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Thunderbird can be set up to work seamlessly with Google's Gmail. Messages will be synchronized between your local version of Thunderbird and web-based Gmail.

Thunderbird can be configured to work seamlessly with Google's [https://www.google.com/gmail/about/ Gmail] service. Messages are synchronized between your local version of Thunderbird and the web-based Gmail. {warning}As of May 30, 2022, '''Google no longer allows [https://myaccount.google.com/lesssecureapps Less secure apps] access''' for Gmail accounts, thus '''OAuth is required'''. If you are using Google supplied “app passwords“, Thunderbird version 91.8.0 and newer will [[Automatic Conversion of Google mail accounts to OAuth 2.0 Authentication|make that conversion]] for you. Further, '''Gmail accounts do not work with Thunderbird 31 and older''' because they do not support Google's OAuth (implemented in [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=849540 bug 849540]).{/warning} __TOC__ = Configuring your Gmail account = {for win} [[Video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXs_YE9QyUQ]] {/for} To configure Thunderbird to work with Gmail, first ensure IMAP is enabled on your Gmail account (the default for new Gmail accounts). See [https://support.google.com/mail/answer/7126229 Gmail's instructions] for help. {for not tb38} Double check that “Access for less secure apps” is enabled. See [https://www.google.com/settings/security/lesssecureapps Google's article on “less secure apps”] for help. {/for} Next, select {menu File} > {menu New} > {menu Existing Mail Account…} The ''Mail Account Setup'' dialog is displayed. After you provide your account information (real name, email address{for not tb38}, password{/for}), Thunderbird will automatically configure your Gmail connection. Click {button Done}{for tb38}, sign in with your Google account if prompted{/for}. Thunderbird will begin downloading your existing messages. Lastly, review [https://support.google.com/mail/answer/78892#zippy=%2Cthunderbird Google's recommended settings for Thunderbird] so that your local actions, such as labelling and deleting, correspond to those which Gmail takes and do not cause any conflicts. For more detailed information, please refer to: * [[Automatic Account Configuration]] * [https://support.google.com/mail/topic/7280141 Gmail's support articles on email clients] = Gmail's particularities = == Archiving messages == In order to be consistent with Gmail's behavior, Thunderbird archives your message in the ''All Mail'' folder, and not in an ''Archive'' folder as it does for other accounts (as described in the [[Archived Messages]] article). ;[[Image:Gmail Archive settings]] {note}The {button Archive options…} button is disabled for Gmail accounts, as it is not necessary to define the archive granularity with Gmail.{/note} == Subscribing to folders and synchronizing messages == === Understanding Gmail labels and Thunderbird folders === Gmail uses a special implementation of IMAP. In this implementation, Gmail labels become Thunderbird folders. When you apply a label to a message in Gmail, Thunderbird creates a folder with the same name as the label and stores the message in that folder. Similarly, if you move a message to a folder in Thunderbird, Gmail will create a label with the folder name and assign it to the message. If you copy a message to another folder, Gmail will still store only one message but apply both folder names as labels to it. Moving any copy of a message into the Trash will remove all labels from it, and it will no longer appear in any other folder. In the example shown below, the folders at the same level as the ''[Gmail]'' folder (''Personal'', ''Receipts'', ''Travel'' and ''Work'') correspond to Gmail labels. ;[[Image:default gmail folders]] There is also a set of special sub-folders for the ''[Gmail]'' folder: * All Mail: contains all the messages of your Gmail account, including sent and archived messages. Any messages that you see in the inbox will also appear in the ''[Gmail]/All Mail'' folder. * Drafts: contains draft messages. * Sent Mail: contains sent messages. * Spam: contains messages that were marked as spam (either by Gmail or Thunderbird). * Starred: contains messages that were starred (either by Gmail or Thunderbird). * Trash: contains deleted messages. * Important: contains messages that Gmail has flagged as “important”. (See [https://support.google.com/mail/answer/186531 Priority Inbox overview] for more details about this Gmail feature.) === Subscribing to or unsubscribing from folders (labels) === You can configure