Gmail Is Killing POP and Gmailify Access. Here's What It Means for You

Wired

by David Nield

February 20, 2026

AI-Generated Deep Dive Summary

Gmail is discontinuing two long-standing features—POP access and Gmailify—that allowed users to consolidate emails from multiple accounts into their Gmail inbox. These tools provided unique benefits for managing email across various platforms, but their removal signals a shift in how Google wants users to interact with their email services. Gmailify, introduced in 2016, enabled users to fetch emails from non-Google accounts like Outlook or Yahoo and apply Gmail’s signature sorting and spam filtering. While it used IMAP under the hood, it offered a seamless way to organize emails into tabs like Social or Updates. However, with the shutdown, this feature will be unavailable for new users starting early 2026, leaving existing users with limited functionality later that year. POP (Post Office Protocol) access, another tool being phased out, allowed users to download emails from third-party accounts and store them in Gmail permanently. This was particularly useful for offline access and archiving emails from defunct accounts. However, POP’s lack of syncing capabilities often led to inconsistencies across devices accessing the same account. The move by Google likely aims to simplify its email services and encourage users to focus on their primary Google inbox. While IMAP will still be supported through Gmail’s mobile apps for third-party accounts, it won’t offer the enhanced features that Gmailify provided. Users reliant on these tools may need to explore alternatives like

Verticals

techscience

Originally published on Wired on 2/20/2026