Gmail's custom 'From:' feature lets you use Gmail to send messages with another of your email addresses listed as the sender in place of your Gmail address. This way, it's easier to manage multiple accounts from the Gmail interface. The custom 'From:' feature works only if you already own the alternate address as part of a separate account. To send mail with a different Gmail username, you must first sign up for that address. Select an option below for instructions on how to set this up.
I'm a Gmail or Google Apps user sending from an external address.
- Sign in to Gmail.
- Click Settings and select the Accounts and Import tab.
- Under Send mail as, click Add another email address.
- In the 'Email address' field, enter your name and alternate email address.
- Choose one of two options:
- Use Gmail's servers to send your mail (this is easier to set up)
- Use your other email provider's SMTP servers (we recommend this option for professional mail accounts or domains). Note for Google Apps users: Depending on your domain type, this feature may be disabled by default. Talk to your administrator if you have any questions.
If you choose to use Gmail's servers:
6. Click Next Step >> and then click Send Verification. Gmail will send a verification message to your other email address to confirm that you own it.
7. Open your other account and either click the link in the message Gmail sent or enter the confirmation code in the Accounts section of your Gmail settings.
Your Gmail address will still be included in your email header's sender field, to help prevent your mail from being marked as spam. Most email clients don't display the sender field, though some versions of Microsoft Outlook may display "From yourusername@gmail.com on behalf of customaddress@mydomain.com." For this reason, if you don't want 'on behalf of' to appear in any of your messages, we recommend using the SMTP servers of your other email provider.
If you choose to send mail through another domain's SMTP servers:6. Enter the SMTP server (e.g. smtp.domain.com), your username on that domain, and your password for that account. You may also need to adjust your port setting or SSL setting (talk to your other ISP if you need this information).
7. Click Add account >>
8. Open your other account and either click the link in the message Gmail sent or enter the confirmation code in the Accounts section of your Gmail settings.
Please note that your other email provider must provide authenticated SMTP support in order for you to use this option. We'll use TLS by default, or SSL if you enable it. Many email services that provide POP or IMAP support also offer authenticated SMTP support, and you can likely find your SMTP server configuration instructions alongside information about POP or IMAP. Also, this new version of custom 'From:' doesn't work with Yahoo! Mail Plus accounts just yet, but we've reached out to Yahoo! to try to get it working.
I'm a Premier/Educational Google Apps user sending from a domain alias or nickname.
- Sign in to your Google Apps email.
- Click Settings along the top of any page, and select the Accounts tab.
- Under Send mail as, click Add another email address.
- In the Email address field, enter your name and alternate email address.
- Click Next Step >> and then click Send Verification. Gmail will send a verification message to your other email address to confirm that you own it.
- (Locate the message from Gmail. Open it and and either click the link contained in the message or enter the confirmation code in the Accounts section of your Google Apps email settings.
Messages you send will appear to be from the domain alias or nickname. The return-path of the message will indicate your primary mail addresses, but this information will only be visible to recipients who choose to examine the original message header.
Once you're set up: sending mail
To use a verified custom 'From:' address when composing a new message, pick an address from the drop-down menu in the 'From:' field. If you're replying or forwarding, click change next to the 'From:' field first. You can also choose to automatically use the address to which a message was sent.
To edit the name, configuration or reply-to address for an existing entry, click edit next to the address on your Accounts tab. To delete an address, just click delete.
Note for IMAP/POP users: If you access Gmail through a POP or IMAP email client (e.g. Outlook) and would like to send messages with a custom "from" address, you have two options. We recommend that you configure your email client with two outgoing SMTP servers, one for Gmail and one for your other address. Your second option is to use Gmail's outbound servers with a different "from" address. If you've already configured the custom from address in the web interface, your message will be sent from:otheraddress@domain.com, sender:username@gmail.com, regardless of which custom from configuration you chose. Your messages will be sent from your regular Gmail address if you never configured your custom from settings in the web interface.