which Gmail folders you want to display in Thunderbird. By default, all Gmail folders are displayed, as described above. To configure folder display, right-click the account name and select {menu Subscribe…} ;[[Image:subscribe gmail folders]] Uncheck any folders that you don't want to display in Thunderbird. Messages will still be downloaded and available through the ''All Mail'' folder. They will also be included in search results. However, the Gmail label (Thunderbird folder) will not be displayed. === Synchronizing folders (labels) === If you want to see all your Gmail labels and messages in Thunderbird but prefer to avoid all the messages being downloaded to your system, you may want to tweak the synchronization settings. This allows you to define which folder should be synchronized. If you don't synchronize a folder, the message header will still be displayed in Thunderbird, but the message content will only be downloaded when you click the message header. To change how messages are downloaded, set synchronization options for the account and for individual folders. ({for win,mac}{menu Tools} > {menu Account Settings…}{/for}{for linux}{menu Edit} > {menu Account Settings…}{/for}) See [[IMAP Synchronization#w_synchronization]] for more information. === Thunderbird's message lists differ from the web interface === If some messages are appearing in your Inbox that shouldn't be, or aren't appearing but should be, you may need to select the ''Don't override filters'' option under {menu Inbox} > {menu Filtered mail} in Gmail's settings. The same can be achieved by turning off {menu General} > {menu Smart features and personalisation}. You can also change whether Gmail's interface should group messages by conversation with the '''Conversation view''' setting on the {menu General} settings page, to match your [[Message threading in Thunderbird - keep messages grouped by conversation|Thunderbird preference]]. See the support article on [https://support.google.com/mail/answer/6562 how to change Gmail settings]. = Updating a Gmail account to use OAuth = Thunderbird will normally set up or update your Gmail account to OAuth automatically. If something goes wrong, you can use the hints below to check and set up manually. For more details and how to resolve various OAuth issues, see [[Automatic Conversion of Google mail accounts to OAuth 2.0 Authentication]]. The following applies to both POP and IMAP mail accounts. *Enable cookies in Thunderbird: *#Click the menu button [[Image:Fx57menu]] and click {menu Settings}, which opens in a new tab. *#Select {menu Privacy & Security}. *#Under ''Web Content'' section, select checkbox '''Accept cookies from sites'''. *You may need to set an exception: *#Click {button Exceptions…} button. *#Add an exception for '''https://accounts.google<!-- -->.com''' *#Click {button Allow}. *#Click {button Save Changes}. *Change the authentication method in ''Account Settings'': *#Click the menu button [[Image:Fx57menu]] (or {for win,mac}{menu Tools}{/for}{for linux}{menu Edit}{/for} on ''Menu Bar'') and select '''Account Settings''', which opens in a new tab. **Change the Outgoing SMTP authentication method: **#In the left pane, select the pop/imap account name and look bottom right for ''Outgoing Server (SMTP)''. **#Click {button Edit Server SMTP…} button. **#Set ''Authentication Method'' to '''OAuth2'''. **#Click {button OK}. **Change the Incoming authentication method: **#In the left pane, select {menu Server Settings} for Gmail account. **#Set ''Authentication Method'' to '''OAuth2'''. Exit Thunderbird and wait a few moments for background processes to finish. Then restart Thunderbird. Gmail will prompt you to enter your Gmail email address and password, which is the same password you use to access Gmail webmail account. Follow the instructions to allow Thunderbird to access server. An OAuth token will get saved in Thunderbird, in the same location as passwords. = Useful Add-ons = * [https://addons.thunderbird.net/thunderbird/addon/google-4-tbsync/ Google contact and contact group sync]. * If you want to sync your calendar between Thunderbird Calendar and Google Calendar, you should read [[Using Lightning with Google Calendar]]. * [https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/addon/gtrash/ GTrash] to make true deletion more convenient when using Google's recommended deletion settings. = See also = * [https://support.google.com/mail/answer/78892 Gmail's support article on recommended settings]. * [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=402793 The ticket which tracks issues using Gmail with Thunderbird (Bug 402793)].