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Google to Change Gmail Functionality in 2026 – Which Features Will Be Discontinued

Published December 31, 2025, 08:13
Google to Change Gmail Functionality in 2026 – Which Features Will Be Discontinued

Google has announced significant changes to Gmail, which will take effect at the beginning of 2026. The main change concerns the removal of the ability to manage email from third-party providers through Gmail, turning the platform into an exclusive webmail for Google accounts. This means that features like Gmailify, which allowed connecting Outlook, Yahoo, or corporate email accounts, will be terminated. Also, POP mail retrieval will be discontinued, meaning the automatic recovery of messages from other accounts will no longer be possible. These changes will primarily affect users who use Gmail as a central email client for external or professional accounts, as third-party connected accounts will stop synchronizing. However, users with exclusively @gmail.com accounts will not be affected by these changes. Google suggests using independent email clients, such as Outlook and Thunderbird, which support multiple accounts, as alternative solutions. Furthermore, users can set up their accounts via IMAP and SMTP in a new client, thus maintaining synchronization, sending, and receiving emails. The company aims to simplify the Gmail experience and focus on providing services exclusively for Google users.