Gmail stops collecting mail from your AOL, Yahoo and other addresses in January 2027

What's changing

Many people read an older email address, such as an AOL, Yahoo or Comcast address, inside Gmail. Gmail on a computer goes and collects that mail for you, so it all lands in one inbox. Google calls this "Check mail from other accounts."

Google's help page says that starting January 2027, Gmail will remove three features for addresses that don't belong to Google:

• Check mail from other accounts. Gmail will stop collecting mail from your other address. (The technical name is POP.)
• Gmailify. This linked your other address to Gmail's spam filter and inbox tabs. It goes too.
• "Send as." This let you write from your old address while you were in Gmail. Google says this ends both on the web and in the Gmail apps.

Google has already stopped new setups. Its page on the Gmailify and POP changes says the feature stopped accepting new users after the first quarter of 2026, and that existing users can keep using it until January 2027. So if it works for you today, it keeps working until then.

What isn't changing

• Your old email address isn't closing. Your AOL or Yahoo account carries on as before. Only Gmail's window onto it closes.
• Mail already in Gmail stays. Google says messages brought in before the change stay in your Gmail.
• The Gmail app on a phone or tablet can still hold your other account, and you can read and send from it there.
• Forwarding still works. If your old provider sends new mail on to your Gmail address, that carries on.

How to tell if this affects you

You can check in about two minutes, on a computer:

1. Open Gmail.
2. Click the gear-shaped Settings button at the top right, then click See all settings.
3. Click the tab called Accounts and Import (on some accounts it's just Accounts).
4. Look at the section called Check mail from other accounts. If an address is listed there, this change affects you. Write the address down.
5. Look at Send mail as too. If an address from another provider, such as AOL, Yahoo or Comcast, is listed, you'll lose the ability to write from it inside Gmail. Gmail addresses, and work or school addresses that Google runs, aren't affected.

Google has said that people who use these features get a notice inside Gmail. If you've seen one, you're affected.

If your other address is a Microsoft Outlook account, Google's page on adding another email account says it can't be added to Gmail on a computer any more, because Microsoft now requires a newer way of signing in. Google suggests the Gmail app for Outlook accounts instead.

Your choices

There is no single right answer. Pick the one that fits how you use email.

1. Read the old address in its own place

Go to your old provider's own website by typing its address yourself, such as mail.aol.com or mail.yahoo.com, or use the provider's own app. This costs nothing. It means checking two inboxes, which suits people who get little mail at the old address.

2. Use the Gmail app on your phone or tablet

The Gmail app for Android, iPhone and iPad can hold up to five addresses, including Yahoo and other providers. Google's steps are on its page about adding another email account in the Gmail app. In the app you switch to the old account to read and reply. It won't appear in Gmail on a computer.

3. Ask the old provider to forward new mail to Gmail

This is the closest thing to what you have now, and it's what Google suggests for people who use Gmail on a computer. Sign in to the old account, look in its settings for Forwarding, and enter your Gmail address.

Not every provider offers forwarding free. Yahoo's help page says automatic forwarding needs a paid Yahoo Mail Plus subscription. If you don't see a forwarding setting at all, your provider may not offer it on your kind of account. One more thing to know: once "Send as" ends, your replies to forwarded mail will go out from your Gmail address.

4. Move to Gmail for good

Tell people your Gmail address and change it on the accounts that matter. Google's page on adding another email account also covers a one-time import, under Import mail and contacts, which copies your old messages into Gmail. Keep the old account open for a while, because some senders will be slow to update.

5. Use a mail program on your computer

Programs such as Outlook, Apple Mail and Thunderbird can show several accounts in one window. Google lists this as an option. It suits people who already use one, or who have a helper to set it up.

Step by step: a plan that works for most people

1. Find out which addresses Gmail collects for you, using the check above.
2. Make sure you can sign in to the old account directly. This is the step people most often skip, and the one that matters most. If Gmail has been collecting your AOL mail for years, you may not have typed your AOL password in a long time. Type the provider's address yourself, sign in, and update your password and recovery phone number while you're there.
3. Choose your way from the five above.
4. If you're moving, make a list of who sends mail to the old address: family, your bank, pharmacy, doctors' portals, insurance, and government accounts. Change them one at a time and tick them off.
5. Test it before January. Ask someone to send a message to your old address, and check that it arrives where you expect.

What it costs

For most people, nothing. Reading the old address on its own site, using the Gmail app, moving to Gmail and the one-time import are all free. Forwarding is free at some providers and paid at others, as Yahoo's page shows. Apple Mail comes with every Mac and Thunderbird is free; Outlook comes with a Microsoft 365 subscription.

Scams that ride along with this change

Any change to email brings messages that copy it. Expect some of these:

• "Your mailbox will be closed. Verify your account to keep your mail." Neither Google nor your old provider needs you to click a link to keep your email. The FTC's guide to recognizing phishing lists messages that claim a problem with your account as a classic sign. Don't click. Go to the site yourself.
• Services that promise to keep "Send as" working. Google warns that these tools and browser add-ons often ask for your email password or access to your account, which puts your mail at risk. Google recommends sticking to the official options above.
• A phone number for "email support". Search results and pop-ups offering AOL or Gmail support by phone are a common trap. Use the company's own help pages, reached by typing its address yourself.
• A call about your email. Nobody from Google or your provider will phone you about this change. Hang up.