Hacksar

If you are just going into college, you probably just received your college email account – and it most likely uses some ugly webmail based client. (This also applies to jobs, etc that supply you with email addresses.) You probably also have a Gmail account that you use (since Gmail is so awesome). If you don’t you can sign up for one at the Gmail website. If you absolutely hate your online web email account and yearn for the ability to send and receive your college emails to with your Gmail account, fret no more! There is a very simple and straightforward method of doing this. Keep reading for the step by step guide.

1. Go to your Gmail account, and go to Settings (found at the top right).
2. Go Settings -> Accounts Tab -> Get Mail from Other Accounts -> Add a Mail Account You Own.
3. Put in your college email address and hit next. It should automatically fill in certain pieces of information, such as your username and POP server/port.
4. Put in your password, leave the POP server and port as it is, and choose the appropriate checkbox settings. If you are not sure about the “Always use SSL when retrieving mail” option, leave it checked first, and send a test email to your college account to see if it works. If it does not, change that option to unchecked.
5. Note: If your POP server information was not automatically filled in, your college / email address may not support this feature. Sorry, but your only hope now is to search for a way to forward your emails from your college email. (Try forums or your school’s technical help.)
6. Then, under the Accounts Tab still, go to the Send Mail As section and add your college email. You should receive a confirmation shortly regarding the ownership of your email. Validate the ownership and you should now be able to send emails from your college email address using Gmail! (It’ll show up as a drop down option for From when you Compose a new mail.)

You have successfully converted your college account to your Gmail account. Bear in mind that this way, your emails being received may not be instantaneous, as Gmail will check your college email account automatically every hour (or so) and update if you have received any new emails. You can also force it to check if you have received any new emails by going to the same Accounts tab and pressing “Check mail now” next to your account name.

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