Send as”), stops fetching mail from other accounts over POP, and ends Gmailify. POP fetching already closed to new users after the first quarter of 2026, and until the cut-off Google may refuse new “Send as” set-ups. If you read and answer a custom-domain address inside Gmail on the web, choose a replacement before then: move the domain to Google Workspace, use a mail app connected to your current host, forward to Gmail and reply as your Gmail address, or move the address to an email host with its own webmail. Mail Gmail has already imported stays where it is. Google’s dates and wording below are from its own Gmail Help pages, checked 19 Oct 2026.

What exactly is Google removing, and when?

Google says the change “only applies to third-party, non-Google email accounts”. An address on your own domain that lives at a web host, a mail provider or a forwarding service is one of those; an address on a domain that runs on Google Workspace is not.

What keeps working?

• Gmail-to-Gmail aliases and Google Workspace’s own “Send as”. Google says neither is affected.
• Mail already imported. Messages Gmail fetched or synced before the change stay in your mailbox.
• The Gmail app on phones. Access to third-party accounts through the Gmail app for Android, iPhone and iPad doesn’t change.
• Other apps reading Gmail. IMAP and POP access to your Gmail account from Outlook, Apple Mail or Thunderbird stays fully supported.
• Forwarding into Gmail. Google itself suggests automatic forwarding from your other provider to keep new mail arriving in Gmail.

Am I affected?

Yes, if Gmail on the web is where you read or answer an address that isn’t a Google account. The three common set-ups:

1. Your domain’s mail lives at your web host (a cPanel-style mailbox, say), and Gmail pulls it in over POP and replies through “Send mail as”. Both halves stop. Why web hosts and email hosts are different things is in email hosting vs web hosting.
2. Your domain forwards into a personal Gmail (through your registrar or a service like Cloudflare Email Routing), and you reply through “Send mail as” with an SMTP service. Receiving keeps working; replying as your domain from Gmail stops.
3. An old Outlook.com, Yahoo or internet-provider address is linked into Gmail with POP or Gmailify. It stops arriving in Gmail and stops sending from it.

Not sure which servers handle your domain’s mail? The free who-sends-email tool reads its MX and SPF records and names the providers behind them.

What are the options, and what does each cost?

If you move the address to an email host, here is one person on one domain, billed yearly, cheapest first (US dollars before tax):

Zoho Mail, Purelymail and Migadu cost less than SuperMailOS for a single address. SuperMailOS is built for people with more than one domain or product: every domain’s mail in one inbox, unlimited free aliases, and IMAP and SMTP for any mail app, from $36 a year for a person on Pro. Fastmail isn’t priced here because we couldn’t verify its US-dollar prices.

How do you switch without losing mail?

1. List what Gmail does for you today. The Accounts tab of Gmail’s settings shows every “Send mail as” address and every account Gmail checks. Each one needs a new home.
2. Pick an option per address from the table above. Addresses on the same domain usually move together.
3. Set up the new place first. Create the mailbox (or the Workspace user) before touching DNS, so nothing arrives at a mailbox that doesn’t exist yet.
4. Copy the old mail across. Copy from the old host over IMAP. Mail that Gmail already fetched stays in Gmail; copy it too if you want it in the new mailbox. Our migration guide has the order of steps.
5. Point the domain at the new host. Change the MX record, and update SPF, DKIM and DMARC to the new host’s values. Keep the old mailbox for a few weeks to catch mail sent during the switch.
6. Clean up Gmail. Once replies leave from the new place, remove the “Send mail as” entry and the POP account from Gmail’s settings.

Which option fits which situation?

• You want Gmail exactly as it is. Google Workspace, at $7 a user a month on the Annual Plan.
• You mostly read mail on your phone. Add the address as its own account in the Gmail app, which Google says keeps working.
• The address barely gets mail. Forward it to Gmail and accept that replies come from @gmail.com.
• You run several domains. A host that puts every domain in one inbox replaces the whole Gmail set-up in one move. Compare the setups in Gmail aliases vs a multi-domain host.

Where do these facts come from?

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