Gmail to Apple Mail

October 14, 2004 9:16 AM

Is there an easy way to download my gmail messages to Apple Mail (bearing in mind I'm a computer dunderhead)? I've tried creating a gmail account in Mail; but when I use Mail to check gmail, Mail prompts me for my gmail account password - and then nothing happens.
posted by carter to Computers & Internet (6 answers total)

I have not heard that there's any way to interface with Gmail other than their web interface -- I rather suspect that, like AOL in the early days, they do not *want* you to do this: you'd lose all the features that are exactly their selling point for the service.
posted by baylink at 9:46 AM on October 14, 2004

There's this.
posted by blueshammer at 9:56 AM on October 14, 2004

Gmail is a webmail system only. You are looking for something which uses POP3 mail.

Gmail will probably be offering this at some point according to their help section:

* Automatic forwarding and POP3 access: Not available yet, but will be in the future for free or at a nominal fee
posted by jeremias at 10:38 AM on October 14, 2004

You can auto forward now, just go to your gmail settings and enable forwarding.
posted by riffola at 11:02 AM on October 14, 2004

As of a week or so ago, you can do free (for now) automatic forwarding to another account. [Link might require gmail login(?)]
posted by Utilitaritron at 11:14 AM on October 14, 2004

Response by poster: Thanks! Forwarding will work, so I guess I'll just have to open another account somewhere else (which hopefully will not get spammed) and suck stuff down from there. Although this feels kind of clunky to me.

Now that there's a Google desktop client for searching your local drives (if I understand this correctly), it would be cool to have a gmail tool at my end too ...
posted by carter at 11:50 AM on October 14, 2004